Dalla Lana School of Public Health

History

The Collaborative Specialization in Women’s Health, formerly known as the Collaborative Graduate Program in Women’s Health, was established in 2006 under the leadership of founding Director, Dr. Gillian Einstein (Director from 2006-2016). It was the first program of its kind in Canada, admitting its first cohort of students in the 2007-2008 academic year. The specialization provides interdisciplinary training in women’s health research and practice for graduate students at the University of Toronto and is a collaboration of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and Women’s College Hospital. The Specialization is in its 17th year and continuing to welcome and mentor new master’s and doctoral students, as well as follow the careers of our approximately 150 graduates.

Why Women’s Health?

Women’s health issues are now more than ever a focus for health care that is on the cutting edge of patient-centered care, evidence-based medicine, and personalized medicine, and heightening an appreciation of biological diversity and gender identities among humans. For example, in biomedical research, integrating knowledge of women’s health is critical for understanding the biology underlying diversity in the etiology, progression, treatment, and prevention of disease. Women are often the primary caregivers in the family, and their health, therefore, can affect all members of the community including men, children, and older adults.

“Women” refers to a broad gender categorization that does not necessarily correlate with one’s sex assigned at birth. We use the term therefore to include all those who self-identify as women, including cisgender women, transgender women, intersex women, and two-spirited women (Castaldi, 2015). Understanding the impact of gender and sex on health is receiving increased attention across the country; the Canadian Institutes of Health Research now expect that all research applicants integrate gender and sex considerations into their research designs where appropriate, and the Public Health Agency of Canada has identified gender as a key determinant of health.

“THE CSWH IS INVALUABLE IN OFFERING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY FRAMEWORK FOR EXPLORING WOMEN’S HEALTH IN A COMPREHENSIVE WAY. IT ENABLES STUDENTS TO DEVELOP A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTRICATE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BIOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, AND SOCIETAL FACTORS THAT SHAPE WOMEN’S LIVES AND WELL-BEING. THIS IS CRUCIAL FOR CULTIVATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCHOLARS, PRACTITIONERS, AND LEADERS WHO WILL ENSURE THAT WOMEN’S HEALTH REMAINS A PRIORITY IN OUR COLLECTIVE WORK, WHILE ALSO RECOGNIZING THE DIVERSE EXPERIENCES AND NEEDS OF WOMEN IN HEALTH”

PHD STUDENT, PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCES, 2024 SPECIALIZATION INTERNAL QUALITY REVIEW

Our Specialization

The purpose of the Collaborative Specialization in Women’s Health is to provide graduate students across the University of Toronto the opportunity to interact with and be mentored by senior academics engaged in women’s health research. Students also gain critical experience employing multidisciplinary approaches necessary to comprehensively examine women’s health and the various biological and social determinants that shape women’s lives and well-being. Regardless of the department or faculty to which they belong, all students are supported in interrogating their projects in the context of women’s health.

The Specialization promotes shared learning experiences that include student-led research seminars which meet once a month and the completion of a required core course [CHL5109 H: Gender and Health]. Gender and Health covers a range of theories, methodologies, and topics in women’s health, including, for example, intersectionality, masculinities, Two-Eyed Seeing principles, mixed methods, history of women’s health, sex and gender, Black health, disabled women’s health, cervical cancer, and violence against women. Students also have the opportunity to participate in additional learning opportunities offered through Women’s College Research and Innovation Institute at Women’s College Hospital.