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The University of Southampton
MedicinePostgraduate study

Lissie Rolf  MSc Genomics Medicine 2019

Lissie Rolf 's Photo

I chose to study at Southampton because I wanted to learn more about how genomic medicine could be applied to improve patient care. I really benefitted from the enthusiasm and expertise of the scientists and clinicians at Southampton and it was inspiring to see the wide-reaching applications of genomic medicine from research, to patient care and public health.

I chose to study at Southampton because I wanted to learn more about the impact of the 100,000 Genomes Project and how genomic medicine could be applied to improve patient care. I was already working in the molecular pathology laboratory at University Hospital Southampton and the flexibility of the programme enabled me to study alongside my job.

I was familiar with the high standards of the course and I really benefitted from the enthusiasm and expertise of the scientists and clinicians who delivered the modules. It was inspiring to see the wide-reaching applications of genomic medicine from research, to patient care and public health. I was given the opportunity to observe a multi-disciplinary team meeting between consultant geneticists and clinical scientists and see real cases where variant classifications were reviewed in a clinical context using phenotypic and familial knowledge.

The high quality teaching and hands-on workshops gave me so much confidence. A real highlight was the Introduction to Bioinformatics module, where I was able to create a ‘pipeline’ to analyse next generation sequencing data. Ultimately, I learned how to find, annotate and interpret causal variants and produce my own clinical genetics report.

I had applied and failed get a place on the Scientist Training Programme (STP) which is very competitive, but the knowledge and experience I gained from my MSc Genomic Medicine definitely helped me improve my STP application and I interviewed successfully for a place this year. Third time lucky! I will be able to apply everything I have learnt from the course during my training, which specialises in cancer genomics. Hopefully in the future I will go on to complete the Higher Specialist Scientist Training Programme and become a consultant clinical scientist in the NHS.

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