U of Guelph produces its first bachelor of One Health grad

Last spring, Benjamin Snetsinger waited, impatiently, on the wait list for the University of Guelph’s master of public health, a program that has 25 spots and receives more than 100 applicants.

“I really wanted to be in that program,” said Mr. Snetsinger, who got in after just two days of suspense. He’s not sure what got him over the line. “I’d like to think that One Health helped.”

He is referring to U of G’s new bachelor of One Health (BOH) from which he is the very first graduate. One Health is an approach to solving problems that takes into account human, animal and environmental health. Universities in Canada and elsewhere offer graduate degrees in One Health, plus opportunities for undergraduates to become exposed to its tenets. U of G is the first in Canada – and perhaps the world – to have a standalone undergrad degree, which it launched in 2022.

About 153 students will be enrolled in the undergrad program as of fall 2024, and that includes a handful of upper-year transfer students. Mr. Snetsinger was one such student, as he switched from microbiology at U of G after his third year. The inaugural cohort will graduate in 2026, with the first group of co-op students to follow in 2027.

Offering BOH courses earlier than planned for transfer students has been just one of the challenges of running this interdisciplinary program, for which there are no pre-existing models. U of G has been flexible in order to meet what has been strong demand with about 360 applicants a year for 54 first-year spots.

“What we’ve discovered is there is a subset of health-oriented students that might have gone a different path, but when they discover One Health, it just clicks for them. A more holistic approach to health resonates with some students and they want to be a part of it,” said program chair Brian Husband.

That was the case for Mr. Snetsinger. While studying microbiology, he did a co-op placement at a salami factory – he enjoyed it, but realized he was on the wrong path. “It was too small, literally and figuratively. It was too specific.” A course in epidemiology proved to him that big-picture issues related to disease and health were more of interest. He was accepted to the BOH, choosing the disease, complexity and health focus. (The other three areas of emphasis are: environment, food and health; policy, economics and health; and culture, society and health.)

Dr. Husband thinks how the program is organized – as a collaborative effort between four Guelph colleges – matters. “We’ve been particularly bold in saying, let’s create a bachelor’s degree that stands separate on its own, that gives us the ability to create more of a balance between the human, animal and environmental health.”

Meanwhile, students at Western University, in the only Canadian program that’s somewhat similar, can take an honours specialization in One Health as part of a bachelor of medical sciences.

Taking a wider scope is the new Initiative Une seule santé at Université de Montréal, which is helmed by representatives from across the university. It will eventually include a doctorate program. “Everybody’s trying to find their place in this space. Most of the effort is going into graduate level programming,” said Dr. Husband. U of G has offered a One Health specialization in an MSc and PhD since 2020.

Recently, it was announced that U of G, UdeM, the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Toronto, York University and Dalhousie Universities received $2.7 million in Canadian Institutes of Health Research funding to create the Canadian One Health Training Program on Emerging Zoonoses (COHTPEZ). This virtual, bilingual, six-year training program will aim to build capacity in limiting disease spread and pandemics.

Truly interdisciplinary

During his time in the program, Mr. Snetsinger particularly enjoyed the core course Topics in One Health 3000. “It was the class with the most discussions and seminars I’ve ever taken. It was really just the 10 of us with our professor and what we’d read and discussing it: what was wrong, what was right. Coming at it from different angles,” he said.

For his capstone project, he worked on a project that addresses the impact of zoonic diseases on girls and women in East Africa. “I got to dip my feet into a lot, which is great. I have a hard time sitting in one discipline. Which is what One Health is all about.”

Elizabeth Arbour, a transfer student from McMaster University’s biomedical engineering program thought the BOH would be a “perfect fit” due to her interest in biology and big-picture health. The degree has required her to take social studies courses such as anthropology, which were new to her. “I find it so useful in my One Health classes. We really do use the anthropology approach, the humanities approach, it’s so valuable. One Health is really special in that it embraces the social sciences along with the natural sciences.”

After graduation next spring, she expects to take a college certificate in medical lab studies and then pursue a master’s in either public health or pathology. Her classmates have a mix of future plans that include public health, urban planning, medical school and vet school.

Her only quibble with the program is its focus on research-based future options, while she’d prefer more insights about practical career paths.

Indeed, the BOH’s biggest obstacle to growing its ranks – U of G would like to expand to allow 70 incoming students a year, with even more applicants to ensure good depth of talent – is the novelty of studying One Health, particularly at the undergraduate level.

“There are no jobs called One Health jobs,” said Dr. Husband.

However, he’s been in touch with governments, non-profits and private enterprises around their need for skills related to collaboration and blending science and social science, so he knows program is hitting the right notes. “These skills are becoming critical in a variety of different sectors.”