Alumna Profile: Paige Alliston, Nutrition Communication (MHSc) '23

While on her journey toward becoming a registered dietitian, Paige Alliston (Nutrition Communication ‘23) ended up catching the academic research bug. When she came to TMU, her master’s program opened up new opportunities to explore career horizons related to research. Now graduated, Alliston landed a career position at McMaster University as a research coordinator and is supporting projects related to diabetes prevention and health coaching.

What was your internship experience at TMU like?

While in the MHSc program, I completed internships in different areas of dietetics. Each placement brought unique opportunities to expand my skill set and gain confidence in myself as a future healthcare professional. I took a lot from the self-directed projects that I was able to complete during my internships. A specific project that brought me a lot of fulfillment was designing and implementing a workshop to educate new patients, their families, and healthcare professionals on living with celiac disease and following a gluten-free diet.

How did your graduate education impact your career path?

Throughout my time as a student in the field of nutrition, I have always had an interest in research. Studying at TMU allowed me to explore my interests further by completing a scoping review to explore how to address barriers that medically uninsured individuals with diabetes experience when accessing diabetes care.

After completing the project, I collaborated with MHSc alumni and professor Enza Gucciardi to prepare a manuscript for submission on the barriers to healthcare access and its impact on health outcomes for medically uninsured individuals in Canada. This article was recently published in the International Health Trends and Perspectives journal. Seeing something published that I worked on during my time at TMU was very rewarding. Being able to pursue research-related opportunities while completing my studies to become a dietitian has been a highlight of my education and inspired me to continue to branch into this field.

Tell us about your current career role.

I have recently started a position at McMaster University as a research coordinator. This opportunity has allowed me to take a leadership role in designing and implementing interventions that focus on chronic disease prevention in community settings. I will be working on research projects related to diabetes prevention and health coaching. I've carried many skills I developed or refined in the MHSc program into my new role, including knowledge mobilization and effective communication techniques. I am very excited to see what the future holds and hope to make an impact on the research community.

Looking back, what advice would you give to graduate students?

Having feelings of self-doubt or moments where you question yourself while in graduate school is completely normal. Everyone is just figuring it out as we go. The advice I would give to a graduate student is to be a little easier on yourself. The work will always be hard to get through and you will have setbacks you have to overcome. The meaning you put behind the work, the goals you set for yourself to look forward to, and the people you surround yourself with make it worthwhile.