Kolabo 2021: The Calgary Team
This year the Kolabo Project has had to adapt quickly to changing global dynamics as a result of the COVID19 pandemic. The team quickly pivoted to ensuring that a mental health curriculum could continue for medical students in Mwanza, Tanzania by providing a mixed virtual and live platform, utilizing both Calgary and Mwanza team members.
In this first edition of the 2021 Blog we will showcase the team of psychiatrists and residents who have worked continuously over recent months to provide quality lectures that they recorded as podcasts for medical students to learn about various mental illnesses. In future posts, we will showcase the Mwanza team members who have quickly adapted to providing in person lectures on mental health topics, including difficult and stigmatized conversations, such as those relating to suicide.
Team members of the Kolabo 2020 team (left to right)— Dr. Jacqueline Bobyn, Dr. Paige Durling, Dr. Megan Howlett, Dr. Matiko Mwita, and Dr. Kathy Fitch.
Dr. Kimberly Williams (Neuropsychiatry Fellow & Kolabo Cofounder)
Kimberly is completing her neuropsychiatry fellowship at the University of Calgary and has a MSc in Global Health from the University of Alberta. She is a global health enthusiast, which includes writing about key topics in this area including a chapter author in Millennials Speak: Essays on the 21st Century, in Upstream Medicine: Doctors for a Healthy Society, and in Essentials of Global Health. As a co-founder of Kolabo she loves being able to work with our partners in Tanzania to collaboratively improve medical education about mental illness. She was previously the president of Resident Doctors of Canada and a member of the Canadian Medical Association Board of Directors. She loves running and spending time with her family, especially her little one.
•
Dr. Megan Howlett (Psychiatry Resident & Kolabo 2021 Leader)
Megan is a Psychiatry Resident at the University of Calgary and her special interests include global mental health, gender, and neuropsychiatry. This will be Megan’s second time working on the Kolabo excursion team and she is one of this years’ resident leaders.
“I am very excited to be one of the leaders of this year’s Kolabo team and very proud of all the hard work our members have contributed to maintaining a mental health curriculum in Mwanza, despite a global pandemic. When we asked Dr. Mwita and the team at CUHAS how we could help, knowing that we could not be there in person this year, it was a completely collaborative effort and a quick pivot. Now only a couple of months later we are already streaming recorded content on various mental illnesses whilst supporting CUHAS educators and stakeholders from afar. Knowing that a year of medical graduates will not miss out on mental health training was the ultimate goal and I think we have already exceeded expectations for that.”
Dr. Margie Oakander (Psychiatrist & Kolabo Team Member)
Margie is an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Calgary Dept. of Psychiatry. Dr. Oakander works as a staff psychiatrist in outpatient Psychiatry and community mental health in Calgary.
“A favourite part of my workweek includes delivering continuing medical education to colleagues and teaching Psychiatry and Family practice residents. I have always been intrigued by the Kolabo project, and I love the idea of contributing to the work my colleagues have done in previous years and advancing education around mental health in Tanzania.
In my spare time I enjoy reading, cross-country skiing and hiking in the mountains, as well as travel. It’s a pleasure to be involved in the Kolabo project and I look forward to the day I can visit beautiful Tanzania!”
Dr. Jacqueline Bobyn (Psychiatry Resident & Kolabo Team Member)
Jacqueline is Psychiatry Resident at the University of Calgary. She did a Master’s of Science in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary, researching neuroimaging and mood disorders prior to medical school. Jacqueline then went on to complete medical school training at the University of Calgary and has interests in cultural
psychiatry and refugee mental health.
Jacqueline was able to attend the most recent Kolabo trip in 2019 and presented to CUHAS students lectures on Mood Disorders and Anxiety Disorders. We are very excited to have her working with us again this year!
Dr. Elisabeth Merner (Psychiatry Resident & Kolabo Team Member)
Elisabeth has experience in curriculum development while attending medical school at Queen’s University and working on local and national wellness and mental health committees which fuelled her interest in medical education and mental health advocacy. An additional eight-week global health observership in Tanzania highlighted the importance of sustainable global health programs.
