Featured Student
Amirhossein Farajzadeh-Ahari
What’s your program and specialty/subject matter of focus?
I am a Medical Doctor from Iran working towards my Master’s degree in Family and Community Medicine, a unique program aimed to strengthen the practice of family medicine and primary care by developing leadership, teaching and research skills.
Why are you studying public health/health policy?
Policy is the foundation of any organization that defines how decisions are made. To understand the health-care system and be able to achieve desired outcomes, I think it’s necessary to understand health policy and the driving forces of a system.
Why did you choose to study at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health?
The DLSPH is the largest public health school in Canada and one of the leading public health schools in the world. The school has focused on public health education with attention to research and scholarly activities. One of the unique aspects of the school is the high number of faculty members who are international leaders in public health research and services. In addition to being exposed to a broad range of local and global health challenges, this School provides an excellent opportunity for national and international research collaboration and expansion in the public health community.
What are some current projects or research that you’re involved in?
My area of interest is health prevention and promotion with a focus on mental health. The main project that I am focusing on right now is a platform for mental health prevention. Currently, I have developed the framework for an interactive mobile app which will enable to user to increase their health literacy and learn about different ways to prevent and manage their risks, the next phase will be to partner with a software engineer to bring this mobile app to life.
Tell us about a challenge that you’ve had to overcome during your time at the School.
The main challenge for me was time management. As I was also preparing for my licensing exams, I had to prioritize my projects and tasks and to plan ahead to make sure I would deliver my assignments on time.
What’s the best part of being a DLSPH student?
I believe one of the best parts of being a DLSPH student was being able to connect with a network of great minded people. Even though this is a relatively short program I have had the opportunity to expand my network, and I am looking forward to future collaborations.
What’s the one thing people can do to improve public health?
One thing people can do to improve public health is to advocate for a cause – whatever they think is important such as refugee health, poverty or precarious jobs.