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2015
Public Health 2015: Connections, commendations and climate change
October 15, 2015
Climate change is no doubt the most important issue we as students and young professionals will tackle in our lifetime. It will affect the way we practice public health and the way we conduct our day-to-day lives. The Public Health 2015 conference heavily emphasized the environmental determinants of health, both with the release of a new discussion paper on the Ecological Determinants of Health and with the first plenary session, entitled Public health in the Anthropocene: Responding to the ecological determinants of health. The conversation at the conference included a discussion of health challenges in the face of climate change and resource depletion, adopting an ecosocial approach to health, and integrating the environmental determinants with the social determinants. We look forward to continuing this conversation into the future.Voting as a health promotion intervention
October 15, 2015
As the federal election approaches, it is becoming increasingly apparent that this year we are witnessing a tight three-way race. This means that the outcome could be decided by a relatively small number of ballots. Therefore, I would like to offer some thoughts to other students and emerging professionals within the field of public health: it is critical that young Canadians vote this year. During the last federal election, Canadians aged 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 years had the lowest and second-lowest voter turnout, respectively. Further, young Canadians who were completing (or who had completed) post-secondary degrees were less likely to have voted than older Canadians with similar levels of education. I could not find data describing the turnout for students in the health professions, but if you are not yet convinced that you should cast a ballot this year, I would encourage you to think of voting as a health promotion intervention.Reflections on the first year of work
May 6, 2015
I graduated in May 2014 from my Masters of Public Health at McGill. After 20 years of full-time education, it was time to enter the workforce. I began working as the Research Coordinator for the Old Brewery Mission, a homeless shelter in Quebec. As spring approaches, I can look back on this first working year and share some observations and insights.2014
Reflections from an MPH Practicum in Global Health Policy
January 31, 2014
This past summer, I had the privilege of pursuing my practicum with the People’s Health Movement (PHM): a global network of civil society organizations, health activists, professionals, and students. As a movement, PHM is horizontal in structure and is composed of over 70 country “circles” (national networks of activists that organize together), a series of regional networks, several campaign circles, and a global secretariat. PHM organizes at the grassroots and policy levels to promote Health for All and address inequities in health through a social determinants approach.