“The Kolabo initiative brought together my passion for medical education, global health and mental health advocacy. The transition to virtual podcasts this year due to the COVID19 pandemic was unexpected however, remains incredibly exciting as we move towards greater sustainability with support from afar. I look forward to working on podcasts and fundraising to fund psychiatry residency seats in Tanzania. “
Dr. Rita Watterson (Psychiatrist & Kolabo Cofounder)
Rita works as both an inpatient and outpatient psychiatrist in Calgary and works with refugee populations.
“Kolabo has faced significant challenges this year in the face of COVID. This year’s team, led by our senior resident doctors, have truly stepped up to the plate to meet these shifting demands. In years past, our Kolabo team from Calgary have joined the CUHAS Psychiatry team in jointly rolling out a Psychiatry Course for medical students. With COVID, travel was suspended and new alternative avenues had to be explored. Thus, with the CUHAS team we have launched an online learning platform for the Psychiatry Course full of outstanding lectures on multiple topics. This virtual learning is enhanced by on the ground training with the CUHAS Psychiatry lead Dr. Mwita in large and small group formats.
Since it’s inception, Kolabo continues to grow and support our partners overseas. Not only are our Tanzanian partners able to grow their Psychiatry teaching at Mwanza, but our University of Calgary resident doctors and staff get the opportunity to engage in a unique global health learning opportunity. This partnership allows all partners to grow in unique ways!”
Dr. Paige Durling (Psychiatry Resident & Kolabo 2021 Leader)
Paige is a Psychiatry Resident at the University of Calgary, where she also completed her medical degree. Paige’s career interests include medical education, psychotherapy and global health. This will be Paige’s second time working on the Kolabo excursion team and she is one of this years’ resident leaders.
“Working on the ground with last year’s excursion team was an incredible experience and I was thrilled to participate again on this years’ team. Collaborating with CUHAS psychiatrists and senior medical students to deliver a comprehensive mental health curriculum was incredibly rewarding. Although I will miss making connections on the ground as our team shifts to a virtual delivery platform, I am excited about all the ways we have been able to adapt and collaborate from a distance, with an ongoing focus on sustainability.”
Dr. Phil Stokes (Psychiatrist & Kolabo Team Member)
Phil was born and trained in Britain, and has spent his career as a general adult psychiatrist in Calgary, gradually taking on more roles in teaching, to the point where he will now end his career wholly as an educator. He has particularly focused on teaching undergraduates, both within his specialty and across the full range of medical education. For more than twenty years he has been winning awards for his work, from students and organisations, both locally and nationally.
This will be Phil’s first year as a member of the annual Kolabo team, but he has been involved in smaller roles since the project was launched. He initially helped to supply teaching material from our Canadian curriculum, and in 2017 he was pleased to welcome Dr Mwita Matiko from CUHAS to join him for a month’s teaching elective on the psychiatry course in Calgary.
Dr. Jaylynn Arcand (Psychiatry Resident & Kolabo Team Member)
Dr. Jaylynn Arcand is a Psychiatry Resident at the University of Calgary and completed two previous trips to Tanzania with the Kolabo excursion team. While completing her medical school training at the University of Saskatchewan, Jaylynn also obtained a Certificate in Global Health. Her primary areas of interest within Global Health are capacity building and sustainability.
Dr. Hilary Aadland (Psychiatry Resident & Kolabo Team Member)
Hilary is one of the psychiatry residents who will be creating some of the podcasts for Kolabo this year. She also been working on the research related to earlier years of Kolabo experiences and has been involved with the fundraising committee to raise money to fund psychiatry residency seats in Tanzania.
“I am so excited to be involved with the program for years to come! I wanted to get involved with Kolabo ever since hearing about a truly sustainable global health endeavor in psychiatry. The program allowed me to learn more about another culture and allowed opportunities to gain more experience with education and teaching. “
