OPHA Student Essay Contest

OPHA congratulates Megan Misovic, a graduate student in Health Sciences at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Megan is the Grand Prize winner of our competition. Megan's bold and iconoclastic approach to the contest serves as a reminder, in building for the future, that public health needs courageous leaders who are willing to question established norms and practices as they devise strategies to meet the challenges of the day. Members can look forward to reading Megan's essay in our upcoming Fall edition of the Public Health Today magazine. Download Megan's essay [PDF, 3.7MB].

OPHA congratulates Michele Cleghorn, a graduate student in Health Sciences at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health, for the excellence of her entry. Michele's essay demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of a significant public health challenge, articulated a strategic approach to the issues involved and expressed a personal commitment to working in interdisciplinary collaboration towards building the future. Members can look forward to reading Megan's essay in our upcoming Fall edition of the Public Health Today magazine. Download Michele's essay [PDF, 4.1MB].

OPHA is proud to recognize the interdisciplinary collaboration between Carly Heung, a graduate student in the Master of Public Health program at the University of Waterloo, and Kenny Wong a graduate student in epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

These students rose admirably to the challenge of poignantly encapsulating, in a two-minute video, the subtle ways in which public health concerns pervade the details of life. This video presentation points, with intelligence and humor, to the need to galvanize public interest in the many silent contributions made by public health practitioners and policy makers to the quality of life in their communities.

Watch the Video [wmv, 8MB] You will need to have Windows Media Player on your computer.

For more details about all the award recipients, please download the info sheet [PDF, 904kb].

Objectives

This contest is designed to:

Showcase the ideas, interests, and perspectives of students in public health and related disciplines who are preparing for careers in public or community health;
Offer students an opportunity to test their ideas and approaches and offer original solutions to the public health challenges of today and tomorrow in front of an audience of today’s public health professionals;
Allow students to show how their current studies are preparing them to meet the public health health challenges of the future;
Offer students the opportunity to express their ideas, tell stories, and explore health-related issues in a choice of media — the traditional essay or through videography.

Prizes

One grand prize of $1000 will be awarded to one recipient whose work is judged to be the best by a panel of public health professionals selected by OPHA.

The work will be recognized at the OPHA Conference 2009. The contestant will be recognized and the prize awarded during the President’s Luncheon at the conference. In addition, the work will be featured in OPHA’s semi-annual Public Health Today Magazine being published shortly after the conference.

Second and Third place winners will also be recognized at the conference. Their essays will be published in Public Health Today Magazine or their video featured on the OPHA web site as appropriate. All winners will receive a one-year complimentary OPHA Student Membership as well as complimentary registration at the 2009 OPHA conference.

Choosing your Topic

Collaboration: Three approaches are of interest. First, interdisciplinary collaboration within public health units — how teams are being formed and how they are functioning, what lessons are being learned as a result of interdisciplinary collaboration. Second, what external partnerships are proving useful to public health units. How are these being operationalized and sustained, and what lessons are being learned? Thirdly, how are public health students being prepared for a workforce in which both internal collaboration and collaboration with external organizations are becoming increasingly necessary.
Knowledge Exchange (KE): Practitioners, decision makers, policy makers, and researchers working closely together to address questions that are important to the health of the population. KE recognizes the expertise of all partners. Such linkages result in mutual learning and enhanced practice based on the best available evidence.
Innovation in Public Health Practice: New and emerging practices that make a difference to client, practitioner, or organizational well-being.
Health Equity: How a health equity perspective is being incorporated into organizational practices, service delivery, program evaluations, and research.
Public Health Workforce: Strategies, approaches, tools, techniques, core competencies, and lessons learned that enhance the workforce. This includes leadership and skills development for program staff and managers.

Contest Rules

Selecting a Topic: Students are encouraged to select their own topic and find a focus for their presentation within one of the topics specified above. OPHA welcomes essays that propose potential solutions to current challenges or works that reframe public health issues in non-traditional ways with a view to proposing new and original solutions. Crucially, essays should show how the student’s course of study prepares him or her to contribute to the future of public health.
Submissions will be accepted until September 30, 2009.
Each participant may submit entries in more than one format (essay and video), but only one submission per format is allowed. For example, you may submit one essay and one video (although, of course, you can choose to submit, for example, only an essay), but you may not submit two essays or two videos.
There is no age limitation. Current enrollment in a health-related program is required. Your entry must be accompanied by the endorsement (letter) of an instructor in your discipline who has read/viewed your entry and is, on that basis, prepared to recommend it for submission.

Criteria and Rules for Essays

Essays will be assessed on the basis of clarity and force of argument. Conciseness, originality of thinking and relevance to one of the following public health themes: Collaboration, Knowledge Exchange (KE), Innovation, Health Equity, Public Health Workforce
Your essay must not be longer than 1500 words. Shorter essays are acceptable.
Essays are accepted in the following formats: .doc or .pdf.
You are required to provide a summary of no more than 250 words. The summary will be used by the jury to make a pre-selection.
Quotes and references must be clearly marked throughout the essay and properly cited in standard APA formatting.
All submissions must be original. No previously published material will be accepted. Any form of plagiarism will result in automatic disqualification.
You are required to submit a form via the Essay Competition website, which will allow us to identify your work. On the entry form you must provide a summary of no more than 250 words to describe the key message in your essay. The summary will be used by the jury to make a pre-selection. Attach your Essay .pdf or .doc to the form.

Criteria and Rules for Video Presentation

Video presentations will be assessed on the basis of clarity of the message or story that the presentation seeks to convey and relevance to one of the following public health themes: Collaboration, Knowledge Exchange (KE), Innovation, Health Equity, Public Health Workforce.
It should be noted that very little emphasis will be placed on production values. Although basic competence with video presentation is expected, students are advised against investing in or relying on expensive equipment. Poignancy of the message is the primary criteria for excellence.
Your video must not be longer than 2 minutes.
To submit a video, you must create a YouTube account and upload your work on the YouTube website. You will provide the URL as part of your Submission Form.
You are required to submit a form via the Essay Competition website, which will allow us to identify your work. On the entry form you must provide a summary of no more than 250 words to describe the key message in your video. The summary will be used by the jury to make a pre-selection. Attach a link to your YouTube account on the form.

How to Enter

Read the Criteria above regarding your preferred format. Fill out the online Submission Form. Get an endorsing Letter from your Sponsoring Professor. Email the Letter and, if you are submitting an Essay, attach it in one of the appropriate formats to OPHA Student Contest.

Annual Conference 2009

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