…by Edem / from Nigeria / studies MSc Global Health and Infectious Diseases / 1st year (PG)

I am a medical doctor, husband, father and an online distance learning MSc scholar in Global Health and Infectious Diseases. Just when I thought it couldn’t get more hectic, the northern part of Nigeria was faced with a fatal outbreak of an infectious disease – Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM).

I volunteered to join the response team to help stem the outbreak. Fortunately, I had just started the third module of my MSc studies – Applied Epidemiology. How did I manage?

Treatment of the meningitis outbreak

It was a very interesting 2 weeks. I was able to apply practical components of the study materials and various journals discussed in my programme to my field job. Topics such as disease surveillance and outbreak investigation were covered.

The treatment camps were in very remote areas with no internet access and after working all day, I returned to my hotel, exhausted. Sometimes, when it looked like I would not be able to keep up with deadlines for written assignments, I communicated this concern to the programme team at the University in advance who provided support.

Every day, when the day’s work was done, I found time to share my experience with University colleagues on the discussion board. It was refreshing to discuss an ongoing disease outbreak and have input from colleagues from all over the globe with different professional backgrounds.

Overall, I find it very rewarding to be studying a course that allows me to improve on my job.

To read more about the Cerebrospinal Meningitis outbreak in Nigeria, visit: http://www.ncdc.gov.ng/reports/43/2017-april-week-16

More information on studying for a postgraduate qualification online can be found on our website: http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/degree-guide/online-learning 

The multiple lives of an online student… / Student Stories by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0