Media

OTTAWA, July 27, 2010  —  The University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Health Sciences is proud to be a partner of the 45th Jeux de Québec, Gatineau 2010, to be held in Gatineau from July 29 to August 6, 2010. The Faculty is pleased to be associated with this major sports event, which will welcome close to 4,000 of the province’s athletes.

Under the leadership of Dr. Denis Prud’homme, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, over 40 of the Faculty’s staff, students and professors will participate as volunteers to help make this event a success.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity for us to go into the field with our students and work as a team in a very specific and concrete multi-professional context. We are proud to be contributing to the success of this major event and to be able to demonstrate the diversity of our health care skills and the professionalism of the teams at the Faculty of Health Sciences,” stated Dean Prud’homme.

The Faculty of Health Sciences will be providing its support and health expertise in several areas during the games.

The team from the Honours Bachelor of Nutrition Sciences program, under the responsibility of the practicum coordinator, Marie-Josée Cyr, and including three third-year students, was involved in developing the menus to be offered to the young athletes and other games participants. Together, the team members provided advice and monitored the process of developing the menus, which were then approved by Sports Québec. The food will be prepared by the selected suppliers and served to the games athletes. This experience will allow the students involved to put into practice the knowledge they acquired in the classroom.

Nicole Paquet, director of the physiotherapy program, did not hesitate to get involved in this project with her students as well. She sees physiotherapy as an essential element at this type of event. Paquet explained that the students will be supervised by professional physiotherapists. “This is a golden opportunity for our students to see and understand what actually happens on the field. There is no question that this event will be very beneficial for their academic progress,” said Professor Paquet.

In addition to representatives from the Honours Bachelor in Nutrition Sciences program and the Master’s of Health Sciences in Physiotherapy program, other students from the human kinetics and health sciences programs as well as the dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences will volunteer at the games.

“Together, the Faculty of Health Sciences team will be able to use its knowledge and skills to ensure the well-being of all those involved in the Jeux de Québec. We are very pleased to be able to contribute to the success of this major sports event,” concluded Thalie Tremblay, the head of communications and marketing and leader of the Faculty of Health Sciences team involved in the games.

The 2010 Jeux de Québec will be held in Gatineau from July 29 to August 6, 2010, with over 4,000 athletes competing in 17 official disciplines and three demonstration sports. The committee will be relying on 4,000 volunteers to run these games. For more information on the 2010 games, visit the Jeux de Québec website. [external link - in French only]