The AppleThe Holiday Issue

Issue 2

December

2014 Happy HolidaysHealth Studies!

The Apple - April 2016

WHAT'S ONE THING YOULEARNED THIS YEAR?TARA: How awesome my VP AdminAlex isMIN: Seize the opportunities out there!JENNA: Get involved!NINA: Make the most of your fourth yearbc it flies by! And don't feel guilty forwasting extra time, that's the momentyou'll remember when you leavewestern!MARISKA: Positivity is the best way tosucceed!

KYLEEN: You will lose gains if you stopworking out. So workout regularly.Consistency is key!

JENNIFER: Take advantage of all thethings that university has to offer.Extracurriculars, profs, events. Becauseit'll be a lot harder to get these things inthe real world

ABBY: Communication is important inorder to along with your housemates

HSSA's online NewsletterWe are both happy and sad to say this is the lastissue of the school year, and my very last Applepublication as VP Promotions. I truly hope theHealth Studies student body enjoyed reading theApple, I've had a great time making them!Included in this last issue are recaps of past eventswithin the School of Health Studies and interestingarticles!

The purpose of this newsletter is to help keep thestudent body up to date and informed of what'shappening within their faculty, any upcomingevents and things to look out for.If you have any comments, suggestions orquestions, or feedback on The Apple, feel free toemail us at westernhssa@gmail.com!Have a fanatastic summer Health Studies!

If you have any articles orrecipes you would like tosubmit, please directlymessage us through our

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Last wordsfrom2014-2016HSSAPresidentTara Chen

Dear Health Studies Student Body,It has been a pleasure serving as your Health Studies President for the last two years. I cannotbelieve how much time has passed by! I still remember my time being the second and third yearrepresentative. My first class presentation was in Dr. Irwin’s Health Promotion Class in our largeclass of over 300 students looking at me. It was pretty funny because Dr. Irwin left her mic onher and I had to speak into it (If you’ve met me- I’m pretty short in comparison to her) and I wastiptoeing trying not to fall.When I decided to run for elections, I had a small dream and little confidence towards winning. Isimply wanted to throw myself out there and get uncomfortable. I tried my best and throughoutmy campaign, I met many people on the way which lead to my win at the Elections in 2014. Itwas scary transitioning from the 3rd year representative to President but I was determined totake it on.I’m super proud of what my team and I have been able to accomplish in the last two years.We’ve been able to truly develop a Health Studies community and strive to differentiateourselves as a unique program every day. From the Student Opportunity Fund to the HealthCare Challenge, it’s been rewarding to see all the hard work come into play. I enjoyed meetingmany students in our program whether it was from office hours, council or socials- you guys arewhat make all the hours HSSA puts into planning these opportunities worth it! Seriously- whenyou hear a student talk about how the Global Health Innovation Conference at Yale Universitychanged their life in class- it makes all the sweat and tears feel like nothing!I wish the best of luck to you- study hard, play hard! Make sure you seek the opportunities anddon’t hold yourself back! Never let anyone say “no” or “you can’t” to you. It is YOUR world,YOUR journey, YOUR degree. Make the most out of it!

Wishing you all the best,Tara ChenHealth Studies President2014-2016

Spring EatingSpring is here! It’s time to get back in shape for summer vacation, and “spring clean” out our bodies! The end of winter means saying goodbye to winter habits such as eating heavy pastas, and hearty soups, and hello to lots of salads and smoothies.

A great way to get in a few servings of vegetables is to add some spinach to a fruit smoothie, and enjoy that with your regular breakfast. The great thing about spinach is it has a mild flavour so you will not notice a taste difference. A leafy green to avoid in smoothies are arugula. These greens are extremely bitter and are much better in a sandwich or salad.Instead of grabbing a bagel, muffin, or slice of toast for a snack reach for fruit instead. An all time favourite of mine is a banana with almond butter and a few dark chocolate chips. Another great snack idea are açai bowls. Some of you may have heard of them or seen them on Instagram, but they are a great healthy, lighter choice for a spring snack!

