Without the postgraduate in Public Health, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
MSc Public Health
Nadine Ben Messaoud discovered her career path at the University of Sunderland in London. Now a graduate working her way towards another degree, she looks back at the influence her MSc in Public Health has had on her life.
Without the postgraduate in Public Health, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
“I have a passion for epidemiology - the study of patterns in the health of populations.
It’s something that the public has become more aware of in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But for me, it started with the University of Sunderland in London.
Back in 2019, I joined the MSc Public Health course aiming to find ways of helping as many people as I could.
It was with this desire in mind that I discovered epidemiology, in part thanks to the leader on my Epidemiology and Health Measurement module, Dr John Kainesie.
Once I graduated, in July 2020 as a remote student due again to the coronavirus, I got to put my love of science into practice as a data science intern with the Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE) and the Tunisian Center for Public Health (TunCPH).
It was in the latter job that I worked on the COVAX Mena Project which is involved in the development and role out of COVID-19 vaccines across the Middle East and North Africa region.
I helped in the creation of an interactive map through the use of the COVAX data visualisation tool, collecting information and updating the GitHub used to run the map.
Alongside the more complicated science, I also worked on the outreach of the programme, speaking with stakeholders and partners to get the word of the project out there.
I even got to write weekly emails updating our readers about the epidemiological situation in the MENA region.
Once my internship ended I decided to enrol on another masters programme, this time looking at comparative effectiveness research in public health art at the University of Paris, France.
In many ways, it’s a direct follow on from my course at the University of Sunderland in London.
The idea is to focus a bit more on epidemiological methods and look at biostatistics so I can take my career further in these fields.
I mentioned in the case study I wrote as a student that I’d like to do a PhD in the future, and that’s still the plan.
But now I have the experience to know I want my doctorate to focus on epidemiology.
The journey to that realisation started with my MSc at the University of Sunderland in London, plus the grade I go on that course got me accepted onto my current one as well as the internships.
Without the postgraduate in Public Health, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
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Read Nadine’s original case study to learn about her journey.
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