Focus on preventing illness, not simply treating people once they get sick. At Waterloo, you’ll learn how to promote healthy lifestyles, improve health care systems, and bring together the science and the social aspects of health.Whether you opt for the regular or co-op stream, Health Studies – similar to Health Science programs at other universities – gives you the skills for improving human health, along with lots of room for electives. And with five specializations and dozens of campus-wide minors, you can tailor your studies to your specific areas of interest.You’ll graduate with the skills to tackle global health epidemics, transform public health policy, and pave the way for new medical breakthroughs. At the University of Waterloo, you'll study human health in a non-traditional way. Rather than a focus on treatments after diagnosis, we have a larger vision: to find strategies for preventing disease, promoting health, and improving health care services to make them more integrated and responsive. Be prepared to tackle health challenges and look for the keys to transforming the health of individuals, communities, and health care systems in Canada and around the world.
A specialization provides a secondary area of study in addition to your major. It is an academic plan that offers an area of concentration and provides depth to a student's primary area of study. Specializations are only available to students within their primary department. Employers need professionals who can understand, generate, and interpret health research to help them make effective decisions. Graduate and professional schools are looking for students who have experience in research design, data management, and analysis. The Health Research Specialization will provide you with advanced opportunities to generate and interpret health research and evaluation data that is vital to the development of health programs, services, and policies. This specialization will provide you with a strong understanding of research methods, access to advanced seminars, and the opportunity to conduct an honours thesis (research project) under the supervision of a professor.
