September 17, 2019, by Jackie Thompson

Why I Decided to Study a Masters

By Julia Cox, MPH Public Health (Global Health)

Diverse and emerging global public health challenges are of great interest to me and led me to enrol in the Master of Public Health (Global Health) at the University of Nottingham.  

Expanding my career options

Completing this course widens the number and range of prospective career and educational opportunities. The course offers high-quality lectures and workshops delivered by University staff and visiting guest lecturers covering a diverse and interesting range of public health elements. It is an incredible opportunity to learn about different public health topics first-hand from some of the top people in the field.

The weekly seminars delivered by professionals of different backgrounds on subjects including nutrition, suicide prevention and charity work overseas allowed me to make invaluable contacts and become further aware of the expansive career paths a Master of Public Health affords.  

Developing my skills

I greatly enjoyed the ability to work with other students with a range of career and cultural backgrounds. This enriched my understanding of the public health challenges present across the world and provided me with the opportunity to gain a greater knowledge of the role of public health in many different careers. A particular aspect of the course I valued was the element of frequent in-class debate and discussion which I had not experienced during my undergraduate. Hearing other student’s opinions and experiences of different topics and sharing my own created a much richer education and brought us all closer together as a cohort. 

Delivering presentations and teaching sessions allowed me to cultivate strong communication and teamwork skills that will greatly aid me during medical school and beyond. I had not previously considered a career in academia but found that I greatly enjoy teaching and research. Had I not done this course I would never have known this nor would the opportunity to gain a PhD down the line and teach at masters level be available to me. 

Making the most of my masters

During my masters, I found that there was a lot of pre-reading for the lectures and though the reading is not compulsory it is definitely worthwhile doing it. By doing the reading I had a much better understanding of the material when it was covered in class and was able to engage more in class discussions. 

With a lot of reading, assignments and external projects going on I found that staying organised was key. Planning what work I did each day, setting personal deadlines for work and creating weekly checklists allowed me to stay on top of things and not become overwhelmed. This allowed me to really enjoy my masters and take advantage of all the opportunities that arose during the programme. 

My next steps 

I am going on to do Graduate Entry Medicine at the University of Nottingham. The Careers team provided invaluable help to me when I was preparing for my interview. I met with Peter Kay, Senior Careers Adviser, numerous times for practice interviews where he provided me with feedback that allowed me to hone my interview techniques, thus ensuring I was confident in all interview topics which made me less nervous on the interview day.   

Are you interested in continuing your studies? Find out more on our further study webpage. If you want to chat about your career ideas and how a postgraduate course would fit in, talk to one of our advisers by booking an appointment. 

 

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on LinkedIn