Skip to content

Featured Student

Rozina Somani

PhD Candidate, Faculty of Nursing

My field of study is “critical approaches to health and health outcomes” and my PhD research focuses on “violence in the healthcare sectors.” I am planning to implement a Workplace Violence Reporting System for Nurses in a Healthcare Setting in Pakistan.

Why did you choose to join the Collaborative Specialization in Global Health?

I joined CSGH because it considers health in a global context. By doing so, CSGH prepares students to work in a range of disciplines, including research and policy positions in healthcare sectors and academic institutions. By taking a multidimensional, global approach, CSGH provides students with the opportunity to understand and assess the existing and emerging global health challenges faced by the developing and the developed world. Thus, while heath is affected by many factors, including personal, social, economic, and political determinants, the current COVID 19 Pandemic reminds us that, local health outcomes are highly dependent on global factors as, for instance, international trade and travel. When this is so, Global strategies are required to fight against such circumstances.

What was your favorite aspect of the CSGH?

My favourite aspect of the CSGH was the doctoral seminars. These seminars provided ample opportunity for me to understand global health and how it relates to health challenges that exist at the local and national levels. These seminars also enabled me to assess the interrelationship between heath and policy, and its impact on societies. This was a great opportunity for me to learn from scholars who are expert in their area of study. Moreover, sharing knowledge with diverse groups of students also enhanced my ability to look at complex health issues from multiple perspectives. And importantly for me, CSGH provided me with multiple opportunities to attend and participate in workshops, seminars, and international conferences on complex global health challenges and, while so doing, to discover some evidence-based solutions to these challenges.

How has the CSGH impacted your education/future goals?

Many times, during my professional career, I have witnessed Workplace Violence (WPV) against nurses. While studying for my MScN, I researched the prevalence of WPV in two private and two government healthcare settings in Pakistan. The estimated prevalence was higher than the global average. Therefore, aiming to minimize the magnitude of WPV against nurses, I entered the PhD in Nursing with CSGH, at the University of Toronto. My scholarly work is aligned with the UofT research priorities of demonstrating international partnerships and enhancing global leadership in research. My PhD thesis committee and CSGH have enabled me to learn that WPV is a global and a multi factorial phenomenon, and that a single intervention alone will not cure WPV. Multi-component interventions are required to address this devastating issue that is faced by nurses around the globe.  My PhD study aims to provide a workable, researched-based, implementable reporting system that records and mitigates against workplace violence suffered by nurses. The implementation of a WPV reporting system is an important step towards redressing the under reporting that continues to bedevil efforts to combat workplace violence.  I intent to use the implementation science approach in my PhD study. Research uptake utilizing the implementation science approach is a novel idea that will involve all key stakeholders, including nurses, nursing supervisors, and hospital administrators. After completing my PhD in Nursing with CSGH, I plan to extend my scholarly work at a policy level and develop protocols and structured interventional programmes that combat violence in the health sectors. I also plan to enhance my capacity as a nurse educator, so that I can integrate more evidence-based strategies in the nursing curriculum that address global health issues such as workplace violence against nurses.

What have you learned about global health that you would like to share with prospective students?

Global health implies global challenges that are faced across the world. Global health initiatives are required so that we can address global health issues, including communicable and non communicable diseases, natural disasters, and massive accidental injuries. CSGH provides a platform for addressing global health problems and discussing collaborative approaches to managing these issues. At CSGH, I learned that the improvement of health equity and the provision of healthcare need to be worked on in every country, regardless of its development level; because no country has achieved health equity or truly universal healthcare.  I also learned that a multi sectoral approaches is needed at local, national, and international levels to strengthen the concept of “health for all” and to establish healthcare sectors to achieve this goal.