Adolescent suicide will be the topic of the John F. McCreary Lecture, one of several public events to be held during this year's Health Sciences Week, Oct.14-16.
Connecting with this year's theme of The Child and the Family, Prof. Carol Stuart of the University of Victoria's School of Child and Youth Care will discuss her current research into the causes of adolescent suicide on Tuesday, Oct. 14 in Woodward IRC lecture hall 4 at 12:30 p.m.
"It's misleading to think of suicide as a distinct disorder. It's a symptom of a whole lot of other issues that need attention, such as hopelessness and isolation," says Stuart.
Aided by Kitimat's Suicide Intervention and Prevention Committee, she is currently surveying adolescents in Kitimat about risk factors such as alcohol abuse, family discord and difficulties in school.
On Wednesday, Oct. 15, PhD candidate Colleen Varcoe of the School of Nursing will look at how emergency room nurses respond to female victims of abuse. In her lecture, Violence against Women: Rethinking the Role of Health Care Providers, Varcoe suggests violence against women is neglected within health care, with intervention focusing on physical injury at the expense of social or emotional consequences.
Psychiatry PhD candidate Paul Mackenzie will focus on the molecular basis of learning and memory in his lecture, How the Brain Learns.
The lectures start at 5 p.m. in Woodward IRC lecture hall 4.
The Health Sciences Student Research Forum that evening from 6-8:30 p.m. in the Woodward IRC lobby will feature poster and oral presentations covering topics such as women's experience with heart attacks, African traditional healing methods, and causes of blindness in B.C.
Another highlight of the week will see teams of health sciences students manage a mock medical case before an audience of their peers Thursday, Oct. 16 at 12:30 p.m. Teams in the Health Care Team Clinical Competition, which takes place in Woodward IRC lecture hall 2, are given two to three minutes to respond to questions on assessment and treatment.
Designed to create a sense of common purpose among health sciences students, the week is named in honour of the late Dr. John F. McCreary, former dean of the Faculty of Medicine and co-ordinator of Health Sciences.