Profile: Yogesh Rajkotia
Yogesh Rajkotia from the USA studied the MSc Health Policy, Planning & Financing
"By the end of your first term at the LSHTM, we will break down all of your beliefs... but don't worry, by your second term we will help you rebuild them." These were the words spoken by the Dean on our first day, and little did I realise how true this really was.
Within my first few weeks, I found myself immersed in an academically rich and internationally diverse atmosphere. The professors were enthusiastic in their instruction, but were particularly eager to challenge our views and stimulate debate. This challenge did not end in the classroom, as I constantly found myself in intense discussions about public policy issues with my colleagues. This was an especially unique learning opportunity, as my class consisted of experienced professionals from all over the world.
The joint nature of this course (with LSE) presents a tremendous opportunity to learn from a cadre of the leading academics, and tailor the programme to your interests. I was particularly impressed with the accessibility of the professors, and their eagerness to engage students in their ongoing work. Through these experiences, I feel that I have gained an invaluable insight into the merging of theory and practice of health policy. Having worked extensively in developing countries, I came to the HPPF programme to gain a deeper understanding of the economic and political underpinning of how health systems work. And whilst I certainly achieved my goal, the intellectual rigour of constantly redefining my views has left me with a valuable perspective that I feel is rare. As the Dean predicted, I leave the HPPF programme with "a set of redefined beliefs, but also a set of new questions" that I hope to answer as a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins next year."
Jasper James Chen and Nkem J Okafor also studied this course
