Community Health and Epidemiology
Queen's UniversityOsama Berrada
Honours Bachelor in Health Sciences,
University of Ottawa
Why you chose to pursue a Master of Public Health?
"The reason I chose to pursue a Master of Public Health was a reflection of my values. Becoming a public health professional would equip me with the necessary skills/knowledge to be able to help people make informed decisions on how to stay healthy. The thought was empowering and fulfilling."
Prior public health experience:
My initial public exposure was during the H1N1 epidemic when I worked at Ottawa's Queensway-Carleton Hospital as part of the Infection Prevention and Control team. That was followed by work at Corrections Service Canada in the Public Health division; here, I was part of the Epidemiology and Surveillance team as an Infectious Diseases Specialist responsible for the registration and surveillance of delinquent medical reports, especially STD information. I later worked at the Public Health Agency of Canada as a Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Surveillance Officer; my most notable involvement was in the surveillance and reporting of Quebec's Measles outbreak of 2011.
Public health interests:
My public health interests revolve around the subject of potable water related health issues.
Practicum Info
| Practicum location: |
Canadian Forces Health Services Directorate, Department of National Defence. |
| Practicum project title: | Conducting a risk assessment of the potable water produced aboard ships using reverse osmosis technology. |
| Potential career interests and/or interest in continuing education: |
Once completed with my Master of Public Health, I look forward to applying for a PhD in Epidemiology/Population Health. |
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Description: Osama is working on three separate projects. 1) Conducting a risk assessment on the production of shipboard water in Littoral Zones. This has potential for publication; 2) Providing source water quality reports to various Canadian Forces bases in case they need to produce water in emergency situations. This is an internal information report, and; 3) Exploring the possibility of using GIS to plot temporal and spatial air quality data from Afghanistan with a main focus on Kabul and the capital region. The basic air quality variables are measurement levels of PM10, PM2.5, metals, and VOCs taken sporadically. The goal would be to map out spatial and temporal trends in air quality as well as displaying a visual overlay of regional air quality over Canadian Forces personnel places of work, training, and residence. This also has a potential for publication. |
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