Work - The Real Reason I’m Here

GA Days 70-76 (Feb 10 - 16, 2024). Looking back on my posts I have shared a lot about my experiences of being in Brazil, but have not covered much related to my modus operandi in being here - work! Oh, yes…I have been putting in time for meetings, networking, and preparation for my first workshops. But also I have been trying to keep abreast of my admin and project work for my UM and other commitments. I have finally found my routine groove to ensure a balance of exercise, work, and social that seems to be working rather well. Blogging has suffered a bit but one cannot fit everything in. One thing that I have noticed is how quickly time has been flying by.

Since arriving 5 weeks ago I have met a fair number of faculty from within nursing and other departments. Everyone has been extremely warm and welcoming; to the point it is a good thing that I am a hugger - hugs are a big thing here. And with each meeting there has been a genuine mutual interest in learning about the other, sharing ideas, and getting creative in thinking to future opportunities. While language does occasionally pose a challenge, there is always a way around the barrier - Google translate works well with Wifi connection (as does the one AI app I often use) and, because healthcare and research has its own lexicon, there is sometimes a basic understanding that transcends language. Oh, and the constant signing and gesticulating. It is because of the commonalities in academia and healthcare that I have found it easy to communicate on many topics - social determinants of health, basic healthcare structures, community health, and many other interests.

Last week was a busy and productive one in the lead up to carnaval. I had a meeting with the editor of the local journal Texto & Contexto to talk about the journal’s mandate and opportunities to work with the editorial board. It was fascinating to learn that, unlike our universities in Canada, that almost all faculties and major departments have their own peer-reviewed journals - UFSC apparently has 45 of them. While there are some journals attached to universities in Canada, the more widely recognized are affiliated with major publishing companies like Wiley, Elsevier, and Taylor & Francis. Although many of the publications are in Portuguese, this journal also accepts Spanish and English submissions. The end result of the meeting was an invitation to be associate editor (for the English submissions) and to write an editorial piece on environmental scans that has become one of my specialty areas (and one of the reasons I am here). I think that this will be an interesting undertaking, especially as I have a fair amount of experience reviewing articles and currently sit on the editorial boards of two other journals.

My first workshop presentation was also last week - a 2-hour session on how to plan and implement environmental scans in the context of health services. This is an area I have been working on with a core research group across several universities. On the Tuesday just prior to this workshop one of our research articles had been published, the third in a series of what shall be at least five publications (one is currently in the hopper and the other will likely get started in the Fall). There ended up being 25 participants in the session, a mix of faculty and graduate students (masters and PhD) - this was an extraordinary draw given that it is technically summer break and many people are still on vacation. As usual, I started out quite nervous with my presentation…not so much stage fright but more concerned about whether I had adapted sufficiently to language barrier (there was a range of English-speaking abilities). Because much of the academic materials used by faculty and students is English, there was already a bit of a system where groups would help each other with explanations. I did not know this until the first participants showed up and so used a strategy of speaking slower with frequent pauses to allow translation to take place. The other option students had was to translate my PDFs from English to Portuguese.

The one thing that I did know going into this presentation is that environmental scans were not really known or utilized in Brazil. This meant that I was starting with introducing basic knowledge on an essentially new methodological approach; daunting given that execution could mean the difference between increased adoption and uptake or overwhelming and creating confusion. By all accounts, my debut ended up well-received with some great questions, an enthusiastic interest in the topic, and some people wanting to learn more. Next up…the first of my 2-part workshops on planning and conducting a scoping review.

  When originally conceptualizing the scoping review workshops the intention was for one session to be focused on the theory and practicalities of planning and implementing a review; the second session was intended to be a practical session of developing a research question and a protocol  to guide the review process. Similar to the previous presentation on environmental scans, one of my scoping review articles was published just days before the workshop was to happen - pretty amazing to have something “hot off the press” to back up one’s presentation.  There was a snafu with the technology to start the session and, then, a challenge with the timing (something that was missed in the original planning 🙄). So, it was necessary to just go with the flow…and not get flustered in front of 35 people (yes, another great turnout mainly of grad students but lots of faculty, as well). Once things got sorted out it was off to the races - speak slowly and with enthusiasm, monitor the reactions of the crowd, and hope all made sense. Things went smoothly and there was a lot of interest from the participants with many great questions being asked. While some people needed to leave at noon (2 hours in), I needed a bio break, and we were only halfway through the materials (I had planned, as recommended, 2 hours of content x 2 for translation) we decided, as a group, that the last half of the materials would become Workshop #2 . 

At the end of this workshop, there was some great conversation as faculty and students came up to chat further and, of course, hug.  I was quite humbled by the very positive response and the genuine appreciation of my work here - quite frankly, I have not experienced anything like this since leaving UNB and the work we did with the Mawoluhkhotipon program. And it is not like I need a gold star or accolades for everything that I do, but after four years of banging my head against a wall with little support or recognition of any kind since 2020, I am realizing that there are environments where one can feel valued and respected. Between knowing that I can make a contribution that is appreciated and my long walks with much opportunity to process and reflect, I am reimagining what possibilities lie ahead for me - it may very well be time for a change. This was highlighted when I met with the chief editor of the journal I shall begin being an associate editor for and she indicated she would like to discuss me being part of a committee for a graduate student who now wants to do an environmental scan. As well, to round out this week, I have shored up a trip to the Federal University of Rio de Janiero to meet and present to their faculty and graduate students - we have a meeting on Monday to solidify the plans but having already connected with one person there it seems there is much interest in my work there.