At the University of Edinburgh, you can gain a world-class qualification in Infectious Diseases while living at home and working full-time. Or you can take a year to focus on developing your skills with an on-campus full-time programme.

When speaking about their experiences on their programme, students give three key reasons why they chose the University of Edinburgh.

Stepping stone to a PhD

Global Health and Infectious Diseases graduate John Amaka at his graduation ceremony in November 2023.

John Amaka, who studied with us in 2022, found his studies led him towards some incredible opportunities, including securing himself a PhD position.

In the last year of the GHID programme, I secured an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree Scholarship for Human Diseases Models Morphological Phenotyping in the 2023 Fall, with mobilities across Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain), University of Naples Federico II (Italy) and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece). While on the Erasmus programme, I have also secured a PhD position on the Integrated Life Sciences programme at the University of Georgia for Fall 2024.

Martin Wainaina, who studied with us in 2018, went on to achieve a PhD in Biomedical Sciences.

Since finishing the GHID course, I published the work that comprised my final dissertation and also joined the PhD (Biomedical Sciences) program in Dahlem Research School at the Freie University of Berlin, in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the German Institute of Risk Assessment (BfR).

Change the direction of your career

Jonathan Gibson found his studies took him on an unexpected journey, leading him to a brand new career.

I have changed job three times since starting my MSc. When I started, I was working in a biomedical science lab. After this I moved to becoming a UK charity’s Communications Coordinator, was promoted to the role of Policy and Public Affairs officer and have now been promoted again to become the charity’s Campaigns Lead.

Other alumni spoke of their MSc programmes leading them to incredible opportunities with major organisations working in global health.

The MSc was the greatest thing that really happened as this opened for me great opportunities with UNICEF and WHO internationally. I am a proud alumni!

In 2018 I was offered a short-term consulting contract with the World Health Organization. This contract was extended twice, and finally I received a staff position. This is absolutely my dream job and I have never been happier.

Validate your experience with a qualification from the University of Edinburgh

A researcher in a laboratory at the University of Edinburgh.

For some students, expanding their knowledge and experiences in Infectious Diseases provided them with new-found confidence in their abilities and appreciation of the subject area. Graduates Ifeomi Ezenyi and Michelle Abou Naoum both became more attractive candidates for their chosen career.

The MSc has been very instrumental in my planning for a career change. Most roles I have applied for had this qualification as a requirement and I envisage landing my next role within 1 year of the award of my degree.

I am an instructor at the US college level. This degree helps in salary advancement and future plans of introducing health classes at my college.

If you are considering studying Infectious Diseases at the University of Edinburgh, find out more about our postgraduate programmes.

• Global Health and Infectious Diseases (Online Learning) – Part-time – MSc, PgDip (ICL), PgCert (ICL), PgCert, PgDip, PgProfDev
• Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (Online Learning) – Part-time – MSc, PgDip (ICL), PgCert (ICL), PgCert, PgDip, PgProfDev
• Infectious Diseases MScR (On campus) – Full-time – MScR

(Cover photograph: Nick Callaghan)