FHS undergrads showcase projects at Student Research Poster Day

Fourth-year University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) students from the Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) program and Research Practicum course showcased their work covering health-care topics ranging from improving cardiac arrest outcomes to transfusion practices at rural hospitals, during the annual FHS Student Research Poster Day on April 9.

"This is one of the most exciting days of the academic year," said Dr. Ellen Vogel, Dean, FHS. "This is an opportunity for our research practicum and project students to present their work conducted under the guidance of both internal and external tutors."

Fifty-eight students were on hand to present their final research projects to the panel of 46 judges.

The winners from each category were:

Medical Laboratory Science

• First (tie): Mikael Khan, An Assessment of the Utilization of Hemoglobin A1c; Amy Talbot, Determining the Clinical Value of Urinalysis Dipstick Results on Patients with Suspect Urinary Tract Infections
• Second: Esama Salman, Validation of the Alere Instrumented Test System with DxLINK Technology for Urine Drugs of Abusive Screening
• Third: Shadi Huladar, A Review of Physicians Transfusion Practices in a Rural Hospital

Research Practicum

• First: Ellen Smith, Development of a Protocol to Enable Volume Estimation of the Sternocleidomastoid Muscle from MRI
• Second: Bilal Khan, Implementation of the Morisky 8-Item Medication Adherence Scale and a Lifestyle Modifications Questionnaire to Measure Patients' Compliance to Stroke Prevention Treatment
• Third (tie): Alyssa Goodes, The Association of Prenatal Maternal Cortisol with Adverse Birth, Pregnancy and Development Outcomes: A Review of Evidence; Heather Murphy, Timing of Neck Muscle Activation when Exposed to Expected and Unexpected Perturbations

"I hope you have one of the days that you will remember for many years," Dr. Bill Muirhead, Associate Provost, Academic and IT, told the group of students. Reflecting on their education, he said, "This is not something that passes. This is the beginning of your career. All careers are built on strong foundations, and I know the strong foundation you received at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology will make a difference to you and others in years to come."