Started from a passion

Hi everyone, my name is Navdeep and I graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BSc in Health Studies in June 2018. I knew I was interested in helping people achieve optimal healthcare services following my own experiences with our healthcare system at a young age.

Our system frustrated me: why was I repeating the same information to doctors repeatedly? Why was there no central record of all my doctors’ visits? How could I be sure I was receiving the best care, inclusive of my medical history, if my current provider couldn’t access information from my other visits with different providers? These were just some of the questions that I wanted my career to work towards finding solutions for.

Following the completion of my Health Studies degree, I started working for the Ministry of Health in July 2018. I had applied to the Ontario Internship Program, which is a two-year graduate program in the Ontario Public Service (OPS). Although this is a very competitive program, this experience is unique as it provides developmental opportunities to work in delivering important public services to the people of Ontario. I applied to and was hired in the Program and Service Delivery focus area, which specializes in providing opportunities to deliver better programs and quality services.

I never thought of myself working as a public servant — especially since all my co-op terms were in hospitals and with health technology providers — but when the opportunity arose, I knew it would be an impactful experience that would still be within my goals of working towards creating a comprehensive and inclusive healthcare system. (Also, my time at Waterloo had taught me to go for opportunities that are outside your comfort zone, because really that is where the biggest growth occurs!) My first placement was in the Business Innovation Office in the Ministry of Health. Our office was responsible for providing services to other branches/offices within the Ministry to improve their current workflows and processes through the Lean methodology and reduce any “wastes.” I am very passionate about process improvement, and my team was able to see this and provide me with opportunities to lead certain projects. Prior to starting this placement, I knew nothing about process improvement, so it was very important to be open, learn from previous projects and my coworkers, and really put in the work to be an asset to the team.

In July 2019 I started working at my current placement with the Health Capital Investment Branch in the Ministry of Health. I have been assisting management in the Targeted Investments for Health System Capacity project aimed at ending hallway healthcare, reducing alternative level of care (ALC) rates and providing new investments for spaces, with funding worth $40 million for home care and $5 million for community support. Specifically, this experience has been advantageous in helping me learn more about the policy, approvals and requirements needed for the Ministry to provide capital funding to hospitals and the community. This experience has been different from my previous ones, and I realized that that too is all right. My time at Waterloo taught me the importance of always making the best of each opportunity, learning new things and crafting each experience to support your own goals and development.

Overall, my advice for new grads or students is to be proactive, seek opportunities and network! Co-ops and internships are the best way to figure out what you like or don’t like and to start your career in the area you want to be in. As difficult as it may be, just be yourself at work, talk to others, figure out what they’re doing and remain open to new opportunities.

Navdeep Dhindsa (BSc ’18) is an alumnus from the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. Through her work with the provincial government, she develops and implements innovative solutions to improve the delivery of healthcare services in Ontario.