When Vivien started university, she knew she wanted a career in health care. What she didn't know was exactly where that career would take her.
Unlike many students interested in health professions, Vivien wasn't pursuing a clinical role. Instead, she was passionate about improving health outcomes on a broader scale and creating change that could impact entire populations and health-care systems.
The Waterloo's Public Health program offered exactly what she was looking for.
"I knew I wanted a career in health care where I could make a meaningful impact, but not as a doctor or through frontline clinical care," says Vivien. "I was especially drawn to work that could improve health outcomes at a larger scale."
Today, as a Digital Health Consultant at KPMG, Vivien works with health-care organizations on projects involving digital transformation, health-care strategy, data analysis, and process improvement.
Her journey demonstrates how a Public Health degree can lead to innovative careers shaping the future of health care.
Choosing Public Health to create system-wide impact
What initially attracted Vivien to Public Health was its focus on prevention, systems thinking, and addressing the root causes of health challenges.
Rather than focusing on individual patient care, the program explored how health-care systems, policies, and community interventions can improve health outcomes for entire populations.
"Public Health stood out to me because it focuses on prevention, systems improvement, and addressing the root causes of health challenges," she explains.
She was inspired by the opportunity to contribute to health-care improvements that could positively affect thousands of people at once.
This broader perspective continues to guide her work today as she helps health-care organizations improve services, enhance patient experiences, and modernize systems through technology and innovation.
Discover how broad public health really is
Like many incoming students, Vivien had a limited understanding of what Public Health actually encompassed.
Beginning university during the COVID-19 pandemic, she initially associated Public Health primarily with disease prevention and outbreak management.
What surprised her most was discovering how broad, diverse, and interdisciplinary the field truly is.
"Before entering the program, I mainly associated Public Health with disease prevention, but I learned about so many different areas including epidemiology, surveillance, ethics, evaluation, health policy, health promotion, and more."
She also discovered that the program focused less on traditional laboratory sciences than she expected and placed greater emphasis on critical thinking, systems-level problem solving, collaboration, and applied learning.
These skills would ultimately become some of the most valuable tools in her professional career.
From co-op student to health care professional
Vivien credits much of her career success to Waterloo's co-op program.
Through multiple work experiences, she gained exposure to health-care organizations, health innovation environments, and professional workplaces that helped her build both technical and professional skills.
"The co-op program played a huge role in helping me get to where I am today," she says.
These experiences allowed her to explore different career possibilities within health care while developing practical experience in data analysis, evaluation, collaboration, and health-care operations.
Most importantly, co-op helped her identify the types of work she enjoyed and build the confidence needed to pursue new opportunities after graduation.
"Most importantly, the co-op program allowed me to explore different career paths within health care and build the experience and confidence that helped me transition into my current role."
Building a career at the intersection of health and technology
After graduating from Waterloo's Public Health co-op program with the Health Informatics option, Vivien began building her career in health innovation and program operations.
One of her early professional experiences was with MaRS Discovery District, where she worked as a Program Operations Coordinator supporting the federal Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) IP Assist program.
In that role, she coordinated communications, managed referrals, supported reporting activities, and helped ensure organizations received the resources and support they needed.
While the position focused more broadly on program operations and administration, it provided valuable experience working with stakeholders, data, and large-scale initiatives.
Today, Vivien has transitioned into a Digital Health Consultant role at KPMG, where she combines her public health knowledge with technology, strategy, and health-care innovation.
What does a digital health consultant do?
As a Digital Health Consultant, Vivien works with health care organizations to improve how health care is delivered.
Her projects often focus on digital transformation, health-care strategy, workflow improvement, and health-care data analysis.
"As a Digital Health Consultant, I support health care organizations in improving how health care is delivered using technology, data, and process improvements," she explains.
Her work includes:
- supporting health-care transformation projects
- analyzing health-care operations and challenges
- conducting research and synthesizing findings
- facilitating workshops and stakeholder engagement
- supporting project management activities
- developing recommendations for health-care system improvements
- helping organizations leverage technology to improve patient and provider experiences
The role requires a deep understanding of health-care systems, strong communication skills, and the ability to connect data and evidence with real-world decision-making.
Applying public health every day
Although her work takes place in consulting and digital health, Vivien continues to use the knowledge and skills she developed in Waterloo's Public Health program every day.
"The Public Health program still impacts my day-to-day work because it taught me how to think about health care from a systems perspective rather than looking at problems in isolation."
Her understanding of the Canadian health-care system, social determinants of health, and health inequities helps her evaluate challenges more effectively and develop solutions that consider the broader health care landscape.
She also regularly relies on skills developed during her degree, including:
- data analysis
- program evaluation
- literature reviews and evidence appraisal
- health-care systems thinking
- professional communication
- research synthesis
- stakeholder collaboration
These competencies have become increasingly valuable as health-care organizations adopt new technologies and seek innovative ways to improve patient care.
More than a degree: Finding community and support
For Vivien, the Public Health program offered more than academic and professional development.
It also provided a supportive community that played a significant role in her university experience.
"The Faculty of Health is a very welcoming and tight-knit community," she says.
Through the program, she met some of her closest friends and developed lasting relationships with classmates and professors who supported one another throughout their studies.
"Having peers and professors who continually supported, encouraged, and motivated one another made a huge difference throughout university and beyond."
Why students should consider Waterloo's Public Health
Vivien's experience highlights the versatility of a Public Health degree and the wide range of careers available to graduates.
Whether students are interested in health-care consulting, health informatics, policy, health system improvement, evaluation, research, government, or community health, Waterloo's Public Health program provides a strong foundation for success.
The program equips students with a unique combination of health-care knowledge, analytical skills, systems thinking, and practical experience through co-op.
For Vivien, those opportunities led to a career helping health-care organizations transform the way care is delivered.
Her journey demonstrates that improving health doesn't always happen at the bedside.
Sometimes it happens by improving systems, leveraging technology, and helping organizations make better decisions that ultimately benefit entire communities.
Next steps
- Learn how co-op can help you explore career paths and gain work experience.
- Take our quiz to find the Health program that's right for you.
- Sign up for our monthly newsletter to get program updates, tips and event invitations.