ÉSIS Student: Michel Deilgat

For our January student interview, I am pleased to welcome Michel, one of the most dedicated polymaths I have ever met. Thank you, Michel, for giving us a glimpse of the rich experiences you bring to the program!

Keep learning and become a lifelong learner. Your diploma is not an end by itself – this is when you start learning your profession.

-- Michel Deilgat

Hello! Please tell me a little bit about yourself.

My name is Michel Deilgat and I have been a part time student since September 2019 in the M.I.S. program. My background is in family medicine, but since I left the Canadian Armed Forces after 32 years, I moved to the field of public health, mainly in the infectious diseases / communicable diseases side of the house. In September 2019, I became the editor-in-chief of a biomedical journal, named Canada Communicable Disease Report (or CCDR) which is one of the two journals published by the Public Health Agency of Canada. I have several interests on the side as well.

What drew you to Information Studies?

Since I came back from Afghanistan (Kandahar) in 2007, I went back to school for leisure. I worked at the Canadian Forces Health Services Headquarters on Alta Vista (Ottawa) which is co-located with the Faculty of medicine and the Ottawa General Hospital, CHEO, etc. Back then, I did a graduate certificate in Population Health Risk Assessment and Management, a one year part-time program given at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health. After completion, I still had the momentum, and I registered to a MA in Sociology at uOttawa. When I left the Forces and started at the Agency, I thought that I should learn more about how the government is structured. And I did a Master in Public Administration (MPA) given by l’École nationale d’administration publique (ÉNAP) in Gatineau. At work, I became a preceptor mostly with graduate students completing the Master in Public Health (MPH) from Western University, London Ontario and residents from the Public Health and Preventive Medicine program at uOttawa. I thought that learning about “teaching and learning” would be appropriate. I have completed a Master of Education (MEd) with a concentration in Health Professions Education at uOttawa. Upon completion, I registered in the M.I.S. program. I like books, films and music, and everything in my house is catalogued in an inventory including my garden.

Has your perception of the field changed since you started?

My first impression would be that information studies is complex. There is a lot of information out there and with the digitalization of society, managing this information is quite a challenge. More I learn through the courses, more I would like to learn everything offered in the program, but we are limited to fifteen courses.

What do you find most exciting about information studies? What most intrigues you?

The next course 😊. There are some areas that I find compulsory as an information professional. These areas would be: indexing, classification, abstracting, metadata, taxonomies, cataloguing. Other areas have somehow been covered in my previous programs such as management, society and government.

What do you hope to do after graduation?

I don’t know. It would be nice to start a PhD (Digital Transformation, Sociology, or Population Health) but I am working full time and this can be tricky. There is a neat MA in World Literature at uOttawa or Film Studies at Carleton. We’ll see. Otherwise, I plan to keep publishing until the 50th anniversary of CCDR in May 2024. I am an adjunct professor at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at uOttawa. Eventually, I will be more involved with the school.

Beyond classes, what do you enjoy doing? Do you find that it affects who you are as an Information Studies student?

I am always keeping a foot outside of my zone of comfort, otherwise you do not progress. While I was completing my graduate studies, I have always taken courses at Algonquin College (since 2004) – my sanctuary – to keep things in balance. Initially in the horticulture program until the part-time program was abolished. I then started the sommelier program. To date, I have completed both the tea-sommelier and sommelier programs at Algonquin College, and the Certificat de sommelier at La Cité Collégiale in Ottawa. I have also did few short courses with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) in sake, spirits, and wines. Learning about wines is a lifetime commitment. World cinema and music are also very important.

Tell us about a project you really enjoyed and/or are proud of.

There are probably two areas which I find rewarding: training the next generation of public health professionals through preceptorship and mentorship. In 2016, I received the “Outstanding Supervisor Award 2015-2016” from the Public Health and Preventive Medicine Residency Program at the University of Ottawa, and in 2018 – the “Master of Public Health Excellence in Preceptorship Award” from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario. Over the last two years, having the privilege to publish as an editor, almost one hundred articles every year – working with authors, peer-reviewers, the editorial and production team, communication advisor, copy-editors, etc. is sometimes challenging but always gratifying. There is a lot of creativity involved in this business.

Can you tell us more about how your courses have shaped your understanding of Information Studies?

Every new course becomes a building bloc of my “knowledge matrix”. I have more than 50 courses at the master level, few are overlapping.

What advice would you give someone considering entering this field?

Keep learning and become a lifelong learner. Your diploma is not an end by itself – this is when you start learning your profession. It is true in medicine, in education, in public management… does not matter which is your field of expertise. Keep nurturing your network throughout your career.