Master of Public Health Students Shine at OVC’s 17th Annual Public Health Forum

The Master of Public Health (MPH) program at the Ontario Veterinary College equips students with the applied skills to address real-world public health challenges through coursework, experiential learning and community-engaged practice. A cornerstone of the program is the public health practicum, where students collaborate with partner organizations across Canada.

This hands-on approach was showcased at OVC’s 17th annual Public Health Forum, where MPH students presented their practicum work, shared insights with peers and connected with public health professionals. The Forum highlighted student partnerships with public health organizations and provided opportunities to strengthen communication skills, expand professional networks and demonstrate the meaningful contributions students make to public health practice.

Students also competed for the prestigious Dr. Robert Clarke Public Health Prize, which recognizes excellence in poster presentations. Each submission was evaluated on its design, clarity, and overall presentation. In 2012, the OVC Alumni Association voted to name this award in honour of Dr. Robert Clarke, former Assistant Deputy Minister at the Public Health Agency of Canada and Deputy Chief Public Health Officer (retired). Funding for the second- and third-place prizes was provided by OVC's Department of Population Medicine.

Student Testimonials

In the summer of 2025, I had the pleasure of completing my public health practicum project with Outdoor Play Canada (OPC). During this placement, I was tasked with leading the creation of knowledge translation deliverables for the launch of their 2025 Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play. My practicum experience with OPC was a truly defining moment in my public health education and has transformed me into a more capable and conscientious public health professional.

I recently had the opportunity to share my experience with OPC at the 17th annual OVC Public Health Forum. It was a privilege not only to speak about my own practicum, but also to learn about the wonderfully diverse projects undertaken by my talented peers, as well as the many generous host organizations that partner with the University of Guelph each year.

I am honoured to be the recipient of this year's OVC Alumni Association Dr. Robert Clarke Public Health Prize for my poster design and oral presentation. I am deeply grateful for the hard work and support of the MPH faculty in facilitating a successful Public Health Forum and for providing enriching educational opportunities such as the public health practicum placements.

My practicum took place at the Wellness Education and Promotion Centre (WEPC) within University of Guelph Student Wellness in the summer of 2025. I worked as a Wellness Education Assistant alongside full-time Wellness Educators and summer students. The placement combined structured project work with everyday wellness centre tasks, mentorship and professional development opportunities.

The core of my placement was a multi-phase project to research, design and begin implementing health and wellness programming for international and graduate students. I conducted an academic and grey literature review and an environmental scan, translated findings into a research-and-recommendations interim report and presented those recommendations to campus partners. From that work I led the Health Education for Readiness and Empowerment (HERE) webinar series for international students and co-designed the Graduate Student Success webinars (topics included primary care navigation, homesickness, food security for international students, and boundaries, resilience, and imposter syndrome for graduate students). I also developed the International Student Wellness Panel event and supported campus initiatives such as MoodWalks pilot planning and O-Week logistics in addition to my own projects.

Overall, the placement blended research, program design, stakeholder collaboration and practical delivery in a warm, team-oriented environment. Throughout the practicum, I gained hands-on experience translating evidence into accessible, culturally respectful programming as well as collaborating with stakeholders in program planning and implementation.

My practicum experience was presented at the Public Health Forum through my oral and poster presentations. The Forum gave me an opportunity to share not only my projects, but also the lessons I’ve learned and reflections I made along my MPH journey. As well, it gave me the opportunity to learn from each other and realize how diverse and interconnected the scope of work is within public health. I am deeply grateful for the Forum and the learning opportunity it brought to MPH program.

For my practicum, I worked with the Evidence Synthesis Team at the Public Health Agency of Canada on a rapid review on the evaluation of the communication of COVID-19 infectious disease modelling. I learned a lot about the review process, from building a protocol to conducting thematic analysis and everything in between. Everyone was incredibly willing to help throughout my entire experience. I want to give a huge thanks to my supervisor, Tricia; to Melanie for being in the trenches with me in NVivo and helping synthesize everything; to Mavra, Austyn, and Kusala for supporting me throughout the whole practicum; and finally, to Lisa for all her guidance.

The Public Health Forum was such a warm and fun culminating experience. It was cool to see what everyone had been working on all summer, and it made me feel proud to be part of this program. A lot of my classmates have become friends, so getting to cheer them on and hear about their projects felt really special. Winning a poster prize was completely unexpected, but I’m grateful to the judges and also to my peers for making it such a comfortable space to present in. Congrats to the other winners, too, and thank you to everyone who made this experience possible!

My practicum took place at Southwestern Public Health. In my position, I conducted a systematic review to generate recommendations for Southwestern Public Health to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. I created a summary document and presentation of the recommendations and their feasibility. I then presented this information to the senior leadership team at Southwestern Public Health.
I truly enjoyed my experience at the University of Guelph’s 17th annual Master of Public Health Forum. It was extremely interesting and exciting to hear all the incredible work my classmates completed during their practicums. Additionally, it was very rewarding to present my poster and describe the work I conducted at my practicum. It was a very fun day, filled with happiness for one another.

Thank you to our public partners for hosting our MPH students this summer and for your ongoing support.

Ontario Ministry of Health, Health by Design Lab, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Government of the Northwest Territories, Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy, University of Guelph, Guelph General Hospital, Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington, Outdoor Play Canada, Peel Region, Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium, Public Health Ontario, Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, Southwestern Public Health, Hamilton Health Sciences, HealthBridge Foundation of Canada, Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, Public Health Agency of Canada.

OVC would also like to thank Drs. Andrew Papadopoulos, Jennifer McWhirter, Lauren Grant, Brenda Zai and Melissa MacKay for moderating the Public Health Forum sessions. A special thanks to Dr. Melissa MacKay and Shannon Cote Gibbons for helping to plan and organize the forum.