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SeaCouver Project-in-a-Box
AMSA in the Real World
This is the story of twelve medical students, picked to travel west and have their lives taped - to find out what happens when people stop believing the hype and start acting REAL.
In 2004 and 2005, AMSA medical students traveled to Seattle and Vancouver to study the healthcare systems of American and Canada. During the trip, students interviewed Americans and Canadians about their perceptions of both their own healthcare system and the healthcare system of the bordering country. Video footage of these interviews was compiled into the SeaCouver video. This project-in-a-box contains everything you need to facilitate a successful showing of this video at your chapter.
Why should I do this project at my chapter?
- Because it's guaranteed to stimulate debate and discussion at your chapter
- Because it's guaranteed to raise awareness about universal healthcare
- Because it's guaranteed to help students realize that AMSA does creative, unique programming for medical students
- Because it's already set up for you!
Included in this project-in-the-box
PROJECT OVERVIEW
What you will need
You will need a DVD-player and a room to show the video. You will also need one hour total to show the video and have time for a substantial discussion afterwards. This project is ideal for a lunchtime talk.
Preparing to be a facilitator
It is important for facilitators to have a basic grasp of the Canadian healthcare system. It is also important to become familiar with some of the arguments against the Canadian healthcare system - both legitimate and illegitimate. Reading AMSA's Waiting Lists Primer is a good way to gain an objective overview of the issue, which is specifically addressed in the SeaCouver video. And a truly excellent overview of the Canadian healthcare system and the challenges it faces can be found in the American Journal of Public Health (Deber R. "Health Care Reform: Lessons from Canada." 2003 Am J Pub Health Jan; 93(1):20-24).
Having said all this, please do not feel that you have to be an expert on the Canadian healthcare system to facilitate this session. In the vast majority of cases, the discussion will be self-sustaining because the video tends to provoke strong reactions from people.
The day of the session
At the beginning of the hour, make sure that people get a copy of the Canada Healthcare Fact Sheet handout. If you are holding a lunchtime project in which food is served, you might consider putting the handout next to the food. Alternatively, you can assign someone to hand people the fact sheet when they come in through the door. You have the option of providing copies of the Canadian Waiting Lists Primer if you feel that it would help educate students. If you don't want to make copies of this seven-page primer for everyone, you might consider putting a stack of copies on a table for people to pick up on the way out.
Basic outline of the session (assuming you have one hour)
- Introduction (2-3 minutes)
- SeaCouver video showing (25 minutes)
- Discussion (25 minutes)
- Conclusion (2-3 minutes)
Introduction script:
"Thank you for coming. I'm here today on behalf of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA). AMSA is the nation's largest independent medical student organization, and throughout its 55 year history, one of its primary goals has been to train effective physician leaders by providing educational and leadership opportunities to medical students.
In 2004 and 2005, AMSA organized two U.S.-Canada study tours for American medical students from all around the country. The tour took place in Seattle and Vancouver, which is why the tour is named "SeaCouver." During the tour, participants received formal teaching about the two systems at the University of Washington and the University of British Columbia. In addition, students also went out to the streets of Seattle and Vancouver armed with video cameras to find out peoples' perspectives on the American and Canadian healthcare systems. The footage from these interviews was compiled into the video that you are about to see now.
Please understand that this video was not intended to portray the full range of opinions on the American and Canadian healthcare systems. Rather, the video was intended to stimulate discussion among medical students by providing a sample of some of the perceptions and misperceptions that exist regarding the two systems. Please watch the video with an open mind, and make sure to note which perspectives you agree with and which you do not. We will have the opportunity to discuss your reactions after the video concludes."
SeaCouver video showing
Please show the video from the beginning all the way to the end. Some of the interviews are dubbed because of sound issues, and one interview with a pair of two elderly women has some technical sound glitches (the sound "skips") that were not able to be fixed.
Discussion questions
Begin by laying out basic ground rules about respecting other peoples' opinions.
In most cases, simply asking people what they thought about the video will start a discussion that will sustain itself. If this doesn't happen, please refer to the discussion questions included in this project-in-the-box. In case it helps, the Jack Rutledge Fellow's thoughts about each discussion question are included (note that the comments are not referenced and represent one person's opinion, so the JRF asks you not to distribute these comments to participants).
Conclusion script
"Thank you for coming to our session. For those of you who are interested in learning more about the Canadian healthcare system, please refer to the handouts or visit AMSA's website. Also, if you are interested in participating in the SeaCouver tour or any other AMSA educational opportunities, please talk to me afterwards."
After the project
To help AMSA track the use of the SeaCouver project, please e-mail the Jack Rutledge Legislative Director at jrld@amsa.org with the following three items:
- Date of session and number of people who attended;
- Your general impression of the session - did it go well? How did people react?
- What could have been improved about the project?
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