Resident Doctor, Department of Internal Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
What did you like most about your MPHprogram?
The opportunity to get familiar with many aspects of population health was what I liked most about my MPH program. From learning how environment’s design affects health outcomes, to understanding how low socioeconomic status is a predictive of poor health outcomes and ways to change that to doing my graduation project on how screening for cardiovascular risk factors in the underserved populations can potentially improve their health outcomes. The MPH program opened doors for my professional growth and development. It taught me what is beyond treating one disease in one person. It emphasized health promotion and disease prevention, which in my opinion, should be every doctor’s aspiration.
Please provide a description of what you’re doing now and what you like best about it.
As a Resident doctor, one of my primary responsibilities is diagnosing patients’ medical problems and devising appropriate management and treatment plans. In internal medicine, we treat patients for a wide-spectrum of diseases including hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease and variety of infections. When needed, we have access to multiple specialists to help manage more complicated cases. During our on-call shifts, we manage deteriorating patients and run Code blue situations (when a patient has no pulse/breathing). Best part of my work is that I can help people and by doing a good job, I can see the results occur in real-time. It is very fulfilling to go to bed every night knowing that at the end of the day I helped make someone’s life better.
What advice would you give to prospective and current MPH/MSPH students looking to do something similar to you?
If you are concerned about our current health outcomes, about the high prevalence of chronic illnesses especially among the underserved populations, if you agree that we need to do more in health promotion and disease prevention and if you are willing to dedicate the time and effort to do something about it, MPH is the degree for you! Meeting new people from various backgrounds, learning about different cultures and enjoying Florida’s sunny weather is certainly a bonus.
