As a professor at a major university, I am always interested in creative teaching situations.

One such opportunity came with an invitation to join a group of journalism students from the University of British Colombia’s School of Journalism on a trip to the Ukraine. Under the guidance of Peter Klein, a award winning journalist and a former 60 minutes producer, students of the International Reporting Program work on a Global issue of significance. This year they chose the global story of untreated pain.

It was an honor and privilege to work with them, they learning about palliative care from me and I learning so much about Journalism from them.  Communication was in fact the area of great overlap, with that being an area of critical importance to both fields.

The documentary premiered on Al Jazeera English last night in their program “People and Power.”   I encourage you to watch this documentary, share it with your colleagues, administrators, government officials and your students.  These UBC students are clearly making a difference!!!

The film can be seen below or at  Al Jazeera:
(Dec 20 2015 update: the first 2 minutes really illustrates the ongoing situation of pain relief for cancer patients around the world, including India).

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/peopleandpower/2011/07/2011720113555645271.html or through the Al Jazeera English YouTube Channel.