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McMaster MSc Global Health student Aviva Elman’s first experience in global health involved volunteering at Save a Child’s Heart Foundation at the Wolfson Medical Centre in Holon, Israel. The organization provides life-saving surgery to children from developing countries who do not have access to proper cardiac care.

 

“I was exposed to the disparities among nations with respect to health care access,” says Elman, who admits that this issue has inspired her to “better understand challenges in providing high-quality health care globally.”

 

Elman started the Global Health program at McMaster after graduating from McGill University with a BSc in Kinesiology. “At McGill I focused on patterns of disease within populations pertaining to physical activity and health,” says Elman, who was an active participant in the McGill Kinesiology Games, “an annual intercollegiate student conference and competition that features some of kinesiology’s brightest, athletic and most spirited student leaders across Canada.”

 

During her undergraduate degree, Elman also travelled on exchange to The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, which she says fuelled her “love of travel and adventure.”

 

Today, as a student of the Global Health program, and an elected member of the Global Health Students’ Advisory Committee, Elman says she is excited about everything the program has to offer: “I’m looking forward to gaining the knowledge and experience to work in disease treatment, prevention and health management while further broadening my scope on a global scale.”