Read about what graduates from Health Policy & Management are doing now..... also if you are alumni of the department, we would love to hear from you. Send us your profile info !
Interested in health care planning?
Hope Russell
2004 BHS: Health Policy
2004 HINF: Atkinson
Building better health care systems requires creative planners who look beyond traditional approaches to find build new partnerships and create synergies to maximize the use of health care resources.
Hope Russell is a Planning, Integration and Community Engagement Consultant with Ontario’s Central West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), one of 14 regional LHINs set up by the Ontario government to plan, allocate and coordinate health care resources to meet the specific needs of their communities.
“Part of my job is to help bring together different health service providers and work with them to integrate their services to improve access, capacity and the continuum of care of people in the community,” Hope explains. “It also involves working closely with very diverse communities to identify their health care needs and concerns. Additionally, I am also involved in supporting the province’s priority populations of Aboriginal and Francophone Canadians.”
The key to combining all of these elements is to be challenging and creative. Effective planning requires going beyond initial surface issues to get to the underlying social determinants of health. With regards to improving access to health care services, for example, it’s not just about focusing on current resources and treatments; it also requires addressing social, financial, cultural and other factors that may affect one’s access to health services.
While post-graduate education is usually a requirement for her job, Hope says York’s health studies program provided her with an excellent foundation. “It encourages students to assess things critically and to think outside the box. As well, the program exposes you to provincial and national experts in health policy that are leading the reform of our health care system. Being able to apply that creative thinking approach and knowing who to turn to for expert assistance and advice are both essential to being able to do my job effectively,” Hope says.
Enjoy technology and want work that helps people?
Sadiq Raji
2006 BHS: Health Informatics
Every sector needs technological applications, and health is no different. In fact, the need to move to electronic patient records in Canada and globally, virtually assures students of a job. Employers will be hospitals, information technology and consulting firms, pharmaceutical companies and government organizations such as the Canadian Institute for Health Information, or the provincial government’s SmartSystems for Health.
Perspectives on health policy and health management-which York’s Health Informatics program includes with its core focus on informatics-have proved to be particularly valuable to Sadiq Raji in his job as a Health Human Resources Analyst with the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
“I currently manage the National Regulated Nursing Database, which contains information on supply, demographics, education, employment and mobility trends related to registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses and licensed practical nurses,” Sadiq explains. “We conduct analyses and provide data to governments, regulatory bodies, educational facilities, hospitals and other institutions, and researchers. A knowledge and understanding of health policy and management provides me with a critical, additional context for the work we do with the data itself.”
Sadiq is involved in the database’s production cycle, which includes collecting and processing data, disseminating products and services, and maintaining and enhancing the database itself-which includes combining three previously separate databases into one. In the past, he’s worked on the Clinical Administrative Databases, which include the Discharge Abstract Database and the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System.
For Sadiq, the opportunity to combine interests in health and healthcare, a desire to learn-since graduating from York, he has obtained a masters degree in Health Informatics and an ongoing fascination with information systems, technologies and management in a constantly changing environment continue to make health informatics a rewarding career.
Good with numbers and with people?
Thuy Hoang
2008 BHS (Health Management)
With demand for health care services increasing steadily and the cost of delivering those services already rising faster than the rate of inflation, the sustainability of the health care system depends upon maximizing its efficiency and using funds in the most cost-effective way possible.
"To manage costs effectively, you need to understand them - where funds are being spent, what drives their increases, how much they achieve and so on," explains Thuy Hoang, a Decision Support Analyst in the finance unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Her job involves collecting and maintaining the integrity of clinical and financial data that the hospital and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care use in making a range of management and operation decisions.
"Part of my job involves analyzing patient utilization and staff productivity data in order to develop projections of revenues and expenses for the hospital, an individual care unit or a specific medical procedure," Thuy says. "That type of information is useful, for example, in co-ordinating, facilitating and supporting accessibility for specific patient services." Though she's always had an affinity for numbers and an interest in health care, Thuy's job was not a foregone career destination. She decided to take a variety of summer jobs during university to see what she liked doing best. One summer she worked as a bookkeeper, learning about accounting and finances, another year she worked as an administrator, and after her third year her summer job was as a researcher and team assistant at Community Care
Access Centre. "As it turned out, I liked all my summer jobs," she says, "and they all provided me with skills I use in my current position."
Thuy recommends that current students should also try different jobs - summer, part-time or volunteer - as a way of determining a career path that's best for them. "The challenges to efficiently managing health care operations are only going to increase, and so will the demand for people with the skills to help meet those challenges."
Interested in shaping public policy?
Adam Orfanakos
2007 MA: Critical Disibility
Studying at York helped Adam Orfanakos understand the barriers people with disabilities face when trying to integrate with society. Now while working with the Ombudsman of Ontario, he’s helping remove barriers in Ontario.
Though he has his own disability, it was not until he took York’s Critical Studies in the Field of Disability that Adam Orfanakos says his eyes were really opened to the physical and social barriers that people with disabilities face when trying to integrate personally and professionally with society.
My disability wasn’t that limiting, but others are less fortunate,” Adam explains. “I wanted to study disability in an academic, critical way so I could better understand the issues conceptually in addition to the knowledge I gained through my own experiences.”
