School of Rural and Northern Health, Laurentian University

1
School of Rural and Northern Health, Laurentian
University

• Helping to build a strong and healthy future for
  our rural and northern communities through
  collaborative research and education

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A Creative Idea... 

• The School of Rural and Northern Health is
  situated within the Faculty of Professional
  Schools at Laurentian University.
• Director Dr. Nancy Lightfoot
• Faculty Members include Dr. Raymond Pong,
• Dr. Elizabeth Wenghofer, Dr. Nancy Young, Dr.
  Diana Coholic, Dr. Lorraine Carter
• The school is home to the Interdisciplinary PhD
  Program in Rural and Northern Health.

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Interdisciplinary PhD in Rural and Northern Health

• Purpose to offer health research training to
  highly qualified students and to enhance health
  research and educational resources in rural and
  northern communities
• The program is a collaboration of five
  health-related schools at Laurentian University
• Human Kinetics
• Medicine
• Midwifery
• Nursing
• Social Work

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Additional Support for the PhD Program

• Faculty in the program come from a broad range of
  other disciplines including the Faculties of
  Social Sciences, Humanities, and Science and
  Engineering
• The program is also linked with various research
  centres and activities at LU
• the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research
  (CRaNHR)
• the Universitys Canada Research Chair in Rural
  and Northern Childrens Health

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Key Components of the PhD Program

• The Interdisciplinary PhD program
• is based on an interdisciplinary framework
• focuses on two main streams
• health policy
• health services

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Admission Requirements

• Principles
• strong academic track record
• excellent fit with the program
• proposed research project relevant to rural/
  northern health
• appropriate supervisor
• foundational knowledge of health research methods

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Admission Requirements cont

• Prerequisites
• a Masters degree from a recognized university
  with a minimum average of B
• Strongly encouraged to have successfully
  completed
• one course in statistics
• one course in research methodology
• one or more courses in the social and/or health
  sciences

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Application Packages

• All applications must be submitted according to
  the policies of the School of Graduate Studies
  (SGS) via the Registrars Office using the forms
  provided by that office.
• deadline January 31
• official transcripts required from all
  post-secondary institutions
• program-specific requirements

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Program-specific Requirements

• a current curriculum vitae
• three letters of reference
• description of proposed research program
• outline of proposed thesis project, including
  rationale and a draft of proposed methods in
  lt1000 words
• personal statement
• summary of relevant academic experience,
  explanation of choice of program, identification
  of supervisor in lt500 words
• a copy of one publication or other written work
  for which the applicant is the principal author

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Program-specific Requirements cont

• Note
• All applicants are encouraged to contact a
  potential supervisor before applying for
  admission and identify him/her in the application
  as whenever possible.

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Admission Process

• one admission cycle per year
• submissions made to Registrars Office by January
  31
• complete applications reviewed by Admissions
  Committee
• short list of applicants identified and
  interviewed
• final recommendations made by the Program and
  approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies
• students informed by the Registrars Office
• classes begin in September

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We are Proud of our Students!!

• 2006 Alain Gauthier, Denise Gauthier- Frohlick,
  Karen Rebeiro-Gruhl
• 2007 Kristy Gervais, Steven Kusan, Arshi Shaikh
  
• 2008 Robert Gause, Susan Manitowabi, Stephen
  Ritchie, Sylvie Rivard
• 2009 Tim Dube, Mary Beth Gibbons, Sean
  Lougheed, Lorrilee McGregor, Behdin Nowrouzi,
  Roger Pilon
• Alain Gauthier was our first graduate in 2009.

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The Program Courses

• IRNH/ISRN 6000 (6 credits)
• Thesis
• IRNH/ISRN 6105 (6 credits)
• Interdisciplinary Northern Rural Health
  Practice, Research and Policy Issues
• IRNH/ISRN 6056 (3 credits)
• Research Seminar/Methods
• IRNH/ISRN 6057 (3 credits)
• Research Seminar/Methods Part II
• IRNH/ISRN 6134 (elective credits)
• Topics in Interdisciplinary PhD Studies including
  Comps Preparation)
• IRNH/ISRN 6144 (elective credits)
• Teaching in Higher Education

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Additional Courses

• Other course work may be taken through programs
  that offer courses at the Masters level (5000 or
  above). The programs that may be considered are
• Human Kinetics Engineering
• Nursing Biology
• Social Work Chemistry Biochemistry
• Psychology Business Administration
• Service Social History
• Applied Physics Human Development
• Sociology Human Studies

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Courses Offered Outside Laurentian University
cont

• students registered in the Type 2 Diploma in
  Health Services/Health Policy through the Ontario
  Training Centre (OTC) may enroll for courses at
  an OTC member university.
• members include Lakehead University, McMaster
  University, University of Ottawa, University of
  Toronto, and York University

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Courses offered outside Laurentian University
cont

• in consultation with his/her supervisor, a
  student not registered in OTC may take a limited
  course work at another university provided that
  similar courses are not offered by Laurentian and
  that a mutually acceptable arrangement can be
  established between the two institutions
• the School of Graduate Studies must be informed
  of such arrangements

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Supervision

• Supervisory committee
• primary supervisor
• accredited by SGS and the program
• 2 or 3 supervisory committee members
• accredited by the Program
• one may be from another university
• Role
• provide guidance in course selection
• guide the development of the thesis
• assist with funding applications

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Comprehensive Examinations

• Students must pass their Comprehensive
  Examinations within 24 months after starting the
  program. Preparation requires 2 to 3 months of
  intensive study.
• Prerequisites
• successful completion of all required courses
• approval from supervisory committee
• Components
• written component
• three questions
• thesis proposal
• oral presentation and defense of the above

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Thesis Requirements

• In addition to course work, students must
  complete a PhD thesis which must be orally
  defended
• original piece of research
• relevant to rural or northern health
• represents an advancement in theoretical
  understanding and has practical relevance to the
  target population
• Document may take one of two formats
• traditional book format
• combination of an introduction, three papers, and
  a discussion/conclusion section

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Sample Time Line

• Year 1 Course Work Funding Applications
• Year 2 Proposal Writing Comprehensive
  Exams Ethics Approval
• Year 3 Data Collection
• Year 4 Publications Defense

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Funding Options

• Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA)
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)
• Ontario Training Centre (OTC)
• CIHR Studentship / Fellowship / STIHRs
• SSHRC Studentship
• CNFS Award
• MASHA Award
• Private Foundation Competitions
• Topic-specific Awards
• Research Assistant Jobs
• Operating Grants

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For Further Information

• www.laurentian.ca/Laurentian/Home/Departments/PhD
  inRuralandNorthernHealth/
• srnh_at_laurentian.ca
• 705-675-1151 or 1-800-461-4030
• We would love to hear from you!!