AIDS, SARS, the tainted blood scandal, mad cow disease . . .
Threats to the health of Canadians seem to be proliferating, and governments don’t always seem properly equipped to handle the complex web of problems they entail. As an institution of higher learning, the University of Ottawa believes there should be a new approach to the search for solutions to problems such as these.
The university’s new doctorate program in population health – the first of its kind in Ontario – is just one of a raft of new programs being offered by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies under the heading of interdisciplinary studies. This program trains a new kind of specialist, one who will be equipped to deal with legal, ethical, sociological and economic issues in addition medical ones.
Nearly 20 programs, together taking in about 500 graduate students each year – mainly in health, social issues and technology – have been created at the University of Ottawa in the last decade. According to Ruby Heap, associate dean responsible for interdisciplinary studies, several factors account for the popularity of the programs. During the 1990s, she said, federal granting bodies set up financial incentives to stimulate interdisciplinary research, and the research community responded enthusiastically. “There is also a strong student demand for these programs,” said Heap, adding that there’s a growing interest for broad-based knowledge.
While interdisciplinary studies are not new, there’s currently a growing link between sciences on the one hand and law and social sciences on the other. Doug Angus, director of the doctoral program on population health, says that organizationally, at least two professors are assigned to each course in the core curriculum. “For the course in scientific paradigms, we have a professor from the Faculty of Medicine and one from the Faculty of Social Sciences,” said Angus. “And for the course on research methods, a sociology professor explains qualitative research and a science professor explains quantitative research. Research is always research, but methodologies are used in different ways.”
Daniel Gauthier is registered for the certificate program in information technology project management. After having taught science in primary school for 13 years, he became interested three years ago in managing projects involving the creation of education software. His studies have given him the skills he lacked, especially in accounting, and help him master all aspects of project management, from cost control to time management. “These are tools that I’ve been able to use right away in my day-to-day work,” he said.
Other interdisciplinary programs are expected to be created in the fall of 2005, including a master’s program in globalization and international development, a certificate program in piano pedagogy and orchestral studies and a program for governance and public management.
