{"id":45662,"date":"2017-07-10T12:52:24","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T16:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=45662"},"modified":"2017-07-10T16:14:41","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T20:14:41","slug":"brock-alumna-using-data-to-improve-ontario-patient-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2017\/07\/brock-alumna-using-data-to-improve-ontario-patient-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock alumna using data to improve Ontario patient care"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>Brock\u2019s first Public Health graduate is using primary and secondary data collection to improve the experience of cancer patients in Ontario.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Adele Carty (BSc \u201909) learned about Brock\u2019s newly developed Public Health program back in 2008, it seemed a perfect fit.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time, Carty was a Community Health Science student who was busy completing a directed study and internship at the Port Colborne hospital under the supervision of Health Sciences Professor Madelyn Law.<\/span><\/p>\n

While her existing program was rewarding, the benefits of transferring into the innovative new offering proved a real draw.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing versed in searching for job opportunities within research, and through the mentorship of Health Sciences Professor Brent Faught, I realized my future career would benefit greatly if I switched programs,\u201d Carty said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since making the leap and becoming Brock\u2019s first-ever Public Health graduate, Carty has been working in various sectors of government with an aim to improve the health of patients. Now a doctoral student in Epidemiology at another Ontario university, she has built her career on using data to make an impact on the health of populations.<\/span><\/p>\n

After completing her\u00a0undergraduate degree at Brock, Carty\u00a0worked as a research analyst in the Department of Rheumatology at Toronto Western Hospital.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a member hospital of the University Health Network, the clinic I worked with gathered primary data from arthritis patients who were participating in a longitudinal study,” she said.\u00a0<\/span>It was Carty\u2019s responsibility to use\u00a0the physician-collected information to analyze the data.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWorking in a teaching hospital was a great opportunity,\u201d she said. \u201cI was afforded the opportunity to simultaneously work on multiple research projects with an international team of investigators. The group was dedicated to gaining insights into the etiology and progression of arthritic diseases.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Carty was presented with a new opportunity in October 2016, working as a senior analyst for Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) to help improve the patient experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy role looks at data collected in Ontario to assess the patient experience of cancer patients,\u201d she says. \u201cWorking internally, I help to develop analytic plans and methodologies which are reported to the provincial government to help improve patient care.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One major difference between Carty\u2019s work at the Toronto Western Hospital and CCO is she now spends a lot less time with patients.\u201cAt CCO, I am really in-depth with the data, but I think everyone, including myself has a personal connection to someone with cancer,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite working with data, Carty remains\u00a0“appreciative of the fact that there is a face on the other side of what we are analyzing.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Working alongside researchers has inspired Carty to continue her own graduate work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had a passion for child health and being able to conduct my own research. This is why I\u2019m now exploring the relationship between environmental exposures and neuro-developmental disorders in children for my doctoral work,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI really see Brock as giving me that foundational stepping stone of real-world experience that has prepared me with the necessary skills to embark on this non-linear career path.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brock\u2019s first Public Health graduate is using primary and secondary data collection to improve the experience of cancer patients in Ontario.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":45663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,36,1,4],"tags":[5552,5521,4283,5554,1696,3200,5553],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}