The Public Health Master's is an extremely useful program for understanding and conducting research in medicine and related fields. The faculty members as well as the staff are supportive and attentive. The lectures are structured clearly and stimulate plenty of insightful discussions. Furthermore, the participating students come from a variety of different areas of expertise, which leads to enriching exchanges between classmates.

For the past few years I have been looking for an opportunity to resume my research activities. At some point I realized that despite the publishing experience and the PhD thesis, my knowledge is not enough to carry out high-quality research. It turned out to be an extremely difficult task for me to study all the necessary disciplines on my own. A Master's degree is a chance to re-engage in what I love at a professional level, as well as an opportunity to influence the limitations of the existing healthcare system. After all, in order to change something, one needs to be very highly qualified.

The modern doctor besides just being a doctor is obliged to take into account a broader context: the data on which their decisions are based, the healthcare system within which they work. It was the desire to better understand this context and, possibly, to influence it that was the incentive for me to enroll in the Public Health Sciences Master's program.

First thing to notice, I’m not a doctor, but it doesn’t prevent me from studying in the Public Health Sciences Master's program. For me it’s an attempt to find a way of tackling health issues through research in the current pandemic situation. I really appreciate the opportunity to be here, and most importantly, the chance of applying all the knowledge in practice. I’m still just learning and I’m going to continue my studying in the area of expertise.

Despite the fact that I have no medical education, I find the program extremely useful. I work for a company that develops health products and it is important for me to understand that we implement and promote effective instruments for patients and doctors. This program is an opportunity for me to study the principles of evidence-based medicine in order to apply this knowledge in my work, as well as an opportunity to change my career track towards biostatistics and health research.

The Master's degree is relevant to me because experience in the methodology of epidemiological research will help me conduct high level research in Russia, which is very important given the current epidemiological situation with COVID-19. In addition, the ability to communicate with specialists in this field allows us to cut off non-working research designs from the get-go.