IHSE MEETING

IHSE Thursday Morning Meeting

Aliki Thomas听
Title: Beyond the Academy: Can Epistemic Communities Shape Health Professions Education and Societal Change听

Learning Objectives听

1. Define the concept of epistemic communities and explain their relevance to health professions education.听

2. Reflect on how different ways of knowing can shape HPE for global impact 听

3. Critically reflect on participants鈥� own positionality within epistemic communities and explore implications for collaboration, innovation, and change in HPE.听

Learning Objectives

1. Define the concept of epistemic communities and explain their relevance to health professions education.

2. Reflect on how different ways of knowing can shape HPE for global impact

3. Critically reflect on participants鈥� own positionality within epistemic communities and explore implications for collaboration, innovation, and change in HPE.

Breakdown of 2-hour session

1. For the first hour, Aliki will deliver a lecture she gave in May 2025 as part of her Muriel Drive Memorial Lectureship to the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists titled 鈥�The Knowledge We Hold: Exploring Occupational Therapy's Epistemic Identity and the Balance Between Evidence and Practice.鈥�*

2. During the second hour, we will engage in discussion on the following points:

• In your own HPE context, whose ways of knowing tend to dominate decision-making, curriculum design, or assessment and whose are missing? What are the consequences of that imbalance for learners, patients, or communities?

• Think of a moment when alternative forms of knowledge (experiential, relational, community-based, Indigenous, affective) reshaped or could reshape your educational practice. What barriers keep these knowledge systems from influencing HPE more fully?

• Given your positionality, what responsibilities do you hold for amplifying marginalized ways of knowing within HPE? What practical actions feel possible in your specific sphere of influence?
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* Thomas A. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2025;92(4):258-281. doi: