Pre-courses

Join a select group of international leaders and experts for an invite-only pre-course tackling the urgent challenges facing refugees and migrant communities worldwide. As the resettlement landscape evolves amidst ongoing crises, this gathering will foster critical discussions and collaborative solutions.

Thursday, June 26, 2025 Time TBD
Halifax Convention Centre

*Note: registration for this pre-conference will be through invitation.

Are you looking to start a refugee health clinic? Or have you started a refugee health clinic in the last 5 years and have questions? Join Dr. Tim Holland and other leading North American refugee health experts on a half day learning session and tour of Halifax’s Newcomer Health Clinic.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to strengthen your clinic’s work (in any country), this is a great opportunity to network, troubleshoot common challenges (like funding, burnout, and advocacy), and learn from others doing this important work.

• Get an inside look at clinic operations
• Network and build mentoring relationships with experienced staff & leaders
• Share best practices to help build capacity for new primary care refugee health clinics

Clinic tour mentors include:

• Dr. Rachel Talavlikar (Calgary)

• Dr. Meb Rashid (Toronto)

• Dr. Doug Gruner (Ottawa)

• Dr. Tim Holland (Halifax)

• Dr. Christine Aubrey-Bassler (St. John’s)

• Dr. Molly Whalen-Browne (Edmonton)
• Drs. Lavanya Narasiah & Juan Carlos Chirgwin (Montreal)
• Chantal Arsenault, NP (Moncton)

*Registration through this survey is required.

More details coming soon.

Our Canadian Collaboration for Immigrant and Refugee Health team and panel has put together new guidelines on lifestyle – diet/exercise, digital supports and semaglutide (Ozempic) -an exciting new medicine that appears destined for the WHO Essential Medical List this summer. 

Thanks to funding from Diabetes Canada we will have several amazing keynote speakers. In my mind it’s all about equity implementation, how can we reduce diabetic health inequities for our patients. We are looking forward to some healthy debate and lived experience stories. 

Location:6136 University Avenue (10min walk from Conference Centre)

Note: we will accept conference participants and other invited guests

Registration Required: No registration fee. Register here.

Participants: physicians, nurses, community leaders, medical students, family medicine residents, researchers, international medical graduates,  policymakers and community mobilizers

Questions?  Please email Divine Budzi:  [email protected]

Welcome Reception: Wednesday, June 25^th 7pm; Location to be announced

Pre-Conference Event: Thursday, June 26^th, 2025 8 am to 4 pm

Lead: Dr Kevin Pottie, Dalhousie University

Expert Speakers: Dr Michael Vallis, Canadian Diabetes Association Consultant on diet and behaviour change and Dr Sean Wharton, Lead author of the Canadian Obesity Guidelines with health equity interests

8:00-8:30am       Continental Breakfast 

8:30-9:00             Opening and Welcome 

9-10:00                Keynote Dr Sean Wharton McMaster University internist and lead of the Canadian Guidelines for Obesity

10:00-10:30         Coffee break

10 30 – 12:00       Noon – guideline introduction Dr Kevin Pottie then semaglutide, Dr Ammar Saad 

Lunch – provided 

Afternoon          

1:00-145              Dr Mirey Karavetian (Dietician) Approaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse patients and enabling Long Term Care Motivation for Lifestyle and Semaglutide

145 – 2:45           Dr Kevin Pottie Lifestyle review and new proposed guidelines 

 2:45- 3:00           Coffee Break 

3-:00 – 4:15          Divine Budzi and Dr Mirey Karavetian Digital diabetes tools for immigrants and refugees

4:15-4:30             Summary and next steps

Join us for an engaging and solution-oriented Pre-Conference event focusing on “Systems Approaches to Addressing Barriers and Solutions for Refugee-IEHPs in Canada.” This event, hosted by the PEGASUS Institute in partnership with Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS), will bring together experts, stakeholders, and internationally educated healthcare professionals (IEHPs) to explore systemic challenges and develop actionable solutions for the integration of refugee-IEHPs into the Canadian healthcare system.

