Faculty of Health Sciences
MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Health Sciences. Building on an already sterling reputation, the Faculty has shown exceptional growth in recent years both in terms of innovative programming and student population. It is now considered among the foremost of health sciences faculties in the country. Novel programs in Health Sciences and Nutrition are now offered in addition to those in Human Kinetics, Nursing and Rehabilitation Sciences. It is our mission not only to continue to train students considered to be among the best in the country, but also to revolutionize the inter-professional training of highly qualified health professionals who can respond effectively and sensibly to the imperatives of a rapidly evolving health-care delivery system.
The School of Human Kinetics has sought out and hired many young, world-renowned scientists and researchers. Their role is to actively engage students to join them in their search for new knowledge and thus encourage the pursuit of in-depth knowledge and skill in the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs. State-of-the-art thinking in state-of-the-art facilities for the study of human movement and health promotion is truly an unbeatable combination.
The School of Nursing has hired several new professors to meet the demands of the newly re-designed curriculum. The program now includes internships and practical experiences in literally every medical specialization. As well, the program makes the most of the proximity of Ottawa-area hospitals and clinics in offering practical rotations in many areas of specialization. The School of Nursing also offers a nationally ranked doctoral program, as well as a Nurse Practitioner master’s program for those wishing to learn beside some of the best professors in the country.
In response to the changing demands for health- care delivery, all of the School of Rehabilitation Sciences’ programs are now offered only at the graduate level. The young, energetic staff is heavily involved in cutting-edge research in a variety of program areas, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology and audiology. In training some fifty graduates every year, the programs now better respond to the need for unmatched rehabilitation care in all of these specialties.
With the launch of our graduate certificate in auditory-verbal studies, designed to give students a solid foundation in the development of communications skills for children with hearing impairments, and of our doctoral program in rehabilitation sciences, the School is now poised to provide highly specialized and research-oriented training.
The Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, established in February 2010 and home to the bachelor of health sciences, is also designing new master’s and doctoral programs. The new school thus promises to respond even more effectively the many needs of the hundreds of students eager to tackle the complex issues in the health care system.
Finally, in the nutrition sciences program, students will be able to combine theoretical concepts from the classroom with clinical training in the field thanks to the array of internship opportunities available. This young and rapidly expanding program, whose professors are actively involved in research, will have its very first graduating class in 2010-2011.
In these exciting times of innovation and growth, please share my excitement and become part of the revolution driving every aspect of the health-care delivery system in Ontario and Canada.
Denis Prud'homme, MD, MSc
Dean