Student profile: Public Health

It was the recommendation of clinical colleagues who had undertaken their medical studies at the University of Sydney that attracted me to the Master of Public Health.

The degree appeared to have a good breadth of foundations and principles of public health, with a diverse range of courses to choose from. I chose the Master of Public Health due to my experience working in global public health and wanting to pursue the degree as a fulltime student with a range of course options.

The University of Sydney School of Public Health has a longstanding history and a strong reputation as a leader in public health education, and this is what attracted me to the degree and university.

I enjoyed the opportunity to learn from and work with individuals who have different perspectives and backgrounds to my own -  clinical medicine. Public health relies on all the fields and disciplines working together to provide the best solutions.

The degree is well-rounded and provides a strong foundation in public health principles. It gave me access to a network of public health practitioners and policy makers through lecturers that have clinical and practical experience.

Although the degree is focused on public health, I developed my skills to work in diverse communities with different cultural, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds.

Since graduating I have been able to further develop and apply my understanding of public health in practice. I completed my fellowship in public health medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and have continued to fuel my interest in the field of health protection by working for the Western Sydney Public Health Unit.

I participate in a lot of meetings and team briefings. A typical day might include network teleconferences, outbreak response meetings, review of policy and practice documents, strategic and operational planning and trainee-supervisor meetings.