Featuring panel discussions, breakout sessions, and insights from representatives of the Medical Council of Canada (MCC), Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), provincial regulatory bodies, and community-based organizations, the event will foster a collaborative dialogue. Participants will share their experiences, identify best practices, and propose innovative strategies for improving access to practice for refugee-IEHPs in Canada.

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Participez à une pré-conférence dynamique axée sur les “Approches Systémiques pour surmonter les obstacles et trouver des solutions pour les PFSE-IR au Canada.” Cet événement, organisé par l’Institut PEGASUS en partenariat avec l’Association des services aux immigrants de la Nouvelle-Écosse (ISANS), réunira des experts, des parties prenantes et des professionnels de la santé formés à l’étranger (PSFE) pour explorer les défis systémiques et développer des solutions concrètes pour l’intégration des réfugiés-PSFE dans le système de santé canadien.

Avec des discussions en panel, des séances de groupes de travail et des échanges avec des représentants du Conseil médical du Canada (CMC), d’Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada (IRCC), des organismes de réglementation provinciaux et des organisations communautaires, l’événement favorisera un dialogue collaboratif. Les participants partageront leurs expériences, identifieront les meilleures pratiques et proposeront des stratégies novatrices pour améliorer l’accès à la pratique pour les réfugiés-PSFE au Canada.

Registration Required: No registration fee. Register here.

Date: Thursday, June 26th, 10:00 am ADT

Location: This is a hybrid event. The in-person session will take place at ISANS (Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Participants can also join virtually via Zoom.

Sponsor: Canadian Medical Foundation, ISANS

Lead: PEGASUS Institute (Dr. Neil Arya)

Are You A Healthcare Provider Supporting Pregnant Newcomers?

Join us for a collaborative planning meeting to make vaccine communication and resources more accessible and culturally relevant for pregnant newcomers and their families across Canada.

Who We Are

Vaccines in Pregnancy Canada (VIPC) is a national partnership led by the Protecting Every Pregnancy Canada (PEP-C) research lab at the University of Calgary. Our mission is to empower pregnant individuals and families to make informed choices about prevention tools like vaccines.

Why This Matters

Pregnant newcomers often rely on trusted messengers—healthcare providers, multicultural health brokers, community support workers, and system navigators—for reliable vaccine information and support. However, trusted messengers may not have culturally responsive tools to support their clients.

What You’ll Gain

• Hands-on training on a pregnancy-specific vaccine communication approach to strengthen your skills and confidence.

• Practical insights and strategies to take back to your practice or organization to improve vaccine communication with diverse communities.

• A direct role in shaping the development of culturally responsive vaccine communication tools for pregnant newcomers.

• Networking opportunities with healthcare providers, community leaders, and researchers working in newcomer health.

Lead: Dr. Eliana Castillo, University of Calgary

Details: June 26, 2025 at Dalhousie University 12:00pm to 5:15pm

To Participate: No cost to participate. Please complete this pre-registration survey and a member of our team will contact you.

June 26, 2025 at Dalhousie University

12:00 to 12:30 pm: Registration and networking lunch 

12:30 to 2:00 pm: Interactive discussion: Vaccination during pregnancy and newcomers

2:00 to 3:00 pm: Hands on workshop: Vaccines in Pregnancy Canada in action

3:00 to 3:15 pm: Coffee break 

3:15 to 5:00 pm:  Planning workshop

5:00 to 5:15 pm: Closing remarks and next steps

Co-hosted by the Society of Asylum Medicine and the Asylum Medicine Teaching Initiative

Clinicians who practice asylum medicine will convene for a pre-course one day before the International Refugee and Migration Health Conference. The current state of the field, updates in asylum law and policy in the U.S. and Canada, review of medical and mental health forensic medical evaluation (FME) training, discussion of challenging cases, and investigation of additional ways to support asylum will be highlighted.  This is an interactive meeting, and some sessions will follow the model of the “flipped classroom.”

This pre-course is open to clinicians who have completed training in person or via the Asylum Medicine Training Initiative and/or who have a history of performing forensic medical evaluations. This is not an introductory course.

details to come