Co-op profile: opening doors

Ngai
4th year, Health Studies Co-op

Co-op terms have been an eye-opening experience for Ngai, a fourth-year Health Studies student. Unsure of his future career goals, he chose co-op as a means of exploring the health care industry – and has been amazed at the opportunities he has found. Even in his fifth and final work term, Ngai continues to uncover new and exciting career possibilities. “I’ve had the chance to meet so many professionals working in health care, in jobs I didn’t even know existed!”

Some of the best networking opportunities have resulted from his involvement with a study being conducted at ideas FOR HEALTH: a research group housed at the University of Waterloo in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. As a member of the ideas FOR HEALTH team, Ngai travelled to complex continuing care hospitals and long-term care homes to measure how much time patients require from nursing staff and allied health professionals. This data will be used to support the development of a new patient assessment tool that will in turn improve the system funding process. “I love that this is not a typical desk job,” explains Ngai.  “We get to travel and work varied shifts so that we meet different health care providers.”

Ngai began his co-op career with a work term at St. Peter’s Hospital in Hamilton as a Project Assistant in Knowledge Transfer. He assisted in several research projects, including a study introducing new drugs designed to slow memory loss in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. His next term was with the University Health Network’s Shared Information Management Services, followed by a work term with the Population Health Research Group, where Ngai helped produce provincial- and national-level feedback reports comparing youth smoking trends in Canada.

As he nears the end of his last work term, Ngai now feels he has a clearer picture of his future. “After working at these various jobs, I realize that I want to do something clinical and hands-on,” says Ngai. After graduation, he plans to complete a Master’s degree in physiotherapy or occupational therapy – and credits his co-op experience for helping him fine tune his career plans.