Graduate students in McMaster University’s Health Research Methodology program will have the chance to learn from some of the Niagara Health Knowledge Institute’s finest when they return to class this September.
Dr. Jennifer Tsang, Niagara Health Knowledge Institute (NHKI) Executive Director and Chief Scientist, has been tapped to teach Applied Qualitative Research Methods in Health, a new class for master’s and PhD students that she has created and will co-teach for the fall term with others from the NHKI.
NHKI staff also taking turns at the lectern for the class are Research Manager Elaina Orlando, Research Co-ordinators Fatima Sheikh and Kian Rego, and Research Postdoctoral Fellow Heather O’Grady.
Together, they’ll cover topics such as qualitative approaches; sampling, interviewing and focus groups; data analysis methods; and ethical considerations for students, including physicians and other clinicians.
“We are honoured to be involved in training next generation of health research scientists,” Dr. Tsang says. “It’s important because we need a new generation to take the baton and continue the good work we’re doing. Without that next generation, there won’t be progress in research. The more we can educate about research, the more effective and impactful that research will be.”
Teaching the next generation of healthcare scientists fits with the NHKI pillars of knowledge mobilization and building research capacity. Developing and teaching a graduate-level course at McMaster builds on other NHKI education initiatives, including establishing a trio of summer student scholarships awarded annually in partnership with Brock University, Niagara College and McMaster’s Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute.
Taking the expertise of the NHKI outside of the hospital helps to elevate the knowledge institute’s profile as a leader in qualitative health research, Dr. Tsang notes. That has spin-off benefits.
“It has the potential to attract researchers to Niagara Health. Most of the people teaching this course are from the NHKI and that could help recruit more scientists and healthcare researchers to the field,” she says.
Dr. Tsang is already Regional Deputy Research Director of McMaster’s Internal Medicine Residency program, and an associate professor of medicine at the university. She looks forward to getting to know her students and helping to instill a sense of responsibility and tenacity necessary to succeed as a researcher.
Dr. Tsang plans to teach the class one term per academic year. She also sees other applications for the course material, including sharing it with community hospitals to build their research capacity.
Photo information: Dr. Jennifer Tsang, Niagara Health Knowledge Institute (NHKI) Executive Director and Chief Scientist (top), Research Manager Elaina Orlando, and Research Co-ordinator Kian Rego.
