The Master's Chronicles

FINAL SYNTHESIS BLOG POST As the course draws to an end and reflections are being made, the topics of each week leading up to this point have broadened my understanding as it pertains to the foundations of health. Each week built upon the previous week’s information and helped to form the image that health is a multi-factorial concept, that is continuously evolving and that may not present the same for everyone. I have provided a synthesis of the major topics covered through this course with embedded links to my previously posted blogs about the topic. Background and Profession As a nuclear medicine technologist , I act as a direct patient care provider in my clinical setting. I utilize radiopharmaceuticals in order to assess the function of organs through imaging techniques. I work in the Canadian healthcare system where public access to healthcare services are the responsibility of the provincial governments. This in turn can cause discrepancies in what is accessible an...

Reflections (Chen, 2017) I chose to do my master’s because of a drive for “greater”. My mother has always instilled the value of education in me from a young age. As an intrinsically motivated person, I decided it was time to increase my knowledge and my potential. Throughout this course, the value of personal, professional and academic reflection has been shown to be very important. In the words of Peter Drucker, “Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” What a journey this has been! The beginning of the MHST601 course found me in Windsor, Ontario living away from my fiancé due to work. A few weeks after the start of the course, I drove three days back to Moncton, NB on my own to re-join him prior to our move to Edmonton, AB. By the end of the semester, I have settled into my new home in Edmonton while adjusting to a new work environment. Professional Reflection This course has taught me the...

Immigrant Health in Canada Canada is a country that is often thought to be an inviting place, with freedoms and accessibilities not granted as readily in other countries. Many may consider it the “nicer” of the two main North American countries. As an immigrant to the country, I chose Canada as a place to further my education and I chose to stay because I felt like it was where I was meant to be right now. Canada has seen an influx in the number of immigrants entering the country. In fact, 2016 saw the highest number of immigrants since 2000 with over 323,000 persons. That year 157, 990 men and 165,183 women entered and 2017 had 131,753 men and 140, 913 women immigrating. (Statista, 2017) Persons may enter the country through various ways, including:           International Students           Temporary Workers           Live-in Caregiver           Refugees ...

This post is a more refined version of " A Socio-Ecological Approach to Renal Failure" found here to satisfy the requirements of assignment two for the MHST601 course through Athabasca University. An Overview of Health and Its Determinants The understanding of health has evolved into a multi-factorial concept. It is a concept influenced by several determinants such as; the social and economic environment, the physical environment, and the person’s individual characteristics and behaviours (World Health Organization, n.d.). (Social Ecological Model of Public Health, n.d.) Persons who have CKD can be assessed using this model. The socio-ecological model of health often contains four or five main levels:  Individual level (Intrapersonal) ,  Interpersonal level ,  Community level  and the  Societal/Policy level . An  Organizational level  may be grouped together with either the Community level or Society level.     Microsystem ...