Turning a head trauma into triumph
Several years ago, Shannon LeBlanc suffered a serious head injury. LeBlanc and her family believe that errors made during the initial diagnoses led to multiple side effects.
This experience, while challenging to deal with, motivated LeBlanc to enrol in Schulich Medicine & Dentistry’s Master of Public Health program.
Raised in a small community in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia called Margaree, LeBlanc graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a certificate in Actuarial Science in May 2014.
Throughout her undergraduate degree, she worked on research pertaining to repetitive strain injuries in upper limb amputees at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and the Atlantic Clinic for Upper Limb Prosthetic. She also worked as a production development assistant at The Learning Bar, a research-based education company in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
LeBlanc explained the MPH program stood out to her because of its unique education methods and tools. “All lectures are taught through cases as opposed to the common lecture style most students are used to,” she said.
One of the most important aspects of the program for LeBlanc is the opportunity to interact and learn from her diverse classmates. “The students in this program come from all over the world and have very different expertise,” she said. “Their lived experience is something that you cannot read in a textbook.”
Coming from Atlantic Canada, LeBlanc said she has thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Ontario health care system, as it is interesting to compare and contrast the difference from one area to the next.
Upon graduating from the MPH program, LeBlanc would like to return to Atlantic Canada. She is interested in a career that involves health care quality improvement, specifically in rural communities.
