A student from the University of Waterloo has won the award for top co-op student in Canada for her work coordinating a radiotherapy program for people in the advanced stages of cancer.
The Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) named Rachel McDonald, from the School of Public Health and Health Systems at Waterloo, the winner of the national Co-op Student of the Year Award. This is the second year in a row a Waterloo student has won the CAFCE award. She also won the top prize in the province, the Education at Work Ontario (EWO) Co-op Student of the Year Award.
The 2015 University of Waterloo Co-op Students of the Year, from left to right, Joey Pereira, Emily West, Andrew MacDonald, Rachel McDonald, Vinita Dhir and Jordan Grant.
Waterloo honoured McDonald and five other students today with the University’s top award for students in a co-op program, for their contributions to co-operative education and their community.
“We take great pride in the strong contributions our students make on their work terms,” said Rocco Fondacaro, acting executive director of Co-operative Education & Career Action at Waterloo. “This year’s winners embody the world-class talent that thrives here at the University, finding solutions that drive innovation and improve the lives of people in their community and beyond.”
As a clinical research assistant with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, McDonald coordinated the rapid response radiotherapy program, which provides palliative radiation treatment to advanced cancer patients. She led research projects and published work on the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy for non-spine bone metastases in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics and a manuscript in the peer-reviewed journal, Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment.
Rachel McDonald won the national Co-op Student of the Year Award.
Abhirup Chatterjee, also of the School of Public Health and Health Systems, received an honourable mention for Waterloo’s 2015 co-op student of the year awards.
The Canadian Association for Co-operative Education leads National Co-op Week, which celebrates the growth of co-operative education programs across the country. Waterloo is the world leader in Co-operative education, and is home to the world’s largest co-op program.
About the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo is Canada’s top innovation university. With more than 36,000 students we are home to the world's largest co-operative education system of its kind. Our unmatched entrepreneurial culture, combined with an intensive focus on research, powers one of the top innovation hubs in the world. Find out more at uwaterloo.ca
-30-
Media Contact:
Pamela Smyth
University of Waterloo
519-888-4777
www.uwaterloo.ca/news
@uWaterlooNews
Attention broadcasters: Waterloo has facilities to provide broadcast quality audio and video feeds with a double-ender studio. Please contact us to book.