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Health Equity and Sustainability (MHSc)
Preparing current and aspiring health leaders to advance equitable, sustainable solutions to complex health challenges.
Health Equity and Sustainability (MHSc)
Preparing current and aspiring health leaders to advance equitable, sustainable solutions to complex health challenges.
Health Equity and Sustainability (MHSc)
Preparing current and aspiring health leaders to advance equitable, sustainable solutions to complex health challenges.
(MHSc)
About Health Equity and Sustainability
The Health Equity and Sustainability (HES) field in the Advanced Health Care Practice master’s program is the first program of its kind in Canada. Delivered fully online over one year in three terms, the program is grounded in the principles of equity and justice. It explores the environmental, socioeconomic and political factors that shape health across the life course, preparing current and future health leaders and global citizens to help build health systems that improve health for all.
- Program Name: Advanced Health Care Practice
- Field: Health Equity and Sustainability (Applied)
- Faculty: Health Sciences
- Application Deadline: April 30th
- Contact: ahcp@uwo.ca
Why Choose Health Equity and Sustainability at Western?
Learn Through Interdisciplinary Expertise
Study at a U15 research-intensive university with a long history of education in health. Learn from Western academics across bioethics, epidemiology, sociology, anthropology, geography, psychology and other disciplines that shape understanding of complex health challenges.
Develop Global Perspectives on Health Equity
Explore how social, cultural, environmental and structural factors shape health across the life course. Develop local and global perspectives on health equity and sustainability to inform health services, policy, research and decision-making in response to current and emerging challenges.
Build a Career Across Sectors
Prepare for opportunities in government, multilateral organizations, local and global NGOs, and corporate sustainability departments. The program develops knowledge and skills applicable to organizations addressing health equity, sustainability and related policy challenges.
Is HES Right for You?
Leading in Health Equity and Sustainability
For current and aspiring leaders who want to contribute to more equitable and sustainable health systems.
Designing and Implementing Health Services
For professionals seeking to strengthen their ability to design and implement health services and develop a deeper understanding of health policy.
Strengthening Research and Decision-Making
For professionals who want to build strong research and decision-making skills to address complex health equity and sustainability challenges.
Information Sessions
HES Field Lead
Anushka Ataullahjan
PhD, MSc, BSc Hons
Professor Anushka Ataullahjan is a critical qualitative researcher whose research explores the health of women, children, and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries, particularly Pakistan. Drawing from multiple disciplines such as anthropology, demography, and public health, she aims to understand how health decisions are shaped by social, political and religious ideologies. Her research situates health beliefs and practices in their larger context which includes their regional, national, and global histories. It also explores the class and caste-based histories that give rise to particular inequities and health practices.
HES Field Lead
Lesley Gittings
PhD, MPhil, BComm
Professor Lesley Gittings is a community-engaged health equity researcher with an interest in the social and structural factors that shape health across the life course. Her research focuses on: (1) social determinants of HIV and sexual and reproductive health; and (2) participatory and art-based approaches for youth empowerment and well-being. She engages culturally grounded, strengths-based approaches rooted in social justice. She is currently an investigator on studies in Southern Africa, Eastern Africa and Canada, with youth populations facing social, structural and environmental barriers to health equity. She is a research associate at the University of Cape Town.
Program Structure
Across the year-long program, you will develop applied knowledge of the environmental, socioeconomic and political factors that shape health across the life course. Through critical appraisal, evidence-based practice, interdisciplinary collaboration and the design of health programs and interventions, you will build the skills to communicate across sectors and address pressing Canadian and global health challenges, including climate change, pandemics, humanitarian crises, and social and structural discrimination, in equitable and sustainable ways.
Term 1 (Fall)
September–December
- Course #1
- Course #2
- APPLHSCI9099: Capstone Experience
Term 2 (Winter)
January–April
- Course #3
- Course #4
- APPLHSCI9099: Capstone Experience (continued)
Term 3 (Summer)
May–August
- Course #5
- Course #6
- APPLHSCI9099: Capstone Experience (continued)
Through the completion of six courses and a capstone experience (mentorship), graduates of this program earn a Master of Health Sciences (MHSc) degree.
- Three (3) required courses
- Three (3) elective courses
- Capstone Experience
Required Courses
- APPLHSCI9002: Equity and Health Systems
- One of:
- APPLHSCI9017: Implementation Science in Practice
- APPLHSCI9018: Environment, Health and Sustainability
- One of:
- APPLHSCI9003: Global Health
- APPLHSCI9010: Health Services, Systems and Policy
Learn more about elective course offerings.
The Capstone Experience consists of a non-clinical mentorship opportunity in a health setting. A minimum of 100 hours will be completed under the supervision of one or more approved mentors. The self-directed experience is unique to each learner and allows students to integrate theoretical and practical knowledge, skills and abilities while working towards developing chosen competencies including, interprofessional collaboration, self-awareness and reflexivity, critical reasoning and problem-solving, evidence-based leadership, systems thinking and applied expertise.
Students will consult with their professional mentors and capstone advisor to determine the learning objectives and goals for the duration of the capstone experience.
