Nathasha Odessa Grimard is an MDCM student and a McGill Global Health Scholar supported by the Dr. Alice Benjamin Global Maternal and Child Health Award. This past summer, Natasha worked with Prof. Kathleen Rice, postdoc researcher Erin Heatherington, and co-researcher Rina Lall on Pregnancy and early childhood health among migrant and socially marginalized communities attending specialized community-based care.
"I've done a few things within the project: I've reviewed the literature on well-child visits, early childhood immunizations and child development, I've coded some data cleaning algorithms and I have collected data through medical chart review. I've also helped with the mid-project presentation at La Maison Bleue, the organization we are collaborating with, and will be drafting sections of our final report as well as helping out with any further presentations we may do with La Maison Bleue and their partners.
The most interesting thing has been learning about how La Maison Bleue and other groups within the healthcare system organize pregnancy care and early childhood care to best support the needs of the vulnerable families that receive care with them. Both pregnancy and early childhood are simultaneously incredibly wonderful and incredibly vulnerable times, and the families that receive care there are experiencing multiple additional levels of vulnerability (whether it be financial, linked to residency status, related to histories of surviving violence, and more). I feel, through this project, that I've gained an understanding of what systems can be put in place to ensure that all family members thrive. As a medical student, this insight has also helped me clarify some of my career goals - because La Maison Bleue is exactly the kind of collaborative, caring environment I'd like to practice in someday. Doing the kind of public health research I've had the privilege of doing this summer has oriented me towards the kind of work that I hope to keep doing both within and out of academia."
Learn more about the McGill Global Health Scholars Undergraduate Program.
