Advocating Change with Ban Haider: Part 1 Inclusive Practices

Dr Ban Haider was nominated by colleagues for an Education Excellence award in relation to a sustained commitment to Inclusive Education. From that nomination, Ban was then selected to receive the Vice Chancellors Prize. Ban’s EDI projects involve inclusive education strategies, tackling sexual misconduct, race equality, along with mental health awareness in healthcare workers and patients. Examples of her projects include incorporating resources for neurodiverse students with help from Autistic Doctors International.

Student Advisor Equity Champions Becky Kemp Arnold, Kiranjit Khera & Natasha Wollen interviewed Ban to find out more about the inclusive clinical practice work she has done.

A day in the life of Ban Haider

Each working day for Ban looks so different. Ban broadly splits her days between medical education and working as a Senior GP in both a diverse and structurally disadvantaged area of Wandsworth where she is a GP Partner for 5,500 patients.

Ban has channelled her open-mindedness and empathy into her work from teaching primary-care related content to Year 4 medical students, to working on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) projects across the university as the Associate Dean for Culture and Development.

Here are some tips for embedding inclusive practices:

Adopt an Intersectional Approach

Ban emphasises the significance of intersectionality when tackling EDI principles. To strive towards inclusive practice, you must remain open and informed about the range of barriers that patients can face. This includes social, cultural and psychological factors that can influence patients experiences within healthcare and lead to varied clinical manifestations.

General practitioners care for a very diverse range of patient demographics, with each person facing their own obstacles. Each patient narrative offers an opportunity for learning and reflection about health inequalities, as keeping your knowledge of systemic inequalities and social support available in the community can be as relevant as having up-to-date clinical knowledge. This will help to implement practice which is accessible and inclusive of patients from every background. One example of this is the need to improve healthcare for trans+ patients as this is an area where clinicians and support staff can lack in education.

Put inclusivity at the heart of your practice

Never stop realising the importance of your own identity and use this as motivation to not compromise who you are or what you do. The individual perspectives that we share and learn about can add so much value to the communities we work with. Never be afraid to unlearn things as we navigate our way through educational, clinical and scientific settings. As time progresses, and knowledge deepens and widens, we all may realise there are new and more effective and inclusive ways to practice. Have humility and don’t be embarrassed to admit when you are wrong!

Be honest with yourself

The importance of being honest with yourself, through reflecting on and recognising your own limits was emphasised. If you are feeling overwhelmed or burnt out, know that it is ok to ask for help. None of us our superhuman and we build resilience through supporting each other and being kind to ourselves.

Have a support network

Have a support network and knowing when you need to access it. Ban is hopeful that as awareness of experiencing mental health challenges as a healthcare professional continue to rise, more supportive systems and policies will be put into place to improve wellbeing measures in all settings. Always remember you are not alone, talk about it and take holidays when you can!

‘Remember, a period of illness does not need to stop you from working. With the right help and support you can come out the other side and, if anything, be better at your job because you have had this period of empathy.’

See details below of current resources available for SGUL students Student support (sgul.ac.uk)

Written by Becky Kemp Arnold, Kiranjit Khera & Natasha Wollen

Resources:

Student support (sgul.ac.uk)

Neurodiversity (sgul.ac.uk)

If you are interested in working on collaborative projects, please get in touch with studentadvisors@sgul.ac.uk 

Visit the Inclusive education toolkit (sgul.ac.uk) for more ideas on inclusive practices.

References:

1. Autistic Doctors International [Internet]. [cited 2023 Aug 17]. Available from: https://autisticdoctorsinternational.com