McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences

Established| 1974
Dean| Paul O'Byrne
Students| 5,000
Location|

Hamilton

Canada

Website| Faculty of Health Sciences

The McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences is one of six faculties at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The faculty was established in 1974 to oversee the School of Nursing, the School of Medicine, and Graduate programs in health sciences. Today, the Faculty of Health Sciences oversees 5,000 students, 770 full-time faculty, more than 1,800 part-time faculty, and 28 Canada Research Chairs.[1][2] The faculty is well known for running the most competitive medical and undergraduate program in Canada. In 2023, the MD program at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine received over 5,200 applications for 221 positions.[3] The Honours Health Sciences Program (formerly Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) Program) at McMaster University receives over 8,000 applications for 260 positions annually and was ranked the most competitive undergraduate program in Canada by Master Student in 2022.[4][5][6] The faculty was ranked 25th in the world in the 2015 Times Higher Education World Rankings in the Clinical, Pre-Clinical and Health category.

## Departments

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The faculty currently houses the following departments:[7]

* Anesthesia
* Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences
* Health Research Methods, Evidence & Impact
* Family Medicine
* Medical Imaging
* Medicine
* Obstetrics & Gynecology
* Oncology
* Pathology & Molecular Medicine
* Pediatrics
* Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences
* Surgery

## Programs

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Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery

The faculty currently houses the following undergraduate programs:[8]

* Honours Health Sciences Program (formerly Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) Program)[9]
* Integrated Biomedical Engineering & Health Sciences
* Integrated Rehabilitation & Humanities
* Honours Biochemistry
* Biomedical Discovery & Commercialization Program
* Biology & Pharmacology Co-Op Program

* Midwifery Education Program
* Bachelor of Science Nursing Program
* Physician Assistant Education Program
* Undergraduate Medical Education Program

The faculty currently houses the following graduate programs:[10]

* Research-oriented programs:[11] Biochemistry, Biomedical Engineering (in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering), Chemical Biology, eHealth (in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering and the DeGroote School of Business), Global Health (in collaboration with the Faculty of Social Sciences and the DeGroote School of Business), Health Policy, Health Research Methodology, Health Science Education, Medical Sciences, Midwifery, Neuroscience (in collaboration with the Faculties of Science, Engineering, and Humanities), Nursing, Public Health, Rehabilitation Science
* Professional programs:[12] Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization, Biomedical Innovation, Child Life & Pediatric Psychosocial Care, Health Management (in collaboration with the DeGroote School of Business), Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Psychotherapy, Speech-Language Pathology
* Diploma programs:[13] Astrobiology (in collaboration with the Faculty of Science), Clinical Behavioural Sciences, Clinical Epidemiology, Community and Public Health, Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner, Water Without Borders (in collaboration with the United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health)

## Facilities

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Health Sciences Library

The faculty currently operate a number of facilities on the McMaster's main campus and around Ontario for both education and research. The faculty also operates its own library at the university, known as the Health Sciences Library. The Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery, which houses the faculty's medical school also houses more than 250 scientists and McMaster's medical institutes including, the Centre for Function Genomics, Centre for Gene Therapeutics, Institute for Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Research, Robert E. Fitzhenry Vector Laboratory, Centre for Asthma and Allergy Research (Allergen), the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care and North American Headquarters for West Nile studies.[14]

The faculty also operate two regional campuses in St. Catharines, Ontario and Kitchener, Ontario. The campus in Kitchener, known as the Waterloo Regional Campus, shares facilities with the Health Sciences Campus of the University of Waterloo.[15] The campus in St. Catharines is located at Brock University's Niagara Health and Bioscience Research Complex.[16] Approximately 30 medical students in each year of the program attend each campus.[17] Those who apply to McMaster's School of Medicine are asked to rank their site choice (Hamilton, Niagara Region, Waterloo Region) from first to third, or no preference. Offers of admission to the medical school are made from a rank list irrespective of geographical preference. Subsequent to filling the positions, registrants to the class are offered a position based on their preference and geographical background. The offers given out by McMaster are bound to the assigned site.[17]

The faculty is also currently affiliated with two major academic hospital systems, Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. Combined, the two faculties operate ten hospitals in the Hamilton area, each used as teaching hospital by the faculty.[18] Norfolk General Hospital is the latest hospital to be affiliated with the faculty, becoming an affiliated teaching hospital with the university in 2009.[19]

