Rehab Science degrees offer a variety of career choices

Since 1991 the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine has offered a PhD degree in Rehabilitation Science. While most graduates of the three-year program go on to academic or clinical careers, others apply the knowledge gained through the PhD-RS program in different ways.

Among the latter are two graduates now serving in leadership roles in the health-care field: Dr. Riikka Niemelainen, the quality assurance coordinator with Millard Health in Edmonton, and Dr. Tyler Amell, vice-president of research and development at Centric Health in Calgary. Both have a responsibility to ensure that patient care is advanced by evidence-based decisions, and both enjoy the opportunity to continue their involvement in research as they.

In 2000, when she was an exchange student at the U of A, Dr. Niemelainen knocked on the office door of a professor she had never met. It would prove to be a key moment in her life. At the time, Dr. Niemelainen, who was working towards a master's degree in health sciences, simply wanted to introduce herself to the professor-Tapio Videman, then a visiting professor at the U of A-who was from the same part of Finland as she was.

Years later, having practiced as a physiotherapist in Finland for a few years, Dr. Niemelainen decided to continue her studies. She says she was motivated by questions she had about the treatments she was giving her patients. "I was questioning 'Why am I doing this? Does it matter?' and it sparked an interest to undertake further research."

She says that, having decided to pursue a PhD, she recalled the good time she had at the U of A and the good researchers she had encountered. In particular, she remembered the warm welcome she had received from Dr. Videman, who had subsequently accepted a full-time appointment at the U of A.

When she applied to study with him, he was supportive, and she returned to Edmonton to work in the Common Spinal Disorders Research Group, where she was co-supervised by Dr. Videman and Dr. Michele Crites Battié. "At the back of my mind," she says, "was the expectation that I would go on to a career as an academic." But while she "really enjoyed research," she says she came to realize that "teaching really wasn't my forte."

In 2010, having completed a two-year post-doctoral appointment, she left academia, accepting her current position with Millard Health. Operated by Alberta's Workers' Compensation Board, Millard Health provides occupational rehabilitation and disability management services to about 9,000 clients annually and employs approximately 270 staff members, including a variety of healthcare professionals. Created in 1952, it has a long history of health-care research and innovation, including the development of evidence-based disability management tools.

As quality assurance coordinator, Dr. Niemelainen collects and analyses data to evaluate all aspects of the organization's performance to ensure targets are met and treatment is effective. And she's loving it. "I like data and I like people, so it's great for me," she says.

She also enjoys the variety in her job. For the past year she has also served as team lead for the information management team, and she's also gaining supervisory experience. On top of all that, she still gets to conduct research.

"It all started from that knock on the door," she muses. "If I had just kept walking…"

For Dr. Amell, the opportunity to be involved in research is also an important factor in his job satisfaction. Originally from Ontario, Dr. Amell earned bachelor's and master's degrees in that province before coming to Alberta, lured by the "outstanding academic offerings of the U of A," as well as the Rockies and the opportunities to indulge his zeal for skiing and mountain-biking.

Through both his work and his academic pursuits, Dr. Amell has gained extensive experience in occupational health and safety. He has worked in the petroleum and manufacturing industries, developing strategic workplace injury and illness control and prevention programs for both Syncrude Canada and DuPont Canada. After graduating from the PhD-RS program in 2001, he accepted a position with the City of Edmonton, where he managed the City's health services group.

One of the challenges of that position, he recalls, was the "huge amount of variability" in the work done by the city's 16,000 employees-the workforce comprised everything from firefighters and police officers to bus drivers and office administrative staff." There could be no one-size-fits-all health-care solutions, and so many solutions required evidence-based approaches, he says.

In 2006, Dr. Amell left Edmonton to join LifeMark Health in Calgary, where he initially served as director of the corporate program evaluation department before becoming vice-president. When LifeMark, a very large provider of physiotherapy and other services in the area of rehabilitation medicine, was acquired by Centric Health in 2011, he was promoted to vice-president of research and development for the parent company.

Centric Health is the leading diversified health-care company in Canada and has extensive operations in areas such as medical assessments, occupational health services, seniors' wellness, physiotherapy, pharmacy, surgery and homecare. It also has almost 100 home medical equipment stores across Canada carrying the MEDIchair and Motion Specialties brands. In addition to his R&D role, Dr. Amell oversees all of Centric's WCB business across Canada-a portfolio in excess of $50 million.

Dr. Amell says that his position with Centric has many aspects but its essence is simple: gathering evidence to ensure "the right clinical decisions are being made to make sure the client is getting the best care possible." He adds that his biggest challenges revolve around dealing with innovation-"implementing change and keeping people engaged, as well as figuring out new and different ways to get clients back to normal as soon as possible."

Dr. Amell also keeps a foot in the academic world, having taught in the occupational health program at the University of Calgary since 2007. "My passion," he says, "is all about evidence-based care and optimization of health-care service delivery to ensure the clients receive the best health care possible."

That's a passion Dr. Niemelainen shares. And, indeed-though she and Dr. Amell have chosen career paths different from those of many PhD-RS grads-that desire to optimize health through evidence-based care is a thread that unites the graduates of the program, no matter where their careers have taken them.