Interview with Jaime Miranda
Jaime Miranda
Peru
Medical Doctor
MSc Epidemiology
Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
I want to contribute to my country with research of good quality and relevance. This will then influence local policies. Also, I think that medical research is a great space for long-term north-south collaborations.
Some interest in the field, some publications, the support of supervisors, but most importantly a relevant idea to develop.
The core MSc involves research and statistical methods. There is also opportunity to take other broader topics in Public Health and learn new tools. For example, I am taking mental health and predicting disease in time and space (learning GPS and remote sensing and its application to health issues).
You have to do a summer project in a two-month period and then write-up a project report. Yes, you can go abroad if your topic/area of interest in abroad. But usually time and feasibility of your study may be a barrier. Again, it depends of the project.
Although I do not see myself analysing data for the rest of my life, I found these skills very useful to understand and digest the most appropriate and relevant information for my country. When, in the future, someone recommends something based on research, I would be able to analyse the data and see if its applicable to my country. That is the main advantage, to see the applicability of health research (and in the long run, health policy) combined with my work in a developing country.
Go back to Peru and work based there. In the medium term, the research I am doing will be used for a PhD degree. I like collaborating with foreign colleagues and also international health (the first time I use this word in this interview!), so I hope I can contribute to the debate from Peru.
Definitely. It teaches us about the feasibility, practicality and relevance of health information.