Katie MacNeill knows first-hand the benefits co-op education can provide.

The 21-year-old Mississauga native is set to graduate from Brock during the Oct. 13 Fall Convocation ceremony with a Public Health degree — and, thanks to her co-op work term, she already has a job in her field.

MacNeill has secured a full-time job as the health promoter and intake counsellor at Niagara Medical Group Family Health Team in Niagara Falls — a one-stop-shop for family health needs that includes doctors, nurses, social workers and other health professionals.

Her journey to career success began several years before she was hired, when she decided to enrol in Brock’s Public Health co-op program in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. She was in her second year at the University, and the program was being offered for the first time. This opened the door to co-op work terms in several areas of public health, each of which helped MacNeill to build her resumé as she continued her studies.

MacNeill also participated in a year-long experiential education exercise in her fourth-year public health practices course — a move that proved to be pivotal.

“The experiential course pulled together skills from my previous studies,” she said. “Every course came together in the research project I was working on. They all played a small part in getting me ready for the workforce.”

MacNeill excelled in her experiential role, where she examined the impact of barriers and facilitators, such as transportation, on disease and maternal health in Port Colborne.

As a result, one of her course-based connections recommended she execute a similar role at Niagara Medical Group for her final summer co-op work term.

And the fit could not have been better. MacNeill was tasked with making an in-person connection with some of the team’s 20,000 patients to help them better navigate internal resources, such as dieticians and social workers, as well as external organizations, including Project SHARE, Community Care and Niagara Region Public Health based on their specific social needs.

“The co-op job opportunity at Niagara Medical Group seemed to put into place all of the things I like about public health,” she said. “I like being with people, and my job allowed me to become knowledgeable about services in the community and then collaborate with others to fill the gaps.”

MacNeill spent the first few months of her work term with Niagara Medical Group conducting research and building a program that would allow her to assist individuals as they connect with different community services.

Upon completion of the research and initial roll-out of the project, Niagara Medical Group hired MacNeill as a full-time employee to complete the implementation and day-to-day operation of the new program.

She has fully embraced her new role.

“Every person I see has different needs,” she said. I have learned to never judge a book by its cover. People who struggle come from every income level and walk of life, and each day I need to make a new plan for a new person because everyone has unique needs.”

MacNeill emphasized that helping the people she meets goes beyond daily appointments.

“I look ahead to try to prepare for some of the issues they may have going forward,” she said. “It’s not just seeing the patient. There is a lot of footwork before and after, following up with the patient and the organizations they have been referred to.”

While MacNeill is continually looking ahead to assist her clients, she also takes time to look back and appreciate her Brock journey and the role that co-op and experiential education have played in her early career success.

“Both types of opportunities helped me to secure my job,” she said. “They provided me with experiences and connections to people who could help me along the way. Even more importantly, they provided a safe environment for me to figure out what I like and don’t like in a potential career path.”

Cara Boese, Brock’s Director of Co-op, Career and Experiential Education, said students like MacNeill are a “fantastic example of Brock’s commitment to providing a learning experience that connects theory and practice.

“Her participation in co-op and experiential learning initiatives has been exemplary, and her efforts have led to the type of career success that we wish for all of our new graduates.”

With her own career underway, MacNeill hopes other students will continue to take advantage of the resources offered by the University to ensure their own success.

“Definitely do it. It’s worth it even if you don’t get a job right away,” she said. “The experiences that you have and the skills you build will be really important when you do get a job, and both experiential and co-op opportunities will make you stand out and help you to succeed.”