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The University of Southampton
MedicinePostgraduate study

Meera Parmar MSc Diabetes Best Practice, 2018

Graduate

Meera Parmar's Photo

During my first few years on the BM5 Medicine course, I developed a strong interest and enthusiasm for Diabetes, especially as I gained valuable research experience during my third year. I had a good foundation of knowledge but I was motivated to pursue this further during an intercalated year.

The MSc Diabetes Best Practice has prepared me well for the demands I will face in my future career as a doctor. The learning, skills and experiences I have gained during the programme have enabled me to build confidence in caring for individuals with Diabetes and better understand the challenges they face.

The MSc Diabetes Best Practice seemed like an outstanding opportunity to enhance my knowledge, skills and experience in far greater depth than my five-year programme in Medicine allowed. The programme also appealed to me due to the wide selection of modules to choose from, expert teaching and the strong clinical focus.

The majority of the programme is taught within University Hospital Southampton. Despite being away from the main campus of the University, the hospital had all the facilities I required as a student including a library, common room and study rooms. During my dissertation, I had access to the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility within the hospital. This was a superb environment to arrange meetings with participants and undertake research activity.

One of my favourite aspects of the programme was learning alongside such a diverse group of students. The cohort consisted of different healthcare professionals and individuals from varying backgrounds. I was fascinated by their personal experiences and perspectives of Diabetes care within their respective disciplines. I found that I was constantly learning from my peers as well as my teachers on the course.

There are so many opportunities to learn, develop and expand your understanding when studying at Southampton. For my dissertation project, I was extremely fortunate to work alongside the Paediatric Diabetes Team at Southampton Children’s Hospital. We investigated glycaemic control and sleep quality in children with Type 1 Diabetes using a relatively new technology called ‘continuous glucose monitoring’. I had the valuable opportunity of working with children with Type 1 Diabetes and their families. Hearing their experiences of living with and managing Diabetes has opened my eyes to the immense effects the condition can have on almost every aspect of their lives. This unforgettable experience will help enhance my future clinical practice, particularly when caring for and communicating with individuals with long-term conditions.

Another amazing opportunity I became involved with was becoming an online mentor for the University of Southampton ‘Understanding Insulin MOOC’ on Future Learn. The course aims to educate a worldwide audience of healthcare professionals, patients and members of the public about insulin to promote safe use and reduce concerns around its clinical use. This interesting and innovative experience has highlighted to me the importance of Diabetes education and awareness amongst everyone. This is an area I am passionate to become more involved with in the future.

With a high prevalence of Diabetes within the UK, there are increased healthcare demands. This need to be reflected by an improved awareness and approach towards treating Diabetes by all healthcare professionals. The MSc Diabetes Best Practice has prepared me well for the demands I will face in my future career as a doctor. The learning, skills and experiences I have gained during the programme have enabled me to build confidence in caring for individuals with Diabetes and better understand the challenges they face. This has been supported primarily by the teachers, mentors and supervisors on the programme whose guidance and commitment enabled me to make the most out of every opportunity. I will continue to view them as role models as I progress further in my career.

Having had experiences on both the BM5 Medicine programme and the MSc Diabetes Best Practice programme, I would strongly encourage individuals to apply for programmes in Medicine at Southampton. I would especially recommend other medical students to consider the Postgraduate Taught programmes such as the MSc Diabetes Best Practice for an intercalated year. It is a unique, meaningful and worthwhile opportunity, and my personal experience of this has been exceptional.

 

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