Matthew To's Experience at ELLICSR

Hi! My name is Matthew and I am a research student working at ELLICSR. I am also an undergraduate science student at the University of Western Ontario. I first heard about ELLICSR through looking through hundreds of researcher profiles. What immediately stood out to me was the unique opportunity to assist with cancer research in a clinical setting. I’m so thankful that the researchers at ELLICSR gave me an opportunity to work here and it has been an incredible learning experience!

Last summer, ELLICSR gave me the opportunity to help with a project for gynecologic cancer patients. We developed an online support group to help patients manage psychosexual distress. We conducted debriefing interviews to get participants’ feedback with the support group. I analyzed the interview transcripts and contributed to writing up our findings. The paper was awarded First Prize by the American Association for Cancer Education and was published in a peer-reviewed journal. I am grateful to Dr. David Wiljer and Sara Urowitz (researchers at ELLICSR) and Naa Kwarley Quartey (former Research Assistant at ELLICSR) for giving me the chance to help with this project, teaching me about the qualitative research process, valuing my input, and guiding me along the way. I enjoyed the experience so much that I decided to apply again to work with ELLICSR for another summer. I am very happy that Dr. Jennifer Jones gave me the opportunity to contribute to several projects including a study to assess bone health knowledge of prostate cancer survivors.

Throughout the past two summers, I have gained so many valuable experiences such as learning about how to interact with doctors and patients, developing projects, and presenting our findings through presentations and research manuscripts. As I am interested in a career in healthcare and research, I know that ELLICSR has equipped me with a strong skill set that I will be able to use wherever I go in the future.

Finally, I truly believe that ELLICSR offers a truly unique approach to tackling problems that cancer patients have to face by examining all the different angles (e.g. physical, psychosocial) with an interdisciplinary team and by listening to the needs of patients as well as their families and communities. I am so glad that I had the chance to work here and I want to thank all the staff and students at ELLICSR for giving me a comprehensive and supportive learning experience.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         - Matthew To