Sylvia Reitmanova
Sylvia Reitmanova
Sylvia Reitmanova is pursuing a Masters of Science degree in community health at the Faculty of Medicine. “My research deals with the health of immigrants. I have completed a project concerned with the maternity health and care needs of St. John’s immigrant Muslim women. My current thesis work examines the mental health needs of St. John’s immigrants as well as their barriers to utilizing mental health services.”
Sylvia, now a Canadian was born and raised in Slovakia. “I obtained my medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine at Comenius University in Bratislava, the Slovak capital, in 1997. Then I worked as a psychiatry resident in a very modern Slovak hospital. When I arrived to Canada in 1999, I realized that the opportunities for foreign trained medical doctors in Canada are quite limited. Being involved in the medical research brings me back to what I love: medicine.”
“My husband accepted a faculty position at Memorial University. Because our family has settled here, it was a great opportunity for me to become a Memorial student. At the Division of Community Health and Humanities, I met a team of wonderful dedicated researchers and teachers. One of them is my mentor, Dr. Diana Gustafson, whom I respect very much. Her passion for work she does make me realize that community health research is what I truly wish to pursue.”
“Studying at Memorial provided me with a second chance to make a difference. The knowledge generated through research is as valuable as the direct help that a physician can offer to her patients. Furthermore, meeting other students provided me with an interesting opportunity to know Newfoundland culture that can’t be found anywhere else in Canada!”
“There is a great and unique advantage of studying and conducting my research in St. John’s. Although the immigrants represent 3% of the local population, we know very little about their health needs and conditions. For this reason, my research in St. John’s is maybe first of its kind in comparison to the other Canadian cities, where the research concerned with the immigrants’ health has already been in place for some time. In addition, the ethno-specific infrastructure and cultural diversity in St. John’s is fairly limited, which is one of the reasons why the mental health needs of local immigrants might differ from those expressed by immigrants in Ontario or Alberta. I hope that my research will help the local healthcare providers and policy makers in developing health and social services that address the immigrants’ needs.”
“Since I’m a mom of two small children, all my activities outside of my studies focus on well-being of my children.”
Sylvia has received numerous awards including MUN School of Graduate Studies Recognition of Excellence (2005), NLCAHR Master's Fellowship Research Award (2004 – 18,000$) as well as My research project on the maternity health of immigrant women was presented at the Atlantic Networks for Prevention Research Forum in Nova Scotia (2005)
“I would like to continue in my research at community health division; this time at the PhD level. There are still many things I would like to learn. I hope that one day I can offer the knowledge and skills I developed during my research at Memorial to those who need it overseas.”