Department Overview

The Department of Community Health and Epidemiology (CH&E) located in the Royal University Hospital at the University of Saskatchewan was founded in 1959-60 as the Department of Social and Preventative Medicine. Over the years, along with a name change in 1988, it has developed and expanded into a vibrant department with
     16 departmental faculty members,
     14 associate faculty members,
     50+ graduate students.
It is affiliated with 6 research units, also located in the Royal University Hospital or in Innovation Place, and has forged partnerships with multiple provincial and federal health service programs.

Programs

Program name changed to Community and Population Health Science

• The MSc program in Community and Population Health Science prepares students for academic careers, including pursuit of doctoral studies, or to work in a variety of research-intensive environments   more....  
• The PhD program in Community and Population Health Science is designed with considerable flexibility, recognizing that students come to the population health field with diverse backgrounds  more... 
• The  Collaborative Biostatistics Program is a collaborative venture of the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Through classroom participation, laboratory sessions, biostatistical consulting opportunities with core faculty members, and research, MSc and PhD students will have opportunity to explore developments in theoretical statistics and the application of this theory in the life sciences.  more...
  
• Public Health and Preventive Medicine Residency Program
  The residency program is a medical postgraduate training program leading to Royal College certification as a specialist in Public Health and Preventive Medicine (formerly Community Medicine).  This is the specialty that focuses on the health of populations, on prevention, health promotion and health protection, using epidemiology and data analysis as its basic science.
  
• Making the Links - A Global Health Certificate A new program offered by the College of Medicine for undergraduate medical students that combines academic courses and service learning experiences in marginalized under-served communities locally and globally
  
  
  

Admissions

Master and PhD students will be admitted ONLY in the Fall term, although occasional exceptions may be made.  In order to be considered for Fall Admission, we must have your complete application by January 15 of the same year.

• Please note: you are responsible for ensuring that all application materials are received by the relevent deadline.
• Students will be notified regarding their application by April 30
• This decision will be communicated to the student and the College of Graduate Studies and Research.

Seminars

Departmental Seminars and "Work in Progress Seminars" are held Mondays throughout the academic year. CH&E students are required to attend.

• CHEP 990 Seminars
• Other Seminars

Interesting reads

Read the Communique Spring 2011 edition and a feature on health training in French promoting better access to health services for the minority official language community in Saskatchewan.
...opens in a new window.

The winter 2011-12 edition of Gravitas, the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada’s newsletter.

Read the College of Medicine Future of Medical Education in Canada implementation report.

The April issue of the Social Accountability E-zine.

News & Events

News and Events of Interest to our Department 

• U of S researchers partner with First Nations, U of R, FNUniv on $1.5 million respiratory health initiative
  
  Dr. Sylvia Abonyi (top insert photo) and Dr. Punam Pahwa (bottom insert photo), professors in Community Health and Epidemiology are part of a team of Saskatchewan researchers who want to help First Nations people breathe easier. A respiratory health initiative was announced on Tuesday. more...from CTV news website (photo credit).   Saskatoonhomepage.ca article.

•  Book Launch "A Healthy Society: How a Focus on Health Can Revive Canadian Democracy" by Ryan Meili

  Ryan is a family doctor at the West Side Community Clinic in Saskatoon and acting head of the Division of Social Accountability in the department of Community Health & Epidemiology at the College of Medicine in the University of Saskatchewan.
  
  Currently, the launch is planned for Thursday, May 24 at 7:00pm at Caffe Sola and Joos Yoga on the corner of 23rd St. East and Pacific Avenue. The event will be both an opportunity for Ryan to introduce his book to the community as well as for people to come together and celebrate the achievement of its publishing. Saskatoon band "Slow Down Molasses", fresh off a UK tour, will be present to provide entertainment following the introduction and the reading.
  
  Should you have any questions regarding the book or the book launch event contact petergarden@turning.ca

• The College of Medicine 2012 Summer Institute on Refugee Health Travel Award was given to Sadia Jama, MSc candidate for Community Health and Epidemiology.
  
  The award is intended to facilitate student participation in the 2012 Summer Institute on Refugee Health in Ottawa on June 3 – 8, 2012 organized by Canadian Collaboration for Immigrant and Refugee Health (CCIRH) at the University of Ottawa.The Summer Institute is a one week intensive leadership and advocacy program designed for undergraduate medical students and international medical graduates interested in advocacy, advanced communication skills, and medical expertise around refugee health. It aims to train students to lead local refugee outreach programs. (exerpt from the Social Accountability E-zine, April 16, 2012)
  

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  Student Bursary Awarded
  Jethro Cheng, MSc candidate in the department of Community Health & Epidemiology, has been awarded the Ivan and Margaret Toutloff Bursary. This $2000 bursary provides financial assistance to students who are continuing their studies in a graduate program at the University of Saskatchewan.  Congratulations Jethro!

 
• Save the Date - Global Health Conference at the U of S
  
• Canadian Public Health Association 2012 Annual Conference Public Health In Canada: Creating and Sustaining Healthy Environments. Shaw Conference Centre, Edmonton, AB.  June 11-14, 2112.  Call for Abstracts.  The Conference Steering Committee invites submission for oral poster presentations. Deadline for submissions: Friday, December 2, 2011. For more information....
  
  
• NEW form for CoM Conference Travel Awards
  Presenting at a Conference?  You may want to seek funding to help with the expenses.  The application form for Conference Travel Awards from the College has been updated.  Please use the new form available from the College of Medicine website. 
  Application procedures have also been updated. Since this form may be updated from time to time, it is preferable to always use the form directly from the website for each new application.

• New Community and Population Health Subject Page!
  Check out the newly created Community and Population Health Subject Page - a compilation of some of the best library resources available for students in Community Health & Epidemiology. This new guide includes instructions on finding journal articles, books, theses, grey literature, statistics and more. Links to new books and interesting videos are included. Also provided is information on managing your references. The guide is updated continuously so check back often for new content! The guide can be found at http://libguides.usask.ca/communityhealth

• Check out our new space.
  The Academic Health Sciences Complex, currently under construction at the University of Saskatchewan, is an investment in the future of health education and practice, It will supply the province with a new generation of health service providers trained in the inter-professional practice that will distinguish 21st century health care.  Fly-by of Health Sciences complex