Aspirations for Higher Education among Newcomer Refugee Youth in Toronto: Expectations, Challenges, and Strategies

A large percentage of refugees have low levels of education and official language fluency upon arrival in Canada. Thi spaper discusses educational goals of newcomer refugee youth from three communities in Toronto (Afghan, Karen, and Sudanese), and explores how these are linked to premigration and post-migration determinants. Guided by community-based research principles, we collaborated with eight refugee youth peer researchers and conducted ten focus groups and thirteen interviews with refugee youth. Results show that newcomer refugee youth develop strong aspirations for higher education in Canada as a proactive response to overcome pre-migration experiences of forced migration and educational disruptions. We then discuss how these youth negotiate educational goals in post-migration context in relation to shifts in family responsibilities and everyday encounter with multiple systemic barriers in Canada. In doing this, we examine the thin line between vulnerability and empowerment that refugee youth straddle and reveal policy gaps and contradictions in the depoliticized humanitarianism within refugee resettlement in Canada.Un grand pourcentage de réfugiés a un faible niveau d’ éducation et une faible connaissance des langues officielles à leur arrivée au Canada. Cet article présente les buts éducationnels des nouveaux jeunes réfugiés de trois communautés de Toronto (afghane, karen et soudanaise) et examine en quoi ceux-ci sont liés à des déterminants pré et postmigration. Suivant des principes de recherche communautaire, nous avons travaillé de concert avec huit jeunes chercheurs de ces communautés, avons tenu dix groupes de discussion et réalisé treize entrevues avec des réfugiés. Les résultats montrent que les nouveaux jeunes réfugiés aspirent fortement à une éducation supérieure au Canada en tant que réponse proactive aux expériences prémigration d’un déplacement forcé et aux interruptions dans leur éducation . Nous examinons ensuite les façons dont les jeunes concilient leurs buts éducationnels dans un contexte postmigration par rapport aux changements dans les responsabilités familiales et aux obstacles systémiques au Canada qui font partie de leur quotidien. Ce faisant, nous étudions la mince ligne entre la vulnérabilité et l’autonomisation que chevauchent ces jeunes et mettons au jour les manques dans les politiques et les contradictions dans l’humanitarisme dépolitisé de la réinstallation des réfugiés au Canada

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020