Marjan's Experience at ELLICSR

In September 2009 I started my Masters in Health Services Research program at University of Toronto. My Masters thesis is on assessing the Primary Care Physicians’ attitudes towards adoption of an electronic tool to support cancer diagnosis.

My thesis supervisor is Dr. David Wiljer, the Director of Knowledge Management and e-Health Innovation for Oncology Education and the Radiation Medicine Program at the Princess Margaret Hospital. Dr. Wiljer has provided ongoing support throughout my research project and he has been a great supervisor and mentor to me.

Right at the start of my Masters program, Dr Wiljer generously provided me a working station at the ELLICSR Center as my study area and to work on my thesis project.

Since then, I have been spending a great deal of my time at the ELLICSR center working both on my Masters thesis as well as a number of other Medical Informatics research projects. Working at ELLICSR has been an incredible and very pleasant experience for me.  I have found the environment at the ELLICSR Center very friendly. The entire staffs have been extremely supportive during my training period at the center.

ELLICSR Center is a collaborative centre for health, wellness and cancer survivorship, where survivors, clinicians, educators and researchers gather to improve the quality of life of cancer patients and survivors. At ELLICSR, I have found the research teams very eager and keen in investigating the new approaches to enhance cancer experience for patients.

Coming to ELLICSR Center was also an ongoing learning experience for me. During the time that I was at the center, I found the opportunity and I was always welcomed to participate in the exiting workshops, conferences, and cooking classes that were held for the staff and patients. In those events, I learned more about the cancer patients, survivors and their needs.

Currently, I am at the end of my Masters program and have completed my program successfully. I feel strongly about the ELLICSR Center, the research team and staff here. I will surely miss the Center and would always welcome any opportunity to come back and contribute to the research activities that are going on here in attempt to improve the deliver of cancer care for patients.  
   
- Marjan Moeinedin