Epidemiology is a population-based science
It's really looking at why people develop diseases
Our Master's in Epidemiology is very much aimed at producing rigorous researchers
Some of our modules are on the control of infectious diseases
as well as mathematical modelling that contributes to thinking and control programmes
for infectious diseases
We also have modules on non-communicable disease epidemiology
as well as the social determinants of diseases
I chose to study the MSc Epidemiology because I believe this course more than any other
gives me all the skills I need to design research
and to answer the questions which plague me
So I felt grounding in research was very important
It's an incredible School
the quality of its research, the quality of its teaching body and the quality of its alumni
I have a background in sociology
and in my class in Epidemiology there are a lot of people with medical backgrounds
but there are also a lot of people with non-medical backgrounds
Some people are coming from the professional field
some are researchers, some want to be researchers
some just have a Bachelor's, some already have a Master's, some have a PhD
some are returning to the School
so I think there is a big difference in the people in terms of their academic background
The course is aimed at people who have research aptitude or experience
who need formal training in population health methods
We teach people how to use statistics well, you don't have to have a mathematical background
in order to be able to understand it
The other main training is the conceptual skills and the design skills
to design rigorous epidemiological studies that can help answer important questions
In addition to the statistical skills which I developed in the course we also have
skills for critical appraisal of literature, something which is very important as an epidemiologist
being able to critically appraise the work of others
and your work, so that you can draw conclusions from it
Our summer project for the Master's in Epidemiology
is deliberately designed to integrate both statistical and epidemiological skills
It's about eleven weeks and during that time most people tend to do an analysis
of a secondary data set
So that data set has usually come from other research projects that members of staff have worked on
and there may be supplementary questions that haven't been asked yet of that data
so the summer project can often lead to publication
I'm doing my MSc project by analysing an existing data set
on examining the relationship between marital transitions and a change in quality of diet
Marital transitions could be when you're going from being singled to being married
or married to divorced, and how that affects your quality of diet
For my summer project I'm going to be doing a data analysis
of women diagnosed with primary breast cancer between 1979 and 2011
and I'm going to be analysing their survival
by deprivation status, by methologic type of the tumour and by their NHS region
Our Master's course is run by mostly research-active members of our staff
The Master's benefits enormously from having very senior members who are world experts in the field
to research fellows who can provide the support required to move from
being new to the discipline to becoming active practitioners
The course directors leading the Epidemiology course
throughout the year, you can go ask them questions and
as for the teacher-student relationship, with the course directors they're like your close friends
The module supervisors are there to help you if you have any questions
so I think the support is quite good both with your tutor
your course directors and your module directors
The School, not only is it an excellent place for research
but its policies towards low- and middle-income countries
makes it possible for people like us who may not have been able to come here
the opportunity to come and have training and teaching
from one of the best schools, institutions in the world