Montreal, April 14, 2016 – Across the globe, there is an urgent need for more humanitarians including a wide range of healthcare workers ready to respond to the soaring number of natural disasters and complex emergencies worldwide. This year alone, UN OCHA estimates that 125 million people will be affected by humanitarian crises – 5 times the number of people from a decade ago. In order to increase effective and timely response, more physicians, nurses and other allied health professionals need to train and better prepare themselves for deployment when disaster strikes. The Humanitarian Healthcare Provider Program does just this by equipping healthcare workers to face challenges in the field with professionalism, competency and compassion. The 12 hour five-course program accredited by McGill University, is the first continuing medical education (CME) program of its kind.

Montreal-based Humanitarian U, in partnership with mdBriefCase Group Inc., has designed and developed the first complete and evidence-based online training program that provides healthcare workers with the requisite competencies essential to work or volunteer in the humanitarian sector. The Humanitarian Healthcare Provider Program targets all health professionals who may work or who are currently working in humanitarian operations, including physicians, nurses, psychologists, allied health professionals and Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs).

Working in an extremely demanding humanitarian environment requires an additional set of competencies. In this program, students will not only acquire relevant knowledge and skills but will also receive first hand accounts from seasoned humanitarian experts. It covers a wide range of topics and public health challenges that humanitarians encounter in a disaster or emergency setting. Healthcare workers will learn valuable skills such as how to practice with limited resources, safely manage an Ebola or Cholera outbreak, rapidly set up a field hospital or confidently address the nutritional needs of young children. Moreover, they will gain an understanding of humanitarian actors, leadership, team effectiveness, preparedness, self-care, and basic safety and security issues to ensure the wellbeing and safety of all.

Some of the featured Subject Matter Experts include Frederick “Skip” M. Burkle, Jr., MD, MPH, DTM, FAAP, FACEP, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative; Trina Helderman MD, MPH, Senior Health Advisor and Wendy Dyment MD, MPH Senior Health and Nutrition Advisor, Medair; Valerie Rzepka, NP, BScN, MSc, Canadian Medical Assistance Teams; Pooja Agrawal, MD, MPH, Emergency Medicine, Yale School of Medicine; Barry Pakes MD, MPH, PhD Public Health, University of Toronto; Leighanne Parkes MD, Infectious Diseases and Department of Medical Microbiology, McGill University Health Centre and Indi Trehan, MD, MPH, DTM&H, Paediatrics and Infectious Disease, St-Louis Children’s Hospital.

About Humanitarian U

Humanitarian U is a leader in delivering professional online and face-to-face training for humanitarian responders worldwide. Founded in Canada, Humanitarian U supports best practices in humanitarian education. Humanitarian U’s goal is to increase the preparedness and effectiveness of humanitarian operations worldwide. They offer programs geared toward existing and aspiring humanitarian workers from a wide range of organizations, including NGOs, governments, universities, the medical community, and other relief and non-profit groups.

About mdBriefCase Group Inc.

mdBriefCase Group Inc. has been the leading provider of online accredited medical continuing education in Canada since 2001. They have a wide range of programs, both in Canada and now abroad, designed to meet the needs of various healthcare professionals including family physicians, pharmacists, specialists, nurses and other allied healthcare professionals. AdvancingPractice.com offers healthcare professionals certificate level in-depth programs to maintain, expand and advance their practice. Programs are CCCEP, MAINPRO M1, MOC (Section 1 or 3) or RACGP accredited.

Contact details

Humanitarian U

Dr. Kirsten Johnson, CEO

kirsten.johnson@humanitarianu.com

+ 1 514 585 8733

mdBriefCase Group Inc.

Janet Kimura, Senior Vice President

janet.kimura@mdbriefcase.com

+1 416 488 5500 ext. 221