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Hear from some of the students who have completed their MSc course in Global Health and Development
Read about Alumni Hipolite Thomas Tarimo's time as a GHD student.
The Global Health MSc is a beautifully structured course, in that it allows you to truly develop your interests while also providing you with good background knowledge in many areas of global health. The core modules in the first term taught me the basics, but also allowed me to consider what I find interesting and exciting. Thus, I found it easy to pick optional modules for the second term, which gave me expertise in much more specific areas (and ones that I was keen to study)! This personal development curve is supported by the assessments, which are often assigned in a way that gives you the opportunity to research your areas of interest, and of course, the dissertation – for which the student has full freedom to explore any health-related topic. The diversity of modules really broadened my thinking and gave me a solid background, but also afforded me specific knowledge and skills in my particular areas of interest.
Perhaps more importantly than the structure, studying at UCL’s IGH offered me another major advantage: some amazing members of staff. And this includes the teachers and the administration. To put it in perspective, I had the (lack of) luck to be studying during some of the worst COVID-19 restrictions. I dare say no university was prepared for that; but the staff was dedicated and did everything they could to educate us, and make us feel supported so we could thrive. My personal tutor truly cared for me and my mental health, and I can never express my gratitude to them fully. All the academic staff was just as passionate while teaching remotely and just as reachable – I must have had one-to-ones with most of the module leaders. Equally great, the administrators were always eager to help and quick to reply (to our endless queries about deadlines for example). In that sense, I had an excellent academic experience during my course, and I would never question doing it again. Thank you, IGH!"
Ivan Maslyankov, full-time student 2020-2021
"Having competed a business management degree at Leeds Metropolitan University (Leeds Beckett) in 2006, it had been some time since I had been in education and it was a daunting task to go back and take on an MSc, especially whilst working full-time as a sales manager in the pharmaceutical industry. I did have a keen interest in global health issues though and UCL seemed to have the perfect course when I looked at the different modules on offer.
It was certainly the different modules that attracted me to the course, and not only did I find them interesting, but I was able to utilise much of learning in my full-time role. This eventually led to me moving into a new role with my company within our vaccines business and focussing on population health communication. As a part time student, it was always a tough balance of trying to attend lectures and being in work, but I had a very supportive employer and the move to on-line learning during the pandemic made things much easier.
I received good support whilst at UCL from different tutors and in particular my dissertation supervisor. I really enjoyed my dissertation which was focussed on immunisation system resilience, something that was of vital importance with the pandemic. Also, what I learnt about health inequalities and infectious diseases is something I find, not only useful, but I became very passionate about.
Since finishing my course I have been able to bring in many of the learnings at work and the knowledge gained from my MSc is having a significant impact on how pharma can communicate and engage the public and different communities to increase trust in vaccines."
Richard Ashton, modular/flexible student 2018-2021