Adrienne Teske

Adrienne is currently a student in the Masters of Global Health program at McMaster University. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Alberta in 2019. During her undergraduate degree, Adrienne gained clinical experience working alongside local healthcare providers in Sri Lanka and Peru. Here, she developed an interest in learning about the varying cultures, languages, religions, environments, and political systems that are impacting a community’s access to high-quality health care and how we can work with these communities to assist in achieving autonomy of their health. After two and a half years of working in acute care during the COVID-19 pandemic, Adrienne’s determination to work on a population level has only furthered. Her experiences in this setting revealed to her the need for and importance of upstream approaches in addressing health concerns before they even arrive to the hospital.

As an outgoing Queen Elizabeth Scholar, Adrienne will be travelling to Medellín, Colombia to work with the Unit for Evidence and Deliberation for Decision Making at the Universidad de Antioquia. During her internship she will be able to expand upon her knowledge of health systems as Colombia is about to enter a reform with their newly appointed Minister of Health. Furthermore, Adrienne will garner greater knowledge on policy and evidence synthesis and foster long-lasting relationships with her multidisciplinary team, while enhancing her Spanish language abilities.