Community Health and Epidemiology
Queen's UniversityArlinda Ruco
Bachelor of Science Honours Kinesiology,
Queen's University
Why you chose to pursue a Master of Public Health?
I decided to pursue a MPH degree because it is perfectly aligned with my interests in the areas of health, evaluation, research and health promotion. The vast knowledge gained in this type of program can be applied to a multitude of settings and sectors. Moreover, the practicum-based experience is an excellent opportunity to explore different areas of public health, and in my opinion a definite advantage over other Master degree programs that may be strictly thesis-based.
Prior Public Health Experience:
"My prior public health experience has been primarily in physical activity and health promotion. Through undergraduate courses I had the opportunity to design, implement, and evaluate a walking program. Moreover, I have also worked for the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario, Statistics Canada and volunteered with the Sexual Health Resource Centre here at Queen's University."
Public health interests:
"My primary public health interests lie in the areas of chronic disease, physical activity, health promotion and evaluation. Specifically I am interested in how we can adapt current physical activity guidelines to specific disease populations and how we can prescribe exercise for a range of mental health problems. Other interests include the influence of our built environment on obesity and other related conditions."
Practicum Info
| Practicum location: | Public Health Ontario |
| Practicum project title: | Physical Activity Evaluation |
| Potential career interests and/or interest in continuing education: | I am hoping to gain extensive knowledge and experience in the public health field prior to pursuing a PhD. I hope to contribute to the extensive research in the areas of obesity and physical activity and work towards developing physical activity guidelines for different disease populations. |
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Description: The Sparking Life Niagara program is being piloted at two high schools in the Niagara region this academic school year. The program aims to improve learning and academic achievement of identified at-risk youth through daily physical activity. The program is being evaluated to draw conclusions about program outcomes and effects along with identifying recommendations for future uptake of the program. Working along with Public Health Ontario and Niagara Public Health, the evaluation has multiple components including both quantitative and qualitative data analysis such as conducting stakeholder interviews or performing t-tests for matched-pair data to check for significant differences pre and post intervention (which MPH students will remember from their statistics class of course)! Following the evaluation, Arlinda will do a tool revision analysis and come up with suggestions and recommendations to improve the current resources that are being used. The results of the evaluation will be used to apply for a Planning Grant in an effort to bring together experts to help come up with a much more rigorous evaluation design for the program. |
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