Jayne Hutchinson - 2009 graduate from Health Services Research

MSc Health Sciences (Health Services Research)

Jayne Hutchinson - profile

I did the course in Health Sciences, specifically Health Services Research, and that’s given me a great grounding to be able to research further into the health area, and I feel as though it has opened up a lot of opportunities to go into different aspects of health. 

The best aspect of the course was that it had quite a broad range of modules, so I felt that even though I hadn’t had any experience in the NHS, it was giving me a broad feel for what I needed to be able to do health research. 

Learning from others with different backgrounds

I also got to meet lots of people from different backgrounds such as doctors, nurses and people who had been engineers and teachers, so it was a very good mix and there was a good social aspect to it between lectures. There were opportunities to go to lunchtime seminars on all different aspects of health, not just areas that we were looking into in our lectures and with our assessments. Another good aspect of the course was that the lectures were actually on two days next to one another in the middle of the week, which meant that some people could actually stay over who had come from afar, and it meant that I could work from home for the rest of the week, which I prefer.

The best aspect of the course was that it had quite a broad range of modules, so I felt that even though I hadn’t had any experience in the NHS, it was giving me a broad feel for what I needed to be able to do health research.

Excellent academic supervision

I really enjoyed producing a substantial piece of research work and it was very intense work during the summer, writing 20,000 words, but you feel as though you’ve really achieved something at the end.

The supervisors are excellent: they direct you, they help you along the way, they answer problems so you don’t feel as though you’re in this by yourself, they’re fantastic help and I don’t feel as though I could have done it as well and done as much if it wasn’t for their enthusiasm and their help. So I thank Kate Pickett and Jo Green very much for helping me, cumulating in the K.M. Stott prize for a distinction in the research project at the end and a research article that’s been accepted for publication.