Postgraduate Student Profile
Scott Newman
MSc Student in 2006 - now studying for a PhD at University of Cambridge
In 2006-2007, I took the MSc in Medical Genetics. Since I had been out of university
and the scientific field for three years, the balance between teaching and research
is what attracted me. Going into the course I was leaning towards a research
career but didn’t know which field I wanted to work in. What I liked most
about the course was that it gave me options for the future – the taught
component was very broad and there were many choices for research projects such
as stem cells, familial genetic diseases, development, and cancer. The course
on cytogenetic diagnostics was especially interesting, so I opted for a project
looking at chromosomes changes in leukaemia.
The Institute of Genetic Medicine was well equipped and very friendly. There was extensive contact between students and principle investigators as well as lectures by the institute director himself. At times the workload was very high, but my hard work was eventually rewarded and I am now doing a PhD at the University of Cambridge studying cytogenetics in breast cancer. The MSc was advertised as a “springboard” to a PhD and in my case it definitely was.
