Learning and contributing at Schouela CEDurable

Practical learning at DURAgym

Laurence Dion-Pétrin is undertaking a sexology internship at DURAgym, working with Hussein Samhat. A bachelor’s student in sexology at UQAM, she brings five years of experience as a personal support worker with older adults. Her placement focuses on sexual health and well-being in the context of ageing and frailty.

Melissa Chacon Morritt is a final-year kinesiology student at Université de Montréal and is completing a geriatric internship at DURAgym under Hussein Samhat. She is deepening her knowledge of geriatric intervention and developing practical skills for her future work in healthcare. Her interests centre on movement, autonomy and quality of life, with an emphasis on person-centred care.

Mariam Mansour, a third-year kinesiology student at McGill University, is also undertaking an internship at DURAgym under Hussein Samhat. She is gaining practical experience in exercise prescription and supporting older adults. With a strong interest in healthcare, she wants to use what she learns to help people maintain their mobility and independence.

Observing geriatric medicine

Hinata Imoto is a third-year medical student at Tohoku University’s School of Medicine. He is undertaking an observership in geriatric medicine under Dr. Gustavo Duque.

Maylle Rebelo Marcolino is undertaking an observership under Dr. Gustavo Duque. She is a final-year geriatrics resident at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Brazil. Her clinical training focuses on comprehensive care of older adults, with particular interests in complex geriatric conditions and multidisciplinary approaches to ageing.

Clinical experience and research

Dr. Qingqing Dai is undertaking a research internship at Schouela CEDurable under Dr. Gustavo Duque. In Beijing, she is Associate Chief Physician and Deputy Director of the Department of Geriatrics at Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, as well as Associate Professor and master’s supervisor at Tsinghua University School of Medicine. Her clinical and research interests include cognitive-impairment management in primary care, assessment of sarcopenia and frailty, and medicine–engineering collaboration on geriatric health-assessment technologies.

Tal Mekori is a Research Fellow at Schouela CEDurable, where Dr. Gustavo Duque supervises his research work. He is also a Clinical Fellow in the Geriatric Division at the Jewish General Hospital, working under Dr. Elise Levinoff and Dr. Gustavo Duque. His background includes internal-medicine residency and geriatric fellowship training at Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, followed by work as an attending physician and teacher of medical students.

In a separate clinical research project at a Montréal teaching hospital, Tal Mekori works under Dr. Elise Levinoff on activities aligned with the World Health Organization’s Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) approach. His work includes translating clinical questionnaire items into Quebec French, developing animated instructions for a chair sit-to-stand assessment and evaluating cognitive assessment tools. He is also conducting a structured literature review on artificial intelligence in medical education.

Explore a placement with Schouela CEDurable

If you are interested in ageing research and would like to explore a placement at Schouela CEDurable, we invite you to get in touch. For an internship, use the expression-of-interest form on our Get Involved page to tell us about your background, research interests and what you would like to learn or contribute.

To discuss a research stay, you can also write to the Centre at contact@cedurable.ca.