Every year, six exceptional co-op students, one from each faculty, are recognized by the University of Waterloo for their contribution to their employer, their community and the further development of experiential education.
“These exceptional individuals have shown that co-op students at the University of Waterloo have a significant impact long before graduation,” Feridun Hamdullahpur says, president and vice-chancellor. “It is wonderful to see their ability to learn, adapt to change and harness a range of essential skills that have made their employer and society better. We will continue to need the spirit and determination of these students more than ever.”
This year’s winners truly exemplify the magnitude of work Waterloo students can accomplish across the globe.
“The past few months have changed our community in unexpected ways, but what hasn’t changed is the perseverance and adaptive resilience of our co-op students,” Ross Johnston says, executive director of Co-operative Education at the University of Waterloo. “It’s wonderful that we can celebrate the accomplishments of this exceptional group of students who have made such a strong impact in the workplace.”
The following awards were presented to Applied Health Sciences students for their work last year:
2019 Co-op Student of the Year:
Yasmeen Mihad Razvi – Health Studies
Razvi served as a Clinical Research Assistant at Sunnybrook’s Odette Cancer Centre. During her time there, she initiated a study analyzing the accuracy of survival predictions for patients seen in the palliative clinic. The manuscripts were accepted into Supportive Care in Cancer and Annals of Palliative Medicine. Razvi also co-initiated a review of radiation doses to the heart and lung of approximately 5,000 patients seen at the Odette Cancer Centre spanning from 2011 to 2018. In addition, she created a literature review on the lack of adherence of clinicians to treatment guidelines which were published in Supportive Care in Cancer and cited and shared by researchers around the world.
2019 Co-op Honourable Mention:
Emily Lam
Lam was also recognized for her work as a Clinical Research Assistant at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. During her eight-month work term in 2019, she published a systematic review and meta-analysis about clinician-reported versus patient-reported outcomes of radiation-induced skin reactions in The Breast journal. Lam also served as the lead research assistant on the first Canadian pilot study and randomized trial of Mepitel Film for preventing radiation-induced skin reactions.