Profile: Steve Hilts
Steve Hilts from Canada studied the MSc Epidemiology: Principles & Practice
"Ten years ago, I started a job that allowed me to conduct research and develop programmes to address environmental health issues in a community with an active lead smelter. This position allowed me to continue to apply my training and experience in environmental sciences and also to begin working closely with public health professionals. I was fascinated by the very useful discoveries one could make by employing epidemiological methods and I wanted to take some formal training in the field. However, as a married father of two, living in the rather remote mountains of British Columbia, I wondered whether I had any reasonable hope of obtaining a legitimate qualification without totally uprooting my family. One of my new colleagues eventually helped me find several distance-based masters programmes in epidemiology and I selected the brand new MSc EPP course at LSHTM based on the school’s history, reputation and the sample electronic learning materials.
The LSHTM course has been ideally suited to my needs. Other than some initial glitches that inevitably occur when a new programme is started, the course materials have been top notch and I feel that I’ve received a world-leading education in epidemiology. The amazing flexibility of the course has been a key factor in enabling me to continue working and to retain some semblance of normal family life whilst completing a graduate degree.
By building a course that allows students to complete the requirements almost totally on their own schedule, LSHTM has established a modern distance learning programme that others would do well to mimic. With the EPP programme, it's possible to immerse yourself in your studies and complete your assignments when you have the time available, and also to “disappear from campus” for weeks at a time, to meet the demands of your job or personal life.
I would highly recommend this course to others and I would also strongly suggest that future students on the course take part in the online discussions with tutors and classmates as much as they can. I found that the online interaction with fellow students from various locales and backgrounds was the next best thing to the "in residence" experience."
Hassib Narchi also studied studied the MSc Epidemiology: Principles & Practice
