Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is new optical imaging technique similar to ultrasound imaging. It has ten to 100 times higher resolution than ultrasound and a penetration depth of 4-6 millimeters. The use of light is safer to most biological samples than X-\rays or gamma rays, and it also allows for chemical characterization of tumours in tissue. CancerCare Manitoba is interested in using OCT for early detection of breast cancer.

Many workers in the Sarnia region have had past occupational exposure to asbestos. Currently, a study is under way at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto to attempt to detect early stage lung disease in these workers using low dose computed tomography imaging of the chest. The internship will evaluate the relationship between asbestos and smoking exposures, pulmonary function changes and asbestosis (fibrosis or scarring of the lung due to asbestos exposure). Data for this study will come from medical records, existing questionnaire data and results of computed tomography.

Father engagement in addictions services with substance‐using mothers may be neglected, resulting in mothers’ poorer engagement and retention in addictions services, and subsequent compromised family health. To determine the extent and nature of father exclusion in ante‐partum, partum and post‐partum addictions services, and whether father exclusion affects mothers’ engagement and retention in services, a mixed methods study, using qualitative and quantitative methods, will be conducted at Fir Square Combined Care Unit, BC Women’s Hospital.

Preventing a brain aneurysm from bleeding is an important minimally invasive procedure. It involves specialized training to develop skills in manipulating a tiny tube from the groin artery into the brain. This is performed using highly specialized imaging/X-ray equipment. Once the tube is guided into the brain aneurysm, small coils are positioned within the aneurysm to prevent it from bleeding. The goal of this internship is to investigate the efficacy of this technique in treating one of the most common types of brain aneurysms located at the posterior communicating artery.

Patients and their families place their lives and their trust in health care providers, and in the health care system every moment. Accountability is a legal, ethical and moral obligation to patients, families and health care agencies to meet a standard of care. The code of ethics for nurses and the nursing literature stresses the importance of nurses being accountable for their actions. This work fails to answer how nurses learn to be accountable, how nurses define accountability, and how they practice accountably.

The purpose of this internship with the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse is to compare the effectiveness of two instruments that assess risky/problematic cannabis use (i.e. the ASSIST and the CUDIT), for predicting cannabis‐related harms in the new national survey of drug and alcohol use, and to recommend which of the two instruments be retained in future cycles of the survey. Second, the research will need to validate criteria (i.e. cut‐off scores) for identifying problematic/risky use of cannabis.

The goal of the internship with Bioshield Technologies Canada, a developer of antimicrobial and biostatic products, is to evaluate a product formulated to be used as a surface treatment for microbial control. The project is part of a comprehensive research program aimed at developing improved protocols for infection and contamination in the hospital and food processing environments and related laundry care facilities.

The project with Dynacon Inc., a company applying automation and robotic technology to microbiology industry, aims to design control software that drives an automated specimen processing robotic system. This robotic system automates the processes of handling and labelling biological specimen containers. It is used to increase the productivity of microbiology laboratories and quality of their results. This robotic system controller handles hundreds of specimen containers in a single run.

Human genetic variation has been traditionally studied at the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) level. It is clear that, human genetic variation extends beyond single nucleotide polymorphism. New projects aimed at identifying structural variation have been initiated through the use of high throughput sequencing technologies. Although the new sequencing technologies produce short reads with respect to Sanger sequencing experiments, the focus of search for differences between a sample and its reference is moving from single based differences to structural variations.

This internship will focus on the potential of laptops and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to enhance the quality of work life for nurses through uptake of the technology to enhance access to information, and evidence-informed practice. The project is a partnership between College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan and the All Nations’ Healing Hospital in Fort Qu’Appelle.