Emily
BSc (Hons) Public Health and Community Wellbeing
Having grown up around a family of nurses, Emily admits that caring for people was always part of her career plan, even though she didn’t realise it at first.
In 2019, after discounting midwifery as a long-term career choice, she joined the BSc (Hons) Public Health and Community Wellbeing course at the University of Bradford to "broaden her options.”
This is Emily’s story.
Opening up career options
“I originally applied to study Midwifery, but Public Health opened up more options for me.”
"I was lucky enough to receive offers for this course at Bradford, and a Midwifery course at another university. I decided that a degree in Public Health would give me broader career opportunities, and that nursing and midwifery were perhaps too vocational for me.
"My mum worked in the local authority, so I always knew about public health and community wellbeing, but I think it came to light for many during the pandemic."
As soon as I joined Bradford in 2019, I knew I’d made the right decision.
Learning journey
“The experience and knowledge definitely helped”
"I loved learning about health trends in communities, why people become unwell, and how we improve health and access to health services for different communities.
"Before university, I’d already worked for the NHS in commissioning, in a role that was all about ensuring better quality care in care homes. That experience and knowledge definitely helped.
"I continued working in that role part-time whilst I was at uni during Covid, which was quite full on!"
Placement options enhance learning
“The best thing about the course is the placements.”
"I did some amazing placements during my three years at Bradford. One was in a recovery care home from hospital, setting up a nightingale response to prevent people from going back into care homes with Covid.
"Another was with St Augustine’s in Halifax, which is a refugee charity. My role was to improve health outcomes for refugees and asylum seekers in the area. I learned so much there and got to work on some really interesting projects, such as setting up a befriending scheme between asylum seekers new to the UK and ones that had been here longer.
"The aim was to give them knowledge and help them set up their access to healthcare. I also set up HIV testing and commissioned a dental van within the community so more people could get dental care, taking pressure off other services."
Learning experience at the University
“I liked writing essays.”
"The way the course is structured is very well thought through and consists mainly of 3,000-word essays where you can delve into topics that really interest you, so it makes them easier to write. I loved working on an essay about maternal health and health outcomes for new mums.
"There aren’t many exams and there’s no long dissertation at the end, which suited me, and I liked how much group work there was. We got to work on research projects such as looking at people’s worries around vaccines, or how we can make the experience of entering the UK better for refugees. It was all fascinating."
Whenever I asked for help at Bradford, I got it.
Personal development and growth
“My lecturers were incredibly supportive”
"You get to do a lot of personal and professional development work and reflection, which is a great skill to have. It’s quite a small class, so you benefit from a lot of one-to-one tuition.
"My lecturers were incredibly supportive, and everyone knew me; you definitely don’t feel like you’re just a number at Bradford, and considering I’d had a bit of a gap between finishing college and starting University, I found the transition easy because of the support you get from Bradford.
"Whenever I asked for help, I got it."
On the right path
"I'm now at Imperial College in London studying for a Master's in global public health."
"I balance my Master's with a part-time role in the NHS. It's quite intense but I know it's worth it.
"I'm still working out what I want to do after my Master's, but I know that the skills and experience I gained at Bradford will serve me well in whatever career route I choose to go down."
Interested in BSc (Hons) Public Health and Community Wellbeing?
Find out more about our course, requirements, and how to apply.