Emma Taylor-Gallardo, MSc in Global Health Science and Epidemiology 2021-22

Application process and interview

I remember looking into master’s courses including public health and global health, but neither being quite what I wanted. After coming across the MSc in Global Health Science and Epidemiology (MSc GHSE) I realised it was the right blend of statistics and epidemiology training with a global and public health context. After some LinkedIn stalking of staff and students (past and present) and extensive Google searching about the course and department, I had a better idea of the kind of doors opened by the skills and networking I could gain from the MSc.

For my application, I updated my CV with my epidemiology research experience obtained whilst at medical school and I found a summary document for a scholarship to structure my personal statement.

I structured my statement around these guidelines and tried to give examples to demonstrate key attributes including research experience and outreach work.

I was fortunate enough to be awarded the joint departmental and St Cross College Scholarship which really helped with finances, as Oxford can be quite expensive! (Formal dinners and college black tie balls…looking at you.) I prepared for my interview by looking into the course structure and departmental research interests, including their current areas of research and how they overlapped with my own interest in cancer epidemiology.

Oxford and the MSc teaching

Arriving in Oxford felt surreal – I still didn’t fully understand the college system or why everyone seemed to own a bike. The first weeks of the MSc included many face-to-face lectures in statistics, coding and epidemiology to give us a good foundation for the later terms. Mostly 9.30-15.00, by the afternoon most of us were reaching for coffee and a good chat about something that didn’t involve statistics. I felt like I’d signed up for a course in biostatistics; when the course director warned us that the course was very statistics-heavy, he wasn’t lying.

Most statistics sessions were led by a lecturer who delivered a two-hour conceptual lecture, and supported by DPhil (PhD for non-Oxford folk) students who ran the coding practical relating to the statistics taught just before. Talking to the DPhil students was a good opportunity for those MSc students considering a DPhil to chat about the application process, workload and projects offered. Small group support from appointed statistics tutors, as well as very friendly statistics lecturers meant there was always someone to ask if the concepts were too challenging.

Epidemiology sessions were run as lectures and small seminar groups (of around six students) and often led to students staying behind after class to discuss concepts further. The strengths and limitations of each study design were discussed using terms such as “chance, bias and confounding” as well as the practical and financial feasibility of each study, and then put into context with examples of small and large-scale studies. One of the best aspects of the course was the diversity of nationalities and experiences in the MSc, which meant that discussions regarding real-world examples that classmates had worked on were brought to discussion.

The Global Health Masterclasses every one to two weeks provided us with an opportunity to delve into some real-world epidemiology, and field research and learn about the careers of eminent epidemiologists and global/public health experts.

For many of us, it was an opportunity to gather in a college common room and gather around a laptop screen with some snacks to listen in on the talk. 

There were plenty of essays, data analysis assignments and tasks to complete during term and holiday time, but somehow, they got done when they needed to.

College life is what we made of it – it was often difficult to balance the heavy workload with the volume of social events going on in Oxford. Luckily, Oxford is one of those places that seems to be set up for meeting and running into people; with only four main streets and lots of interaction between colleges, impromptu coffee dates and formal events like black tie dinners often competed for time with studying.

Dissertation time

Personally, I probably enjoyed my dissertation period of the MSc the least – this is because I missed the regular interaction with teachers and classmates, and I found it difficult to know where to start on a three-month-long piece of work. There was plenty of procrastination but also lots of late nights of work-directed energy in the college library.

Handing in my MSc dissertation was followed by a sense of underwhelming, mainly because I think the tiredness meant I wanted to go straight to bed and sleep for a week. Once well-rested, I had some time to reach out to lecturers and supervisors and thank them as well as catch up with friends who had also been social recluses due to their deadlines.

After Oxford

A few months on, I think back to how quickly the whole year went and how much I miss the people I met. Oxford is really made by the quality of people that you meet there, and the backdrop of the colleges and parks and traditions really make it a place to remember. I would encourage everyone to apply, because the skills and contacts from the MSc have already opened doors and opportunities for me, and I hope my training continues to serve me well in the future.

Emma Taylor-Gallardo is a medical student at Brighton and Sussex Medical School who came to Oxford Population Health on intercalation (an additional year of study on top of the medicine degree programme which is an opportunity to explore a new area in greater depth, gain new knowledge and develop new skills). You can reach out to her on LinkedIn,or X.