Sugar makes your body slow and sluggish, which is especially unwanted with the upcoming exam season. When making snacks or meals this spring try to cut down on the added sugars to maximize your health. Instead of buying a pre-made flavoured yogurt, buy some plain greek yogurt and add fruit for flavour.

The great thing about spring is the increased variety in fruit and vegetables. Instead of reaching for a traditional apple or potatoes for dinner, try something like passionfruit or mango. Spring vegetables to try are snow peas, baby lettuce, and purple asparagus.

Cut back on the Starbucks lattes and homemade hot chocolate, and increase your uptake of fresh pressed juices or water with chopped fruit in it. It’s best to make your own fresh pressed juices as store bought ones are often pasteurized and have added sugars.

Health Studies at MonWHO 2016On March 18th, 56 Health Studies Students travelled to Montreal for a three-dayconference that brought students from a diverse array of disciplines together todiscuss global health issues. The Montreal World Health Organization Simulationprovided an interactive opportunity for students to learn about the WHO and toattempt to tackle non-communicable diseases, the topic for this year. Eachdelegate was assigned the role of a country ambassador, an NGO representative,a pharmaceutical representative or a journalist and had to work together to createresolution papers on how to address non-communicable diseases. Western HealthStudies Students made their voices heard throughout the conference, providingvaluable insights and sharing their knowledge of the very familiar but fundamentalsocial determinants of health. Azerbaijan Delegate, Sheila Amri was awarded theBest Delegate Award for her outstanding leadership through her efforts towardscreating working paper 1.5 on Sustainable Health Systems.

A special thanks to the Student Opportunity Fund for which this year’s conferencewould not have been possible without. Finally, on behalf of MonWHO 2016 HealthStudies Delegates, a world of thanks to HSSA’s fourth year rep Eric Trinh whoorganized all the logistics of the trip and made the trip memorable for everyone!

Spring EatingSpring is here! It’s time to get back in shape for summer vacation, and “spring clean” out our bodies! The end of winter means saying goodbye to winter habits such as eating heavy pastas, and hearty soups, and hello to lots of salads and smoothies.

A great way to get in a few servings of vegetables is to add some spinach to a fruit smoothie, and enjoy that with your regular breakfast. The great thing about spinach is it has a mild flavour so you will not notice a taste difference. A leafy green to avoid in smoothies are arugula. These greens are extremely bitter and are much better in a sandwich or salad.Instead of grabbing a bagel, muffin, or slice of toast for a snack reach for fruit instead. An all time favourite of mine is a banana with almond butter and a few dark chocolate chips. Another great snack idea are açai bowls. Some of you may have heard of them or seen them on Instagram, but they are a great healthy, lighter choice for a spring snack!

Sugar makes your body slow and sluggish, which is especially unwanted with the upcoming exam season. When making snacks or meals this spring try to cut down on the added sugars to maximize your health. Instead of buying a pre-made flavoured yogurt, buy some plain greek yogurt and add fruit for flavour.

The great thing about spring is the increased variety in fruit and vegetables. Instead of reaching for a traditional apple or potatoes for dinner, try something like passionfruit or mango. Spring vegetables to try are snow peas, baby lettuce, and purple asparagus.

Cut back on the Starbucks lattes and homemade hot chocolate, and increase your uptake of fresh pressed juices or water with chopped fruit in it. It’s best to make your own fresh pressed juices as store bought ones are often pasteurized and have added sugars.

By: Mariska Batohl

At some point we haveall felt some level ofanxiety, whether that bebecause of an exam,interview, presentation,or deadline for anassignment. Thereforeanxiety is a normal partof life and can push us todo our best at times.However for somepeople, anxiety canbecome anoverwhelming anddisruptive problem thatcan occur for no reason.This is termed an anxietydisorder, commonlydefined as a mentalillness that causes

feelings of worry, panic,and uneasiness.Statistics Canada’sconducted a CommunityHealth Survey of MentalHealth and Well-being in2006 which revealed thatpeople aged 15 to 24 aremost likely to experienceanxiety disorders. Asuniversity students weare in the prime agegroup to experienceanxiety disorders. So,here are some tips tohelp someone who hasan anxiety disorder:

