Hi Everyone!
My name is Mona, I'm a student on the east coast of Canada, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia doing a Master in Public Administration. My previous academic background was also at Dalhousie where I completed the Medical Sciences program. During my time in the Medical Sciences program, I really enjoyed everything I learned about the raw science of health, however, I found many of the humanities courses I took, such as bioethics, global health, and health sociology to be quite enlightening. These courses helped me better grasp how much more complex healthcare was beyond biology and biochemistry. I really wanted to learn more about what non-science factors influence healthcare systems and how they did so. Therefore I pursued a Public Administration degree to learn more about government and how they influence public health.
Currently, I am a full-time student focusing on finishing up my Master's degree and also working part-time as a Teaching Assistant for the Dalhousie Medical Sciences Capstone course. I am hoping to go to Medical School in the future and combine my Medical School degree and my Master's in Public Administration to secure a career in Public Health. I've always been someone who liked to see the bigger picture while still understanding multiple perspectives, which is why Public Health is so interesting to me, it is quite multidisciplinary and has the potential to actively address upstream social determinants of health.
Through my Master's degree, I've had the opportunity to do an internship with the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness where I gained firsthand experience of what it was like to be a part of a provincial government team. In addition to my internship experience, I've also had the opportunity to meet and network with a number of public and private sector employees through various volunteer positions, such as the Public Administration Student Society (PASS) Senior Academic Representative by hosting Lunch and Learn panels, and as a member of the Institute of Public Administration Canada (IPAC).
Outside of school, when I'm not helping my younger siblings (ages 21, 16, and 11) with their homework, if the weather is nice my life consists of visiting the Halifax waterfront as often as possible! I love living on the east coast close to the water, spending time with my friends at a patio on the waterfront or elsewhere in downtown Halifax, and bringing my puppy, Naaga, with me whenever I can (he enjoys all the treats he gets when he goes out). When the weather is chilly I tend to stay indoors and enjoy baking and cooking with friends and family or bingeing a Netflix series at record speed.
In a nutshell, this is me. I could ramble on and eventually script a mini docu-series of my life, but you'll have to stay tuned for that once I've accomplished a little bit more (and Netflix hands me a contract).
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