## Reputation

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In the 2012 Times Higher Education rankings of clinical, pre-clinical, and health universities, the university ranked 16th in the world and 2nd in Canada, behind Mcgill University.[20] The faculty was placed 82nd in the world and fourth in the country in the U.S. News & World Report university rankings for life sciences and biomedicine.[21] In the field of clinical medicine and pharmacy, the ARWU in 2010 ranked the program 51st-75th in the world and third in Canada.[22] In the 2016 Times Higher Education rankings of clinical, pre-clinical, and health universities, the university ranked 27th in the world, and 3rd in Canada, with University of Toronto taking 1st in Canada and 11th in the world, whereas Mcgill University took 2nd in Canada and 20th in the world.[23]

### Research

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In 2010, the university was ranked by High Impact Universities 25th out of 500 universities—second in the country—for research performance in the fields of medicine, dentistry, pharmacology, and health sciences.[24] For five years in a row, McMaster has ranked second in Canada for biomedical and health care research revenues. In 2008–2009, Faculty investigators were overseeing $133 million a year in research, much of that research conducted by scientists and physicians who teach in the medical school.[25] For its 2010 rankings, HEEACT ranked McMaster 26th in the world and second on a national scale for scientific papers in clinical medicine.[26] The Faculty of Health Sciences operates several research institutes, including the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute, the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, and the Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute.[27][28][29] In November 2010, researchers at the Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute turned clumps of human skin into blood cells, which may help alleviate the shortage of blood donors.[30] A portion of Albert Einstein's brain is preserved and held for medical research at the McMaster brain bank. Researchers there have identified differences in his brain that may relate to his genius for spatial and mathematical thinking.[31]

## Notes and references

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1. ^ "Fast Facts". Archived from the original on 2007-11-04.
2. ^ "Canada Research Chairs". Archived from the original on 2007-11-04.
3. ^ "Class of 2017 Statistics" (PDF). Faculty of Health Sciences. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
4. ^ "McMaster Health Sciences: Introduction". MedHopeful. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
5. ^ "Hardest Undergraduate Programs to Get Into in Canada". Master Student. 2021-03-29. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
6. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions - Honours Health Sciences Program". Faculty of Health Sciences. Retrieved Jan 26, 2025.
7. ^ "Schools & Bepartments". Faculty of Health Sciences. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
8. ^ "Undergraduate Programs". Faculty of Health Sciences. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
9. ^ "Honours Health Sciences Program". Faculty of Health Sciences. Retrieved Jan 28, 2025.
10. ^ "Programs". Faculty of Health Sciences Graduate Studies. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
11. ^ "Research Programs". Faculty of Health Sciences. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
12. ^ "Professional Programs". Faculty of Health Sciences. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
13. ^ "Diploma Programs". Faculty of Health Sciences. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
14. ^ "Tour of the Facilities". Faculty of Health Sciences. McMaster University. 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
15. ^ "Waterloo Regional Campus". Faculty of Health Sciences. McMaster University. 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
16. ^ "Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine celebrates Niagara partnerships". McMaster Daily News. Office of Public Relations, McMaster University. 30 September 2009. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
17. ^ a b McMaster University (2011). "Niagara and Waterloo Regional Campuses". McMaster University. McMaster University. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
18. ^ "Affiliated Health Centres". Research@McMaster. McMaster University. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
19. ^ "Norfolk General becomes teaching site". Faculty of Health Sciences. McMaster University. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
20. ^ "Top 50 Clinical, Pre-Clinical and Health Universities". Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012. TSL Education Ltd. October 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
21. ^ "World's Best Universities: Life Sciences and Biomedicine". U.S. News & World Report 2010. U.S. News & World Report. 21 September 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
22. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities in Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy – 2010". Academic Ranking of World Universities 2010. Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. August 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
23. ^ "Top Canadian Clinical, Pre-Clinical and Health Universities 2016". Times Higher Education World University Rankings. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
24. ^ "2010 Faculty Rankings For Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacology, and Health Sciences". High Impact Universities. High Impact Universities. 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
25. ^ "Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine". McMaster University. McMaster University. 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
26. ^ "Clinical Medicine-Top 100". Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan. Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan. 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-07-15.
27. ^ "Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute". McMaster University. McMaster University. 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
28. ^ "Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR)". McMaster University. McMaster University. 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
29. ^ "McMaster Stem Cell Cancer Research Institute". McMaster University. McMaster University. 2010. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
30. ^ Ian Sample (8 November 2010). "Skin cells transformed into blood". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited.
31. ^ "Why size mattered for Einstein". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 18 June 1999.

## External links

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* Tour of the Faculty of Health Sciences
* Evidence Based Medicine - British Medical Journal

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McMaster University

Faculties|

* DeGroote School of Business
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Academics|

* Arts and Science
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Culture|

* CFMU
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Facilities|

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Research|

* Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health
* Institute of Environment and Health
* Origins Institute
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People|

* Notable administrators, alumni, and faculty
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