1. Ask the personwhat they need,

make noassumptions

2. Remain calm,when you panic itonly makes thingsworse

3. Be patient, itmay take sometime to composethe person

4. Be encouragingand put things intoperspective

5. Let the persontalk it out

6. If the anxietyescalates to apanic attack,consider consultinga clinician to take

AnxietyBy: Abby Dzur

How to Beat Senioritis

Senioritis.It’s a phenomenon thatplagues many 4th yearstudents as they enter intothe final stretch of theiruniversity career. Senioritisis a crippling disease thatstrikes university seniors.Symptoms include:* Laziness* An over-excessive wearingof track pants, old athleticshirts, sweatpants, athleticshorts, and sweatshirts.* Also features a lack ofstudying, repeated

absences, and a generallydismissive attitudeA lack of motivation to doanything school-related mayeven cause a drop in GPA.Simple assignments maytake ages to complete.However, with the rise ofstudents going to on tograduate studies, a badcase of senioritis mayactually be detrimental tostudent’s future. With that inmind, here are a few tips tobeating senioritis.* Prioritize your time onachieving clear, attainable

goals* Organize study sessionswith friends. Studying withsomeone else can help holdyou accountable!* Take care of your health.Hitting the gym and eatingright is always a good ideaand will help you focuswhen you finally startstudying.* Research your jobrospects. Realizing that youcan do nothing with a BAmakes getting into gradschool imperative. What agreat motivation to study!

By: Jennifer Helen Lee

The final month of classes hasofficially arrived! Summer is justaround the corner which meansthe summer job hunt may bewell underway or you are juststarting to think about yourplan. It can be an overwhelmingprocess and one that requires alarge amount of your time to sitdown and scroll through variousapplications.

A good place to start is withmaking your resume as strongas it can be. A helpful way toimprove your resume may be tovisit the student success centerand to book an appointmentwith someone who can reviewyour resume and offersuggestions on how to improveit. Once you have a strong

resume the next step is fillingout the application questions orconducting a cover letter.

Cover letters can be somethingthat requires a lot of time asyou may be applying to variousjobs that have different jobdescriptions, resulting in havingto make various cover letters.To speed up this process itwould be helpful to have ageneral cover letter with keywords and a strong descriptionof the characteristics yourposes as a person, that can bealtered from job to job.

Applications can be tedious andmay seem as a lesser prioritythan the exams you arestudying, but it is something

that will pay off in the end whenyou are working a job that youlove for the summer months!Take small portions of time outof your day and to stayconnected to the work forceand people who may be able tooffer you a helping hand infinding connections.

My biggest piece of advicewould be to send out as manyresumes as possible and if youhave the ability to go todifferent job locations/sites andpresent your self face-to-facewith those who working therefor them to see the dedicationand desire you have for pursinga job with the.

Happy Job Hunting!

Summer Job HuntingBy: Jenna Williamson

By: Kyleen WongName: Natalie Scime

School:Western University

Program: Health andRehabilitation Sciences –Health Promotion stream

Favourite Health SciencesCourse: Human Embryology –HS 4320a/b

What topic are you doingyour Masters on?My general research interest isin the field of maternal, infant,and child health, and my thesisspecifically focuses onbreastfeeding support formothers of preterm infants inCanadian neonatal intensivecare units (NICUs) acrossCanada.

What were your aspirationsduring your undergraduatecareer?To be honest, my aspirationschanged quite frequently! Itoyed with the idea of workingas a clinician, such as a nurse,physiotherapist, or doctor, as aresearcher, an anatomist, andseveral other professions. Ifound it very hard to zero in onexactly what I wanted topursue as a career. Ultimately,I found research incrediblyinteresting and settled onenrolling into a Master’sdegree to explore this interestfurther, while still maintainingsome options in terms of

pursuing a clinical career aswell.

What did you do in yourundergraduate years toprepare yourself for gradschool?During my fourth year ofundergrad, I enrolled in bothan independent study andpracticum placement as aresearch assistant. Theseexperiences were trulyinstrumental in preparing mefor graduate school. I wasafforded the opportunity tolearn firsthand whetherresearch was for me, in termsof the day-to-day of projectdevelopment and execution,working with humanparticipants, analyzing data,and writing.

