Public Health

I’m being perfectly honest when I say that doing the Master in Public Health at King’s College London is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The programme offers a wide range of topics in the public health field making the programme suitable to people from a variety of backgrounds. Despite focusing on a range of topics it’s amazing how much in-depth knowledge you gain from each module, knowledge that’s essential in my daily work.

What I really enjoyed as a KCL student is that professors, experts and directors from various institutions were brought in to give presentations and lead sessions on health topics in which they’re specialised. Such a variety of speakers ensures you have access to the latest research findings available within a given area, and gives you the opportunity to network.

I very much enjoyed undertaking my dissertation and found my supervisor to be very supportive. Upon graduating my research was published in an international journal – a great achievement and a step in the right direction for my career.

Today I work in the health promotion team at the British Heart Foundation. Having a degree from King’s College London has been important in getting me where I am today, not only because King’s is a well-known and top-rated university, but also because the high-quality education I received gave me the confidence to become a successful public health specialist. Specific knowledge and skills that I developed during my year at King’s, such as analytical and critical thinking skills, are key in my daily work.

Having previously studied at two other Universities, I can safely say this is by far my best learning experience. The quality of lectures was excellent and the academics were well regarded in their field, adding to the credibility of the learning experience they provided.

As well as learning a great deal from my lecturers, my peers also provided a rich source of shared knowledge. There was great diversity in the sheer array of health care professionals taking the course, and I feel I really benefitted from learning how other students were planning on applying their learning to a range of disciplines.

The course was challenging especially as I was working part time, however having a Master of Public Health from such a prestigious university makes me proud of my achievement and was well worth the hard work, grit and determination.

Since finishing the MPH I have been promoted, and now commission Cardiovascular Services in Primary and Secondary settings across the Southampton, Isle of Wight, Hampshire and Portsmouth Region. I find when applying for jobs I am confident that having a Master of Public Health from Kings College does have a little bit of the wow factor.

I enrolled at KCL for an MPH in 2009. I found my learning experience at King’s exciting largely because of the synergy of living in a beautiful city with a great social life and learning from an intellectually stimulating academic environment at Guy’s campus. I built networks with students of various professional backgrounds and nationalities which provided an opportunity to share experiences and learn from each other. I am still in touch with some of my course mates and we get to meet whenever I visit London.

I was working as a Pharmacist on HIV/AIDS clinical trials in Uganda, before joining KCL. Taking on an MPH was a step forward in my professional career and a good complement to my Bachelor of Pharmacy. Shortly after my graduation, I took up an offer with an international NGO in South Sudan, a post-conflict country rife with public health challenges and emerging from a humanitarian to developmental context. In South Sudan I have worked as a Public Health Advisor for a Health System Strengthening Programme to improve access to primary health, and currently, I am working as a Programme Manager of a Community Based Child Survival Programme contributing to reduction of morbidity and mortality due to malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea and malnutrition in children under 5 years.