Jenny Horder

My comfort zone had been secondary science teaching for quite some time when the opportunity came my way to manage UNSW's Museum of Human Disease and to promote its use as a learning resource for school and community groups. The Museum's message is all about health promotion and disease prevention. Adolescents, our main target group, don't so readily make the link between risky behaviours and their own vulnerability and some of our exhibits manage to convey this without a single word! But effective health messaging brings several disciplines into play and I was keen to complement my education background with a fuller understanding of public health priorities.

I found the MPH program was on offer just a lift ride down from my office and have now completed five courses and am ready to think about a project topic which will tie in with the health promotion we do at the Museum. I'm enjoying the learning process - the staff are experts in their field, generous with contact time and interested in what experiences we bring to the classroom from our very varied backgrounds.

There have already been a number of unexpected and very welcome spin offs from the program. These include an increased awareness of the global picture from interaction with international students, a greater appreciation of some of the legal and ethical considerations involved in behavioural research and I have also learned to frame up more successful funding applications with the help of stats, epidemiology and the course called Formulating Academic Proposals and Projects! The program's flexibility is another attraction. I appreciate being able to set the pace myself and have chosen to proceed slowly so as to savour course content and fully explore how I can apply it at work.