Aside from informing myexpectations and allowing meto understand whether this isthe right ‘world’ for me, Igained invaluable practicalexperience as both a researchassistant and a principalinvestigator. I learned howresearch questions should begrounded in evidence, howevery decision through projectdevelopment should havesome evidence basis orrationale, how to set realistictimelines, and how to organizeand juggle the many tasksrequired for conductingsuccessful research.

What is the structure of theprogram? What do you likebest about your program?What would you like tochange?My program is structured to beresearch intensive, so I onlyrequire five courses – threehalf courses (i.e. one methodscourse, one field-basedcourse, and one elective), onehealth promotion seminar (bi-weekly), and one commonseminar for all incoming healthand rehabilitation sciencesstudents (sporadicallythroughout the year).

Personally, I like that thecoursework is minimal, as thisaffords me more time to workon my thesis and side projects.I would have liked for therequired quantitative methodscourse I took to have beenmore rigorous andcalculations-based, as I thinkbeing able to read and critiquethe ‘analysis’ portion of aresearch article is reallyimportant for understandingthe overall design of a study.This is typically the section thattakes me the longest to read,absorb, and understand, and Istill get lost in the statisticslingo at times. While it is notrequired, I intend to takeanother stats course thisupcoming fall term to furthermy knowledge in this area.

The Grad Column:Natalie Scime

What is a typical day like? Atypical day for me is spentmostly working from home,leaving to travel to campus forclasses or meetings a fewtimes a week. Working fromhome consists of a mix oftasks. Thesis-related tasksinclude reading newlypublished papers in my field,writing abstracts, working onmy prospectus (i.e. first twothesis chapters – introductionand methods), or actuallyconducting my research whereI reach out to NICUs, interviewtheir staff, or organize my data.Various coursework tasks arealso ongoing since I am stillfulfilling my mandatory credits,so I sometimes block off timeto create presentations, reviewclass/seminar readings, orprovide feedback on myclassmates’ work. I also hold aresearch assistantship where Iam involved with assisting onmany research reviews – sowork-related tasks oftenconsist of screening articles,data extraction, contributing tomanuscripts, or joiningresearch teleconferences asmembers of our review teamsare across Ontario. Lastly, Ilook for ways to grow mycareer in research and exploremy interests, so throughout theday I try to find time to beactive on Twitter(@NatalieScime), add ideas tomy growing list of researchprojects, or seek out

opportunities for professionaldevelopment.

Is there any advice youwould like to share withcurrent Health Studiesundergraduate students?I remember having a hard timegetting involved in research asan undergraduate student, asresearch opportunities usuallyaren’t advertised. I encouragestudents to reach out toprofessors, graduate students,or researchers that arepursuing work in a field of yourinterest to understand whatopportunities are available andstart to establish yourprofessional network. Avoidusing generic emails or letterswhen reaching out to newcontacts or applying for jobs,as these are often ignored bythe receiver. Always take thetime to craft an email or lettertailored to the individual or jobyou are writing for – it mayseem like more work, but youwill have better odds ofstanding out and beingsuccessful in what you’retrying to achieve. I also want toemphasize thatprofessionalism andcommunication etiquette areincredibly important forstudents who are trying tofoster professionalconnections. Proofreadingemails before sending, usingcomplete sentences andproper grammar, and

responding to communicationsin a timely manner areimportant ways to establishyourself as a youngprofessional. Lastly, I havelearned how important it is tohandle rejection with grace. Ifyou receive word that you didnot get the job or that there areno research opportunitiesavailable, always find a way toturn that into a positivelearning experience. Ask theemployer for feedback on yourapplication or job interview, orthank the researcher for theirconsideration and ask them tokeep you in mind for futureopportunities. It can be difficultto break into the field youaspire to be in, so always try tolearn from failure and don’tgive up.

Final Exam Season is here!Make sure that you know the datesyour exams are scheduled on!

Tips for studying:- Make a study schedule and stick

with it!- Take breaks when necessary- Feed yourself nutritious meals(use some of our recipes!)

Last year, we heard yourpleas for study spaces!HSB will be open for theexam season from 6:00 amto 10:30 pm 7 days-a-week.Happy studying!