Students will identify potential mentorship opportunities in their own community, academic setting, and/or work environment. The mentor can be an individual from your own professional network. For example, some students who have employment in the health field have used the capstone experience as a professional development opportunity at their current place of employment, while others have found experiences in settings across the health sector from research, education, clinical, government/regulatory, or commercial (startups to large health companies). We have had students in the past work with physicians, physiotherapists, hospital administrators and even Canadian Blood Services, to name a few.
Often these projects involve policy/program evaluations, policy/program development, quality improvement projects, data collection as part of research, scoping or systematic reviews, leadership/management experience.
Students work on their capstone throughout the year, enrolling the capstone course each term. The experience is unique to each learner and allows students to integrate theoretical and practical knowledge, skills and abilities while working towards developing chosen competencies.
Often these projects involve policy and/or program evaluations, policy and/or program development, quality improvement projects, data collection as part of research, scoping or systematic reviews, enhancing leadership/management experience.
Examples of some previous projects:
Hospital Surge Planning for Vulnerable Populations
Exploring the impact of social determinants of health on mental and physical well-being among African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) Communities in Canada – A Scoping Review
Essential Care Partner Policy at a Regional Health Centre – VP of Clinical Transformation
Developing a framework to support collaboration among partners in Innovation and Health Sciences
Program evaluation of occupational therapy tiered service programming in SK and SK-attached classrooms
Students will identify potential mentorship opportunities which are local to them within their own community, academic setting, and/or work environment. The mentor can be an individual from your own professional network.
For example, some students who have employment in the health field have used the capstone experience as a professional development opportunity at their current place of employment, while others have found experiences in settings across the health sector from research, education, clinical, government/regulatory, or commercial (startups to large health companies). We have had students in the past work with physicians, physiotherapists, hospital administrators and researchers.
The Program Office and Academic leads will support you in this process and strategies on how to secure a mentor.
The capstone experience starts with searching for a mentor in a field that you are interested in.
- Think of professional or non-professional contacts
- Search sources like LinkedIn
- Email hospital or NGO volunteer offices
- Contact Western career services for advice
- Re-connect with peers from your previous studies
In addition to supervising your 100 hours, they must also attend a minimum of three meetings with you, the student, and Capstone Advisor (start, mid-point, and final check-ins). Your Capstone Advisor will be able to outline the criteria for an appropriate mentor and provide some guidance on how to find a mentor.
Students will consult with their professional mentors and capstone advisor to determine the learning objectives and goals for the duration of the capstone experience. The professional mentor should expect to provide the learning opportunity; participate in defining learning outcomes, activities, and deliverables; and provide feedback at the midterm and final.
Yes, but the project must be separate from your paid activities.
Depending on the project, students’ Capstone Experiences may require varying levels of in-person activities; however, students participate in mentorship opportunities that are local to them within their own communities, workplaces, etc. Students have also arranged for hybrid and remote options.
If you opt in to the CHE, you must complete a CHE-designed capstone experience that includes:
- Meeting regularly with your CHE mentor
- Developing an organizational change, strategic planning or program evaluation project
- Organizing and facilitating a program-wide leadership day in collaboration with the other CHE students
Students who opt into the CHE stream, will be placed in a designated Capstone cohort where their Advisor will help ensure that their projects meet the criteria required for them to pursue their CHE designation.
Learning Outcomes
Graduates of the Health Equity and Sustainability field of the Advanced Health Care Practice Master’s Program will be able to:
- Apply an equity lens to the analysis of local, system, and global healthcare challenges and responses, including those connected to public health emergencies, humanitarian crises, and climate change.
- Understand the historical, social, and structural determinants of inequity in health.
- Identify, analyze, and (re)imagine drivers of health system change (at micro, meso, and macro levels) to support equity and sustainability.
- Understand political and practical considerations in the design and implementation of evidence-based programming, initiatives, and interventions related to health equity and sustainability.
- Appraise the scope and complexity of the multi- and inter-disciplinary body of knowledge in health equity and sustainability.
- Develop an understanding of the concepts of critical thinking and critical analysis, and appreciate how these skills and approaches inform the examination of health ethics, equity, and sustainability.
- Articulate the importance and meanings of attending to equity and sustainability considerations in the analysis of complex issues.
- Act in accordance with professional protocols with a focus on academic integrity and ethical conduct, autonomy and accountability, and commitment to personal and professional growth.
- Appropriately communicate integrated understandings of health equity and sustainability to diverse audiences.
- Formulate evidence-informed and convincing arguments within inter-professional and interdisciplinary teams.
As a student in Advanced Health Care Practice master's program, you're eligible for advanced standing toward the Certified Health Executive (CHE) designation.
The CHE is Canada's top professional leadership designation for healthcare leaders looking to expand their institutional leadership career.
Western is now a LEADS Canada certified learning provider supporting the CHE designation. The LEADS framework was established by the Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL) and addresses health leadership for individuals, organizations, and broader systems.
If you opt in to the CHE, you must complete the following:
- Submit a detailed project proposal by mid-September
- Complete APPLHSCI 9001 (required) and APPLHSCI 9015 (elective)
- Complete a LEADS 360 Assessment and 90-minute debriefing
- Complete a CHE-designed capstone experience that includes:
- Meeting regularly with your CHE mentor
- Developing an organizational change, strategic planning or program evaluation project
- Organizing and facilitating a program-wide leadership day in collaboration with the other CHE students
For more information, email: ahcp@uwo.ca
Ready to Apply?
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