Meet Sara Forsting

Job Title
Regional Epidemiologist

Department/Location
Public Health Surveillance Unit (PHSU)

How long have you worked at VCH?
Almost 8 years.

Tell us what you do at VCH in one or two sentences:
In broad terms, I support VCH disease surveillance, health assessment, project evaluations and outbreak investigations. My day-to-day work includes lots of numbers, analysis, interpretation, meetings and emails.

For super-curious folks wanting to know more about the type of work I and PHSU do, highlights can be found in PHSU’s 5 Year Report: http://www.vch.ca/media/PHSU-5-yr-Report-FINAL-OCT-2013.pdf

What’s your favourite thing about your work?
I have two favourite things about my work:

1) I enjoy having the opportunity to work on a broad range of topics – from disease outbreaks investigations to community surveys to harm reduction project evaluations to health informatics.

2) I’m also lucky to be part of a smart, enthusiastic, hard working but fun-loving team (PHSU). (Hi Team. Y’all owe me a drink.)

How does your work contribute to the VCH True North goals?
At the end of the day, I do what I do to support my community to become a healthier, happier place.

One thing we might be surprised to learn about you:
I have an irrational fear of small, wild animals, especially racoons and skunks. You never know when one might lunge at you, specifically at your throat. As a farm-girl from South Dakota, this is an embarrassing admission.

Three things you always have in your fridge:
Organic, hand-picked, transported by carbon-neutral means kale. Milk from our community West End cow, hand milked on Tuesdays by a medium-height certified yodeller, a growler filled with 100-mile beer brewed by only the hippest of hipsters.

No – really, my fridge is boring! Milk, spinach and yogurt. But it’s good yogurt.

What makes you happy?
Chocolate, a good book, my 3 year old’s giggle, watching my 6 year old overcome her fears, riding my bicycle, rowing, sunshine, a good joke, striped socks and a clean house.

Most healthy habit:
I enjoy finding ways to make my day more active. Stairs, walking, biking, skipping, lunchtime runs. It’s all good.

Favourite vacation spot:
Lately, it’s been our annual summer trip to visit my family in Missoula, Montana. We rent a home for a few weeks where our kids (and me) love having a yard and marvel over having a ‘back door’. We spend our days swimming, camping, walking to the neighborhood ice cream shop, visiting the farmer’s market and hanging out. It’s all the good things from my American summers but with more hippies, hipsters and horses.