Adam’s disabilities studies focused on public policies, specifically those related to employment. While still at York, he put that knowledge to work by becoming involved in various not-for-profit community and volunteer organizations, which he said allowed him to learn more about the community and the people he would eventually be helping as a result of his studies.
Today, Adam is an investigator with the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario. His job is to investigate situations in which a government policy, program or service may have been applied inappropriately. “My role is to determine why a complainant believes they were treated unfairly, and how that affected them,” Adam says. “In that sense, I’m applying my education to examine barriers that people believe may have been created by government.”
Able to combine many talents?
Sheldon Parchment
2007 BHS(Specialized Honours in Health Management)
As a student, Sheldon Parchment benefited from York's multidisciplinary approach, which saw him taught by health promotion experts, nurse educators, medical physicians, policy advisors, financial analysts, and others. It was an ideal preparation for his job as a Community Health and Education Associate with the TEACH Project at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), since his work requires skills from every one of those disciplines.
TEACH-Training Enhancement in Applied Cessation Counselling and Health-provides training for health care professionals who provide counselling services to people who use tobacco. Each year, TEACH (www.teachproject.ca) conducts a series of five-day seminars attended by several hundred clinicians and a major part of Sheldon's job involves coordinating the many logistics to bring those seminars together.
"My job involves everything from course planning and curriculum development to analyzing post-course evaluations," Sheldon says. "It includes working with hotel and other representatives to coordinate the actual events-everything from arranging hotel accommodation, meals, and travel for the attendees to ensuring that the appropriate audio visual support is available during TEACH courses." Another aspect of his role involves coordinating logistics for other TEACH initiatives, one of which included coordinating the filming of a training video for health professionals, which involved facilitating casting calls and even a small acting role.
"When you enter the job market, you need to distinguish yourself from other graduates," Sheldon advises. "Begin early to find employment in your field of interest and do everything you can to get your name and face known to potential employers." He advises volunteering and then networking, networking, networking. "As a student, your goal should be to meet and talk to as many people as possible so you'll have a network of contacts in place when you graduate."
Interested in continuing your studies?
Rahul Mediratta
2007 BHS: Health Policy
Many students want to build further on the education they've obtained at York. Recent alumnus Rahul Mediratta, who planned to go on to graduate studies, won the prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship to attend Oxford University in his last year at York.
Although he had considered a career as a doctor, Rahul's direction became clear in his first health policy class at York. When professor Dennis Raphael, posed the question: "What is the biggest, most direct determinant of personal health? Smoking" No. Exercise" No. Good diet? No." When the professor waved a $20 bill at the class, that single moment completely changed Rahul"s understanding of what health means.
"One reason it affected me so profoundly is I didn't grow up in comfort," Rahul says. "I realized a lot of things would have been easier if our family had been better off."
Rahul has become interested in the political as well as the social determinants of health. Government policies on health care, day care, education and affordable housing have a direct impact on population health.
"What started as an interest in health care has become an interest in the political science of population health," Rahul says.
Rahul's journey is still underway. Currently at Oxford, he plans to return to Canada to contribute to the social well being of our country. He hopes to volunteer with Oxfam Canada, work for a research policy institute, earn a PhD and maybe even run for political office.
Run Your Own Business
Julie Devaney
2001 BA: Political Science
2007 MA: Critical Disibility
Many graduates combine their education with entrepreneurship to operate their own businesses. When it comes to “running their own show,” few do so quite like Julie Devaney.
Julie Devaney has a unique approach to helping healthcare professionals, patient groups and the general public better understand the many social, political, personal and medical issues affecting people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. She has combined her personal experiences, academic knowledge and other insights in a theatrical performance entitled “My Leaky Body” that plays to rave reviews across the country.
“I enjoy using a creative forum to convey my messages,” Julie says. “My performance focuses on the experiences and issues faced by people in hospital and other vulnerable situations that are not always being addressed adequately by the healthcare system.”
Julie’s performance is built, in part, on her own academic studies. She has a Masters in Critical Disabilities Studies, a program she took because of her personal experiences with chronic illness, in which she studied clinical interactions. One of the biggest benefits of York’s program was its interdisciplinary approach.
“Learning from so many different perspectives was one of the most compelling things about York,” Julie says. “Today, I’m comfortable working in every kind of imaginable environment in large part because of my experience working with professors and collaborating with fellow students from a range of different backgrounds. It gave me the skills I need to work with people in all fields.”
A Career in Women's Health
Cheri Glina
2008 BHS: Health Management
In 2008, Cheri Glina was a fourth-year undergraduate student in the School of Health Policy & Management who had already positioned herself for a career in women's health. During the summer, she had volunteered in local hospitals and also worked as a doula to provide non-medical assistance to birthing women. When Professor Peter Tsasis, recommended that she apply for a paid summer research position through the Research at York (RAY) program, Cheri jumped at the chance.
"Working with Professor Tsasis was one of the best experiences I will ever have," says Cheri. "We created a survey to probe the relationship between decreases in epidural rates and the availability of alternative pain management techniques at York Central Hospital. Beyond the research, speaking to women about their birth experiences was really rewarding."
Cheri plans to obtain a master's degree in public health management and open a birthing centre. She can't recommend the RAY program strongly enough. "I was so intimidated when I started, but there's no better way to learn than with a professor standing behind you the whole way," she says. "It gives you the confidence and motivation necessary to succeed as a first-time researcher. Never turn a chance like this down!!"
