My Reflection On Health And Health Education In Canada

As I reflect on my path through the MPH program, it is hard to believe how far I came, how much I learned, and how this well-designed, multi-disciplinary, professional course has changed my perspectives on health and well-being.

My initial decision to apply for the MPH program in the University of Saskatchewan was simply because of my background in medicine, and my desire to contribute to people’s health at the population level, especially among the marginalized and underserved groups.

My mission is to utilize the knowledge and skills I learned through my MPH graduate studies to make a difference in the public health field. I am passionate about engagement with disadvantaged and marginalized populations to learn about their needs and assets,

In addition, I gained necessary skills to apply those sciences to practice and be able to conduct research to pursue further learnings in the future.

Community assessment is a key component in creating effective public health actions. Participating in a community-based project for my health promotion classes on Exercise Is Medicine Initiative in the University of Saskatchewan, helped me develop skills to recognize a health concern or issue, and subsequently collect appropriate data and facts on that issue. Furthermore, I was able to analyze information, generate reports and provide recommendations. These were best illustrated in my health promotion project.

Effective program planning will serve to improve the health and social conditions of disadvantaged communities. Moreover, in the public health field, the evaluation of social programs is imperative to find out if programs have been successful in achieving their desired goals. For the health program planning and evaluation courses, our group of MPH students developed a logic model and program evaluation tool for a Community-based Childcare Services which showcased our assessment and analysis as well as program planning, implementation and evaluation

This was a 16 weeks hands-on experience which took place at the Enhanced Surveillance Section of Public Health Agency of Canada in Ottawa. During this time, I was fortunate to work among and learn from a diverse, intelligent and very talented group of professionals in the public health sector. My practicum experience provided me with a tremendous opportunity to gain further insight into some of the principles of surveillance systems and their operations, as well as the challenges involved in conducting population-based public health initiatives at the national level. My main task was to prepare a written report on the process of the development of the national indicators for the HIV care cascade. Throughout my practicum, I found multiple opportunities to further develop my skills to master core competencies in public health. Of note, I had a chance on two separate occasions to present the results of my work and lead the discussions on one of those sessions. This enabled me to further improve on my leadership skills while sharing knowledge and experience results of my work, and also polish my communication and partnership