The Health Policy MSc at Imperial College London is led by the Institute of Global Health Innovation.
Jazz Walker, a Year 2 Health Policy Master’s student and Biological Capabilities Policy Advisor at the UK Health Security Agency, attended our recent in-person student workshop and shares her experience of the MSc programme.
Why did you apply for the Health Policy MSc programme?
Jazz: I applied for the programme mostly for career progression reasons. I’d gone through education—originally, I did an English degree—and then I got into health policy.
One aspect that drew me to it is that, particularly in the policy world, you don’t often gain experience outside of your job’s specific focus. It’s really difficult, especially in busy areas, to get opportunities to branch into other fields.
Personally, I found the finance and economics section quite interesting. Due to the way my career has progressed, I’ve always kind of avoided working on those areas. But this programme provided a nice, non-pressured way to learn about those elements of the job without needing to seek permissions for work shadowing. My organisation is keen to promote learning and development, but I personally haven’t found their traditional pathways very effective for learning this type of information.
I found the Health Policy MSc programme more helpful because it requires you to work on a problem statement, rather than just absorbing theory that’s delivered to you, with no practical application. It provides a way to demonstrate how you’d approach and apply these examples in real situations. Those are the key things I value: gaining skill sets I can’t acquire in my job. It’s been very interesting, and I’m pleased to be able to work with people from diverse backgrounds on the course.
How is the programme going so far? What did you enjoy the most or found most impactful?
Jazz: I think it’s going really well so far. I particularly enjoyed last year’s module on Health and Society, as it connected to my work at the time, which was related to threat relevance. Having an entire module focused on various threats helped me better understand the organisation I was working in. This was especially useful because my employer is funding my studies to help me bring broader awareness to other areas I might work in.
Gaining these learnings and insights pushed me to apply more of them in my work. This has enabled me to present stronger ideas by incorporating those considerations and working through them, and has strengthened my relationships with analysts in that area. I can now demonstrate that I’m using the same assessment criteria they would use, saying things like, ‘I evaluated this’ or ‘I’d recommend approaching it this way’ or ‘This is how I’d like to see the results—does that align with the right approach?’ Having their agreement has further helped build these connections.
How do you think this programme will further help you in building your career?
Jazz: I think simply being recognised for doing the Master’s has already been really helpful for my work. It’s helped me connect with industry and academia, showing them that there’s genuine dedication behind what I’m doing. In an environment where people often jump between fields, having a solid foundation in the subject area is really valuable.
Pushing myself to think critically and write papers in a more traditional, academic style has also been useful. I had definitely fallen out of practice with writing academic papers, so it’s been great to get back into that process and focus on building a stronger evidence base. Rather than just relying on the specialised technicians in my organisation, I’m doing self-directed research again. This has been particularly helpful in areas I’m working on, as it’s taught me how to evaluate sources more critically. It’s not just about thinking, ‘Well, it’s in an academic journal, so it must be true,’ but about noticing potential biases that might affect credibility.
I think this stronger evidence base, along with the ability to perform desk research and self-reflection, will be incredibly useful for my future career.
Have you experienced any challenges so far? And if so, how has the academic team supported you?
Jazz: The academic team has been very helpful throughout the course. Particularly at the start, when I was working on two tasks simultaneously in my job, being able to reach out and express that things were challenging gave me the reassurance I needed to manage things through. They explained the possibility of getting a short extension, or if I needed a longer one, they could guide on providing evidence of what I was working on. Their support has been invaluable!
I found the drop-in sessions especially useful, knowing I could jump in and ask, ‘I have one question; my mind can’t quite get where I’m going with it. Am I thinking about it right?’ Getting confirmation and advice on where I might need to push further or focus more on that track was really helpful.
The way the lessons are structured is also refreshing compared to other universities I’ve attended. They truly listen, and you can see that reflected in how the course has evolved.
For example, I appreciated having the opportunity to reflect through the course’s reflective learning journals in my first year; however, I found it challenging to keep up with them due to time constraints. What’s great is that the academic team listened to our feedback, acknowledging the timing pressures, and made adjustments accordingly in our second year. Unlike other academic settings where you’re simply told to ‘just do it,’ it’s nice to be in a place where they listen and adapt the course as it progresses.
What advice would you give to new applicants?
Jazz: I think it’s important to consider your timings. Planning ahead on how you’ll approach each part of the course can make the assessments less challenging. If you tackle the work gradually, following along with the unit organically, it will make a difference. Personally, thinking about how I’ll apply what I’m learning to the assessments has been beneficial.
Also, remember to take time for yourself. It’s important to keep up with your reading, but too much pressure can be overwhelming. The required and optional readings are already outlined for you, so focus on those, and spend extra time on topics that interest you or could enhance your essays.