Setting
The Cultural Consultation Service (CCS) of the Jewish General Hospital and Montreal Children’s Departments of Psychiatry offers clinical consultations to psychiatric, medical and mental health practitioners, as well as in-service training in culture and mental health. The CCS provides comprehensive assessments, specific cultural information, links to community resources and recommendations for follow-up on cases referred by mental health practitioners in the Montreal region.
The CCS is directed by Drs. Jaswant Guzder, Laurence Kirmayer & Cécile Rousseau. Consultants are drawn from a multidisciplinary network of professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, anthropologists and culture-brokers. Team members work in collaboration to provide comprehensive assessment of social and cultural factors influencing diagnostic, prognostic and treatment issues of individuals and families with mental health problems.
The service holds weekly clinical conferences and biweekly rounds. There is an active research program and formal teaching integrated with the McGill Summer Program in Social & Cultural Psychiatry.
Training Philosophy
Training involves supervised consultation work and in-depth reading around specific cases. The trainee will learn to conduct a systematic cultural assessments and formulation. Emphasis is placed on understanding the implicit cultural assumptions of mental health theory and practice and the clinician’s own ethnocultural background as a basis for intercultural work. Specific issues addressed include the problems of racism, power, ethnicity, language, and religion. The trainee will work with a wide range of referring professionals from primary care and mental health and with patients from diverse backgrounds including asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants and First Nations peoples.
Responsibilities
This internship is designed to be integrated within an already existing placement of one of the services at the Jewish General Hospital or Montreal’s Children’s Hospital. The candidate will participate in clinical and research activities. Exact hours may vary but must include a minimum commitment of the equivalent of 1/2 day per week (3.5 hours), to include participation in the weekly clinical case conference (Friday mornings) and time for consultation work. Research electives are also available.
