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Sophie Pulumbarit: Implementing a patient-centred approach to healthcare
By Mara Di Persio
Sophie's hometown: Aurora, Ontario
With a background in Health Information Science and now pursuing a medical degree at McMaster University, MHIS alum Sophie Pulumbarit is redefining the patient experience in healthcare.
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For years, Sophie Pulumbarit has had a passion for the sciences. After completing an undergraduate degree in Integrated Science and Chemistry at Western University, she felt drawn to a career in healthcare but was unsure how to make the transition.
After researching her options, Sophie chose the Master of Health Information Science program in 2023 because of its focus on knowledge translation - the ways in which health information is transmitted to the public and integrated into new technologies.
“MHIS was the perfect bridge between my science background and the healthcare realm,” she says.
Sophie had the opportunity to blend her scientific knowledge and passion for working with people while immersed in a project focused on patient engagement. She worked under the supervision of Health Sciences Professor Joy MacDermid, the Canada Research Chair in Musculoskeletal Health Outcomes and Knowledge Translation. Her study group worked towards creating a new patient engagement committee at the Hand and Upper Limb Clinic at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London to encourage patients to be involved and propose their own research ideas for their treatment.
Sophie views her experiences as an MHIS student and her involvement at the Hand and Upper Limb Clinic as opportunities that prepared her for her future career in medicine. After completing her MHIS degree, she was accepted in the MD program at McMaster University and began to train to be a doctor.
Sophie credits Health Information Science with opening her eyes to the healthcare system as a whole and showing her where improvements are needed. The program heavily emphasized the inequities that are associated with healthcare technologies, and learning about patient experiences with racial and gender biases and discrimination inspired her to become more directly involved with the system.
Fun Fact
Sophie read over 60 books last year.
She hopes to take on a patient-facing role that will allow her to connect with people while working toward widespread change.
“I realized that I wanted to have one-on-one experience with patients to prevent that cycle of biases from continuing,” she says.
She also credits her time working as a Teaching Assistant while in the MHIS program with opening her mind to a career in teaching. Becoming an educator would align with her enthusiasm for knowledge translation and promoting equality on a systemic level.
“Hopefully, teaching spreads that message to future clinicians and ingrains those values into students as they come in,” she explains.
Sophie has a simple piece of advice that she would like to leave for current and future MHIS students: “Make the program your own.” Because the program has a flexible format, she was able to explore other interests and customize her individual experience. Sophie encourages students to fill their time with the experiences that are most important to them, so they can discover new passions and learn how to have a positive impact wherever they go.”
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Profiles in the Meet Our Students section are written by students in the Master of Media in Journalism & Communication program, who are enrolled in MMJC 9604 - Professional Writing.
