Nursing students Fouad Maghamez and Ruth Tewah were among 71 students in McGill’s health professional schools who benefited from Dialogue McGill bursaries during the 2023-2024 academic year
Since 2004, Dialogue McGill has supported initiatives to build capacity of bilingual professionals in the public health and psychosocial services network and improve access to services throughout Quebec. One successful strategy has been the provision of bursaries to students pursuing studies in healthcare and psychosocial services who have committed to practicing in their field in a public Quebec institution upon completion of their studies.
Ingram School of Nursing (ISoN) students Ruth Tewah and Fouad Maghamez are among 71 students in McGill’s health professional schools who benefitted from these bursaries during the 2023-2024 academic year.
“I am deeply committed to staying in Quebec, a province that has been home for eight years and where my wife and I have built our lives. Our trilingual abilities (French, English and Arabic) are valuable in Quebec’s diverse healthcare landscape,” says Fouad, a student in the ISoN’s Direct Entry Master’s program. As the father of a young child, Fouad was grateful to have been awarded a Dialogue McGill bursary for two consecutive years. “It was a huge relief to know that a significant part of the financial burden was lifted, allowing me to continue providing for my family without the constant financial stress.”
Ruth, BScN’24, who enjoys working with underserved communities in Quebec, says that receiving the bursary meant that she did not have to add the burden of part-time work to her already full load of being a mother of three young children and a full-time student. “This bursary allowed me to focus on my studies and practical training, ultimately preparing me to enter the workforce as a highly qualified health and social service provider.”
During her final year of the BScN program, Ruth was accepted into the School’s Nursing Ambassador program, resulting in an unforgettable internship in Mistissini with the Cree Health board. This experience exposed her to many different aspects of nursing, including assessing clients at all stages of life from infancy to adolescence to the elderly, health promotion and education, administering vaccines, working in the hemodialysis unit, youth center, Mistissini community and observing palliative care. “The people were so warm and welcoming. It was a privilege to witness life until death, to care for clients across all ages and to see how the care services we provided differed according to age,” she recalls. As well, the Dialogue McGill bursary gave her the financial freedom to explore many extra-curricular opportunities offered by the ISoN and the McGill community.
Having recently purchased a home in a neighbourhood in the predominantly French-speaking South Shore region, Fouad believes that Quebec is a great place to live and work. He is particularly interested in pursuing a career in palliative care nursing. “My current clinical rotations in this field have been profoundly impactful, and I feel I can make a significant positive difference in the final moments of a patient’s life,” he says.
Like Fouad, Ruth appreciates the social support system available in Quebec and believes it is worth preserving. “Choosing to stay in Quebec allows me to work in an environment that aligns with my cultural identity and values,” she explains. Currently working as a nurse in the Emergency Room at St. Mary’s Hospital Centre, she dreams of creating a student-run interprofessional clinic where students from different disciplines will serve the underserved and vulnerable populations. “I strongly believe inter-professionalism is the way forward in healthcare as it provides holistic patient-centered care.”
