Safiyya Nazarali, MPH’14: Pursuing an interest in the prevention of negative health outcomes
Safiyya Nazarali, MPH’14, has long been interested in global and public health issues and the prevention of negative health outcomes. Working as a nurse and infection control practitioner, the interest grew.She wanted to pursue these interests further and found that the Master of Public Health program at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry was the best option to do that.
“The MPH program appealed to me because it was one year and used a case method style of learning,” Nazarali said. “I liked the idea of being able to work through real public health issues and trying to find solutions by putting theory into practice instead of just learning the theory.”
Since graduating from the MPH program, Nazarali has been working as an Infection Control Consultant for Public Health Ontario (PHO).
She provides consultation on infection prevention and control questions or issues, develops resources and tools for a variety of healthcare settings, and provides education sessions for practitioners looking to develop and update their practices.
Nazarali explained the MPH program taught her to develop and disseminate information in relevant and meaningful ways.
The program also helped her develop her teamwork skills, as the case-based learning approach enabled the students to work together. This is something she has taken with her into her career, as she is constantly working with stakeholders and fellow colleagues at PHO.
Nazarali encourages those who are interested in the field of public health to consider applying to the MPH program, but explained they should be ready for a challenge.
“It’s an intense program that covers a lot of information in a short amount of time,” she said.
