Posted on Jan. 26: McMaster launches Ontario Training Centre in Health Services and Policy Research
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/OTC_Alba_Brian.jpg” caption=”Alba DiCenso, Brian Hutchinson”]The launch of the Ontario Training Centre in Health Services and Policy Research (OTC) at McMaster has signaled the beginning of a province-wide initiative to increase the number of Canadian health services researchers and address critical issues in health care delivery.
“The establishment of the OTC is a response to the need for an increased number of health services researchers to address critical issues in effective and efficient health care delivery across Canada,” says director Alba DiCenso, professor of nursing and clinical epidemiology and biostatistics. “This need has been identified as a top priority by national research funding agencies.”
Funded for 10 years by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for a total of $3.75 million, with additional funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the OTC will provide students with access to accomplished researchers and health services decision makers through collaborative research, distance education, summer institutes and field placements. The program will allow students to take courses at any of the six participating universities, which include McMaster, Lakehead, Laurentian, Ottawa, Toronto and York.
McMaster leads the consortium that will build a critical mass of skilled health services researchers. “The OTC will increase health services research capacity in Ontario through an innovative graduate training program that is competency-based and trans-disciplinary and builds on existing strengths in university and decision-making environments,” says McMaster site director Brian Hutchison, professor of family medicine and clinical epidemiology and biostatistics and director of the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis.
Health service researchers, DiCenso explains, develop knowledge that assists in policy development and decision-making concerning the organization, funding, and delivery of health services and the allocation of resources dedicated to improving the health of Canadians.
Graduate training will lead to a diploma in health services and policy research at McMaster, Lakehead, Laurentian, Ottawa and York universities or to an equivalent qualification through the collaborative graduate program in health services and policy research at the University of Toronto. Students will be trained to conduct research that meets the needs of health services policy makers, planners and managers, including those in rural, remote or northern communities.
To date, 24 students have been accepted into the program, with seven of these at McMaster. All OTC students will participate in a summer institute. This year's institute will be held at Lakehead University from June 20-25 and the topic will be “Research and Policy Implications of Delivering Mental Health Services in Rural and Northern Parts of Ontario.”
The diploma program is open to students enrolled in a designated research-focused graduate degree program at the Master's or PhD level in one of the six participating universities. The deadline to apply is February 2. For more information visit www.otc-hsr.ca or http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/otc-hsr/aboutus/regional.htm.
