Amisha Patel

Current position: Business Improvement Analyst, Health Performance and Accountability, Regional Municipality of Peel
Co-op experience: Student Coordinator, Volunteer Resources Team, Health Services; Evaluation Assistant, Health Performance and Accountability, Regional Municipality of Peel
Academic background: Criminology and Law, University of Toronto

Coursework

The Master of Public Service program is an exciting learning experience. The program provides an array of academic courses that were extremely beneficial for my growth as a public sector professional. I was then able to take these skills and utilize them through my co-op experience, which was invaluable.

Co-op

Personally, the co-op experience provided me with the opportunity to utilize my skill set and build a professional network. I was able to experience the public sector first-hand, and actively learn, participate in, and even lead various projects. I was constantly referring back to my coursework throughout my co-op terms to enhance my understanding of certain initiatives in the workplace.

Major team project

The major research project nicely tied together both the academic and the professional aspect of the program. On one hand, we utilized concepts and tools that we gained through our academic terms. On the other hand, working with my team was like working with professionals in the public sector, as we became specialists in our own individual fields associated with the project.

Now that I have completed the program, I can definitely attest to being better-rounded and more knowledgeable about public administration. If I was given the chance to do it all over again, I definitely would.