Plattsburgh State welcomed Dr. Amélie Quesnel-Vallée as she became the recipient of the 2019-2020 Fulbright Canada Distinguished Chair for the Institute of Quebec Studies.
Quesnel-Vallee is an alumna of Université de Montréal for her undergraduate and masters degrees, as well as Duke University for her Ph.D. Before coming to PSU, she was a professor at McGill University and held the Canada Research Chair in Policies and Health Inequalities. She is also the founding director of the McGill Observatory on Health and Reform Services.
A welcoming reception was held Monday with refreshments for Quesnel-Vallée with professors and deans present. With a salmon dish that the professors and deans couldn’t stop raving about, everyone present introduced themselves and welcomed Quesnel-Vallée warmly.
Although an hour away from home in Montreal, Quesnel-Vallée shared her excitement on being a part of the PSU community and how being here is an opportunity for her to share her research.
“I’m very excited,” Quesnel-Vallée said. “This particular community is very special because it’s a focus on Quebec Studies and in Quebec. We have the privilege of a distinct history and a distinct language, but that can also isolate us, so having a chair in Quebec Studies opens us in our research and is a tremendous honor.”
Quesnel-Vallée studied health insurance in both the U.S. and Canada before focusing on comparative studies, which eventually led her to study the Quebec healthcare system. Her studies led her to end up working at the Quebec Ministry.
Quesnel-Vallee got word of the award through a colleague who had a great experience in Plattsburgh.
“She was raving about it, how the people were so nice and that she had such a great time at the Institute, so I thought ‘I’m going to keep my eye on it,’” Quesnel-Vallée said.
While in Plattsburgh, she hopes to make new connections to help continue her research project titled “Connecting Health and Social Care for Older Adults: Comparative Evidence from Canada and the U.S.”
She wants to make known through her studies that there are more similarities between health care systems than Canadians and Americans like to think.
During the reception, many professors were present such as Daniel Lake, chairperson for political science, as well as the Associate Dean of Arts & Sciences.
Each asked questions surrounding Quesnel-Vallée’s research and added their own knowledge to the topic. They all discussed the differences between the U.S. and Canadian healthcare systems and mainly discussed physicians in Quebec because of cut pay.
After being in Plattsburgh for some time, Quesnel-Vallée has found what she likes the most.
“It’s the people,” she said. “Everybody is just so friendly and laid-back, while still providing peerless, professional service. It’s a very delicate balance, and I think it must speak to the fact that Plattsburgh is such a nice place to live and that people here are happy.”
