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Jayne Hutchinson - 2009 graduate from Health Services Research (now Applied Health Research)

MSc Applied Health Research 

Jayne Hutchinson - profile

I did the course in Health Sciences, specifically Health Services Research, which has given me a great grounding and enabled me to go on to do further health research. It opened up a lot of opportunities and possibilities to pursue research in a wide variety of different areas of health.
The best aspect of the course was that it had a broad range of modules, so even though I hadn’t had any experience in the NHS or of health data, it gave me the knowledge, techniques and confidence I would need to be able to undertake different types of health research. 

Learning from others with different backgrounds

I met lots of people on the course from different backgrounds, not only doctors and nurses and young graduates but also people who’d had other careers such engineers and teachers. It was a good mix of people and I enjoyed socialising with them between lectures. There were also opportunities to go to lunchtime seminars on various interesting health topics, additional to the topics covered in the course lectures and our assessments. Another good aspect of the course was that the lectures were on two consecutive days in the middle of the week, which meant people who had travelled far could arrange to stay over, and it meant we could study from home for the rest of the week, which I prefer.

The best aspect of the course was that it had a broad range of modules, so even though I hadn’t had any experience in the NHS or of health data, it gave me the knowledge, techniques and confidence I needed to be able to undertake different types of health research.

Excellent academic supervision

I really enjoyed producing a substantial piece of research work. It was very intense work during the summer, writing 20,000 words for my project, but I felt as though I’d really achieved something at the end.

The supervisors are excellent: they direct you, they help you along the way, and they answer your questions so you don’t feel as though you’re doing the project by yourself. I could not have done as well and done as much if it wasn’t for their enthusiasm and their fantastic 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 was accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal.