Case Study

I choose to study the MSc course provided at the University of Sunderland because I hoped that it would enable me to better understand how public health works (both at national and international levels) and to develop my understanding of public health research methods as well as their application in public health practice.

I hoped that the MSc would, therefore, consolidate my earlier practical field experience in public health and I looked forward to the opportunity to collect, analyse and interpret data for my own dissertation project. At a strategic level, I was interested in the organization, planning, monitoring and evaluation of public health programmes policies and interventions.

I was keen to explore additional training so that I might be able to manage more challenging tasks and contribute more significantly to the global effort to improving population health through effective and efficient public health practice.

The best aspect of my course was hearing about current policy and practice from a range of expert guest speakers from local and regional government, including Public Health England, as well as third sector bodies and current research staff and PhD students. I enjoyed the flexibility of the calendar which helped with planning and prioritising assignments as well as tailoring the course to my own interests alongside the freedom to interact closely with teaching staff and sharing their experience and knowledge in both lecture room and one to one supervisory sessions.

Life in Sunderland for me has been like living in a contemporary university-town. My experience living in the city centre was exciting because I was surrounded by a mixed local community, complemented also by my immersion in a diverse student and teaching community with very accessible educational facilities, recreational areas, and shopping services. For me, every piece of experience gained here in Sunderland has been enriching and memorable and will remain with me for some time to come.

For anyone looking to learn at masters level about wider health determinants, associations between behaviour and disease, trends within populations, as well as the global perspective of health and its sociological origins, the MSc programme at Sunderland would be suitable for achieving your aspirations.”

Published 25 January 2019