Written by Emma Campbell, UTS Health Science student
What inspired you to study your degree?
Throughout year 12 I kept changing my mind about uni courses, right up until the last round of offers. I chose a Science/Maths double degree at a different university and was anxious about what careers it would lead me to, so I withdrew from the course.
The next year I knew I wanted a degree that encompassed health, working with people, and kept my options open for careers, so the Bachelor of Health Science was the perfect fit. Since then, I have fallen in love with the course, and know that this was always the degree for me.
What are your career plans or goals?
I enjoyed epidemiology and public health, so I hope to do a Master of Public Health. I would love to be a public health officer or do anything within the field.
I loved maths and biology so the idea of utilising data to improve health seemed such a perfect fit for me. The notion that allied health can better the health of individuals whilst public health can better the state of the systems to better communities is so powerful, and I would just love to be a part of that.
What’s it like to be a student at UTS?
It’s an unreal experience. In Health Science we only take around 150 students per year and have most of our subjects together as a cohort throughout the degree. You get to know other students and develop a relationship with tutors and course directors (something pretty rare for universities).
Our class sizes are only 20-25 in tutorials so it’s really engaging. The facilities themselves are amazing, from our plastic-free food court to state-of-the-art labs, it is truly world class. Even transitioning into online learning was relatively smooth and tutors ensured our learning wasn’t compromised as best they could.
What’s been your favourite subject so far?
Definitely ‘Introduction to Epidemiology’. I loved the maths, despite it only being multiplications and fractions! The best bit was analysing what the numbers actually mean, ultimately telling us communities’ state of health, as well as suggesting why that might be.
I loved how this paired with ‘Introduction to Public Health’ to utilise that data to push for better policy to improve the health of those communities. I also enjoyed ‘Social, Emotional and Psychological Wellbeing’ as it shone a new light onto how individuals are affected by their health and how we need to consider them at the forefront of decision-making.
What’s your best advice for managing your work, study, and social commitments in this degree?
Definitely get into a routine and stick to it! The health science workload is relatively easy to manage if you stay on top of it from the start of semester, so just make sure you don’t fall too far behind!
Online learning also taught me that sometimes forcing yourself to do work when you are really unmotivated can do more harm than good. I found that if my focus was lacking, I would just go for a walk or get a coffee and come back and smash out more work than if I made myself push through that block.
Find out more about studying Health Science at UTS.
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