Alumna finds her niche

Tiffany Fabro was named one of 40 inspiring students by U Magazine in 2006.

By Karen Cook

In 2006, Tiffany Fabro, BN’07, was interviewed for the University of Calgary’s U Magazine story about 40 inspiring students. One year before graduation with her Bahelor of Nursing, the now-28-year-old list of aspirations was concise: experience healthcare systems around the world, complete a master’s program and live near the ocean.

As a Master of Public Health student at Simon Fraser University, Fabro has travelled the world as a registered nurse and she can put a checkmark beside two of the objectives that she set as an undergraduate student. She credits her undergraduate education with inspiring her interest in global health.

“I was lucky enough to have visited Kagawa University in Japan with other nursing students during my first year of nursing,” says Fabro. “I was intrigued by the cultural differences that influenced nursing practice there and as I explored other countries overseas, my eyes were really opened to the devastating health impact poverty, political unrest and widespread communicable diseases have on populations.”

After a volunteer stint at a rural community hospital in Zimbabwe, Fabro found her niche in global health and has completed a three-month internship with the World Health Organization in Copenhagen, Denmark and a five-month contract with the WHO European Regional Office.

She currently works as a graduate research assistant on two projects: one, initiated by Fraser Health Authority, called "Medical Makeover: Redesigning Physician Services for Tomorrow's Health System" and the other, a CIHR-funded research project, “CIHR Knowledge Synthesis: Unearthing and Communicating Health Implications and Possible Interventions for Aboriginal Communities Experiencing Mine Development.”

After graduation this December, Fabro plans to work in public health for a regional or provincial health authority, start her doctorate degree in health sciences and working toward a life by the ocean.