Health and wellness
This guide is for school and school board staff who are planning and delivering SHSM programs.
Overview
The Specialist High Skills Major in Health and Wellness (SHSM–Health and Wellness) helps students build a foundation of sector-focused knowledge and skills before graduating and entering apprenticeship training, college, university or an entry-level position in the workplace.
This SHSM program has 5 required components:
- bundle of 9 credits
- certifications and training recognized by the health and wellness sector
- experiential learning and career exploration activities
- reach ahead experiences
- sector-partnered experiences (SPEs)
Find a list of some of the careers that this SHSM can lead to.
Variants of this SHSM
The SHSM–Health and Wellness can focus on a specific area (for example, health care, fitness or child care and family services) by varying the mix of its 4 major credits.
Where local circumstances allow, your school board may offer 1 or more variants of this SHSM.
Bundle of 9 credits
The SHSM–Health and Wellness requires students to complete a bundle of 9 Grade 11 and Grade 12 credits, made up of 4 major credits, 3 other required credits and 2 cooperative education (co-op) credits.
These credits are required for all students, regardless of the pathway a student chooses after graduation:
- apprenticeship training
- college
- university
- the workplace
Four major credits
These credits provide health and wellness-specific knowledge and skills.
These 4 credits:
- can be any combination of Grade 11 and Grade 12 credits
- may include up to 3 health and wellness-related co-op credits (these are additional to the 2 required co-op credits in the bundle)
We (the Ministry of Education) maintain an SHSM-approved course list for the health and wellness sector. Contact the SHSM lead at your school board to get the list.
Three other required credits
These are required credits from the Ontario curriculum.
These 3 credits must include:
- one English credit (a compulsory English credit is required in Grade 11 and Grade 12 to graduate)
- one mathematics credit
- one of the following:
- science credit
- social sciences and humanities credit
- additional major credit
- additional health and wellness-related co-op credit (in addition to the 2 co-op credits required in the bundle)
Your school may commit to including a contextualized learning activity (CLA) for the health and wellness sector in each of these 3 credits. If your school offers this, then:
- some of the course expectations for these credits are met through the CLA
- your school decides if the CLA for English is completed in Grade 11 or in Grade 12
Even if your school does not formally commit to including CLAs, it can still offer them in 1 or more of these credits.
Two cooperative education (co-op) credits
Co-op credits in the health and wellness SHSM provide students with real learning experiences in a health and wellness workplace setting. This lets students refine, extend, apply and practise:
- knowledge and skills they learned in the cooperative education curriculum
- health and wellness-specific knowledge and skills learned through their SHSM program
| Credits | Apprenticeship Training Grades 11–12 | College Grades 11–12 | University Grades 11–12 | Workplace Grades 11–12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major Credits May include up to 3 co-op credits related to the sector (this is in addition to the 2 required co-op credits) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| English may include a CLA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mathematics may include a CLA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Science or social sciences and humanities may include a CLA May be substituted with 1 additional major credit or 1 co-op credit (this is in addition to the 2 required co-op credits) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cooperative Education | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Total number of credits | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Certifications and training
Students must complete 4 compulsory and 3 elective certifications and/or training courses/programs that are recognized by the health and wellness sector.
Compulsory certifications and training
Students must complete:
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) – Level C or Health Care Provider (HCP)
- both include automated external defibrillation (AED)
- infection control
- Standard First Aid
- Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) — generic, not site-specific, instruction
These are the proper names of the specific certifications or training courses/programs for this SHSM.
Elective certifications and training
These are names of an area, type or category of training. In these cases, your school board selects the specific certifications or training courses and programs.
Students must complete any 3 of the following electives:
- advanced training in a technique (such as feeding, assistance, airway management, IV insertion)
- advanced training in a technology
- allergy awareness
- ambulation, lifting and transfers
- animal first aid
- anti-oppression and allyship training
- approaches to healing
- babysitting
- behaviour management
- child safety and injury prevention
- communication skills
- concussion awareness
- conflict resolution
- customer service
- dietary considerations
- equity and inclusion
- ethical considerations
- fire safety and fire extinguisher use
- first aid/CPR/AED awareness
- fitness
- Food Handler Certification
- group dynamics
- lab practices
- leadership skills
- marine and wilderness first aid
- medical terminology
- mental health awareness (approved by and delivered under the direction of the school board's Mental Health Leader)
- Mental Health First Aid
- non-violent crisis intervention
- personal training
- personality inventory
- portfolio development
- project management
- safe body mechanics
- safe food handling – basic
- sign language
- spa service
- specialized care (such as diabetes, dementia, nutrition)
- sterile techniques
- stress management techniques
- waste management
- wrapping and taping for performance and injury
Learn more about certification and training in SHSM programs.
Experiential learning and career exploration activities
Experiential learning and career exploration opportunities relevant to the health and wellness sector might include instances where an SHSM student:
- observes a co-op student one-on-one at a placement in the health and wellness sector (an example of job twinning)
- shadows a health and wellness professional for a day (an example of job shadowing)
- works with a member of a health and wellness industry association or professional for 1 or 2 weeks (an example of work experience)
- volunteers in a long-term care facility
- coaches an elementary school student in reading as part of a reading buddy program, or other curricular or extracurricular activities
- assists in an exercise class in a long-term care facility
- attends a health and wellness sector career fair
Learn more about SHSM program experiential learning and career exploration opportunities.
Reach ahead experiences
The SHSM-Health and Wellness must provide students with 1 or more reach ahead experiences. These are opportunities to take the next steps along their chosen pathway – as shown in the following examples:
- apprenticeship: visiting an approved apprenticeship delivery agent in the health and wellness sector
- college: interviewing a college student enrolled in a health and wellness-specific program
- university: observing a university class in a health and wellness-related program
- workplace: interviewing an employee in the health and wellness sector
Learn more about reach ahead experiences.
Sector-partnered experiences (SPEs)
Students engage with a sector partner to learn about health and wellness and how it connects with ICE (innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship), coding and/or math literacy skills.
Learn more about SPEs in SHSM programs.
Careers in the health and wellness sector
These are examples of careers in the health and wellness sector, sorted by the type of postsecondary education or training the careers usually require.
Apprenticeship training
- early childhood educators
- educational assistants
- social and community service workers
College
- correspondence, publication and regulatory clerks
- dental hygienists and dental therapists
- electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians
- funeral directors and embalmers
- health information management occupations
- licensed practical nurses
- massage therapists
- medical administrative assistants
- medical laboratory technicians and pathologists' assistants
- medical laboratory technologists
- medical sonographers
- nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
- other assisting occupations in support of health services
- paramedical occupations
- respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists
- social and community service workers
University
- allied primary health practitioners
- audiologists and speech-language pathologists
- chiropractors
- dentists
- dietitians and nutritionists
- family, marriage and other related counsellors
- optometrists
- other professional occupations in health diagnosing and treating
- other professional occupations in therapy and assessment
- other technical occupations in therapy and assessment
- pharmacists
- registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
- specialist physicians
- technical sales specialists – wholesale trade
Workplace
- nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
- other assisting occupations in support of health services
- personnel clerks
- program leaders and instructors in recreation, sport and fitness
- receptionists
- specialized cleaners
Information and resources
Partnership opportunities
For local labour market opportunities in health and wellness, please contact your school board’s SHSM lead.
The SHSM model
This SHSM’s requirements are unique and geared to the health and wellness sector. However, the design of all SHSM programs follows a consistent model with 5 required components.
Find more information about the components of an SHSM.