Left to Right: Dean Lorna Butler, College of Nursing; Dean David Hill, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition; Dean Doug Freeman, College of Western College of Veterinary Medicine; President Peter Mackinnon; Dean Gerry Uswak, College of Dentistry; Dean Bill Albritton, College of Medicine and Dr. Robert Buckingham, Executive Director, School of Public Health. Photo by Thilina Bandara.
The mandate of the School of Public Health (SPH) is to care for others, serve the community, prevent diseases and disability among human populations and to protect the environment. This important and interdisciplinary mandate is fulfilled in close collaboration and strong partnerships with other health science disciplines at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S).
To reinforce the warm support and mutually beneficial partnerships the SPH enjoys with the Council of Health Science Deans at the U of S, a special seminar was organised on September 15th, 2011 and in attendance were: President Peter Mackinnon, Dean of Medicine- Dr. Bill Albritton, Dean of Nursing- Dr. Lorna Butler, Dean of Western College of Veterinary Medicine- Dr. Doug Freeman, Dean of Pharmacy and Nutrition- Dr. David Hill and Dean of Dentistry- Dr. Gerry Uswak. This was the first seminar of its kind since the inception of the SPH and it attracted a large number of students, staff and faculty from across the University.
In his opening remarks, Executive Director of the School of Public Health, Dr. Buckingham reiterated the importance of the One Health Initiative- an initiative that cuts across all health sciences and interfaces between animal and human health with the mission to promote, improve and defend the health and well-being of all species by enhancing cooperation and collaboration between and among all healthcare professionals. Dr. Buckingham emphasized the important role the Council of Health Science Deans will need to play in supporting and leading this significant One Health initiative for the U of S.
President Peter Mackinnon expressed his warm support for and great delight in the progress made by the School of Public Health in attracting a large number of highly qualified and enthusiastic students both locally and internationally. He noted that to date, the SPH has attracted students from 16 different countries from across the globe into the program; a welcomed development as the University of Saskatchewan is committed to the internationalization of its student body and has incredible health science faculty, programs and colleges that are committed to finding solutions to relevant and important health-related questions.
During his address, the Dean of Medicine- Dr. Bill Albritton expressed the need to reintroduce and reintegrate preventive medicine and public health into medical education in Canada, Dean Albritton stated that this new frontier of research and collaboration will prepare students for the emerging challenge of protecting the population against new waves of chronic diseases- a view that was shared by the Dean of Nursing- Dr. Lorna Butler.
Dean Butler offered her support to the SPH and expressed her optimism that the College of Nursing and the SPH will continue to work closely together to afford integrated academic opportunities to students and improve the quality of life and healthcare delivery for the residents of our province of Saskatchewan.
The University of Saskatchewan is the only English-speaking campus in Canada with all the health science colleges and schools on the same campus. With this convergence of all health disciplines, it is possible to spearhead the One Health Initiative and with this, the Dean of Western College of Veterinary Medicine- Dr. Doug Freeman expressed his hope that all health colleges on campus will break down their silos- “cylinders of excellence”, nurture collaboration, focus on outcome assessment and work together as a unit to make a huge impact.
Dean David Hill stated that the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, enjoys a strong partnership with the SPH just like all the other health colleges on campus. He pointed out that the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition currently has a joint faculty position with the SPH and there are discussions under way to establish additional elective graduate courses for MPH students and also develop a Public Health Nutrition stream within the MPH program and a PhD in Nutritional Epidemiology.
Dean Uswak pointed out the collegial and productive ties that exist between the SPH and the College of Dentistry. The last few years the two academic units have partnered to provide MPH students with exciting practicum placement opportunities. He stated that this opportunity is a great way of integrating Public Health Practice into Dentistry and urged the public health student in attendance to show initiative and a deep personal commitment to the profession.
This special seminar provided a unique opportunity for the SPH student body, faculty and staff as it allowed the President of the University and all the Deans in the College of Health Sciences to come together in an effort to showcase the strength and promise of teamwork and unity of purpose and commitment across the various health science disciplines. During this exciting and historic event, the School of Public Health and the other health science disciplines were able to demonstrate their willingness to partner on a variety of programmatic and research fronts in order to better prepare the next generation of public health practitioners charged with addressing the global challenge of reducing the burden of disease in the general population.
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