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Health Sciences (MSc) Graduate Students

Our Master of Science in Health Sciences (MSc) program is designed to provide you with an interdisciplinary cell-to-society approach to the health sciences with a focus on completing a Master’s thesis project. In order to provide a diverse cohort of students with a rigorous and tailored education, our program has few core courses while requiring students to take electives suited to the theoretical and methodological foci of their thesis research. Students in both fields will also have the opportunity for significant laboratory/research group experiences and intensive mentoring by a direct supervisor.

Funding

Teaching Assistantships

A full 1.0-credit teaching assistantship (TA) is 130 hours of work in a term, including any preparatory time required by the student.

A 0.5-credit TA is 65 hours of work in a term, including any preparatory time required by the student.

Instructors are responsible for ensuring that teaching assistants (TAs) work no more than the required number of hours and that all work is related to the course.

Work can entail laboratory teaching, marking, exam proctoring, laboratory preparation, etc.

Other Funding Opportunities

About the Program

Mission Statement

We aim to promote an enhanced intellectual climate for students using interdisciplinary approaches to research. Using a cell-to-society framework, our students will push the boundaries of how theory and methods are applied to specific topics in the health sciences and how scientific knowledge can be developed to address social problems. Students will conduct research in novel ways that forge new paths in areas of research where there is little and/or much-needed Canadian work

Objectives

  • Explore the complexity of health challenges and solutions from interdisciplinary perspectives
  • Produce knowledge that is relevant to communities and other knowledge users (e.g., policy makers, scientists, industry, clinicians)
  • Contribute to innovative solutions to complex health problems through collaboration with knowledge users
  • Prepare for research, policy, and service provision careers in the broader health sector and/ or opportunities for further graduate or professional education
  • Engage in fostering and promoting an inclusive community where all disciplines are respected, and where equity and diversity principles are actively promoted

Core Competencies

  • Demonstrate knowledge of a cell-to-society perspective where factors that contribute to health are examined from biological to social perspectives
  • Identify and utilize methods from a range of traditions and contribute to methodological innovation in understanding and solving complex health problems
  • Demonstrate methodological competence and theoretical rigour through undertaking independent research (i.e., a thesis project) including proposal development, data collection and analysis, and scientific writing
  • Evaluate and identify from the range of approaches to facilitate knowledge translation and mobilization activities in an appropriate manner to targeted audiences
  • Demonstrate an understanding of cultural humility and an appreciation for issues relevant to community audiences throughout the research process