Helen Hogan

1
Research opportunities for PH training at LSHTM

• Helen Hogan
• Clinical Lecturer and Educational Supervisor

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
2
Various opportunities

• 3 types of training placement at LSHTM
• Short for research experience or defined project
  (up to 6 months)
• post Part B MFPH exams
• Longer placement for developing academic career/
  PhD (12 months )
• post Part B MFPH exams
• Academic Clinical Fellowships

3
Where

• Three departments
• -Public Health and Policy (includes European
  Centre on Health of Societies in Transition-
  ECOHOST, Health Services Research Unit, Health
  Policy Unit)
• -Epidemiology and Population Health
• -Infectious and Tropical Disease

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ECOHOST

• Agriculture, food and disease risk
• Tobacco control
• Public health aspects of communicable disease
  control e.g. planning for pandemic flu
• Migration and health
• Assessing and comparing healthcare in different
  countries

5
Short placements

• Examples of FY2 Projects completed in 4 month
  placements in ECOHOST over the last 2 years
• Progress and shortcomings in European national
  strategic plans for pandemic influenza (report
  for the EU)
• Evaluating the impact of smokefree legislation on
  different ethnic groups in London
• Systematic review of school fruit and vegetable
  schemes (presented to European Commission DG agri
  as part of legislative impact assessment for 300
  million Euro new initiative, Brussels Nov 2007)
• Input to Portuguese Presidency of EU Impacts of
  Migration on Health in the EU

6

• Sema Mandal, 4th year trainee. 4 month attachment
  to ECOHOST
• Question "what strategies does the tobacco
  industry use to influence policy making within
  the EU, and what are the points and systems of
  influence it uses?"
• Qualitative analysis of previously secret
  tobacco industry documents, Triangulation with
  other sources, including official EU docs, media,
  and interviews with key actors.
• Benefits Intellectual space to pursue project
  without distraction, learning new academic
  skills, try out to see if want to pursue academic
  career, publications, opportunity to influence
  important organizations such as EU

7
Health Service Research Unit

• Surgical quality and outcomes as part of the
  Clinical Effectiveness Unit of the Royal College
  of Surgeons
• Quality of healthcare including outcome measures
• Models of healthcare and organizational change as
  part of the Service Delivery and Organization
  Programme
• Health Technology Assessment

8

• Elizabeth Bream 4th-5th year trainee, 1 year
  attachment to HSRU
• Project focused on the relationship between
  patients and clinicians measures of outcome.
• Undertaken a systematic review and performed some
  secondary data analysis
• Benefits Opportunity to try out academic life
  (now considering a PhD), two publications,
  opportunity to teach on MSc and to attend
  seminars/lectures of both specific and general
  interest

9
Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases

• Robert Lindfield, 5th year Trainee, 1 year
  placement based in International Centre for Eye
  Health
• Current research
• -Developing a model to predict the amount of
  cataract surgery required by low income countries
• -Developing a funding proposal for a project to
  establish and evaluate a primary healthcare
  service for eye care in East Africa
• -Updating a WHO manual,
• Benefits was able to get involved with personal
  tutoring and teaching a wide variety of
  audiences, experience writing a grant,
  publications and presentations at international
  conferences. Hopes to go on to do a PhD

10
Walport clinical academic fellowships

• Currently have two fellows working towards
  development of grant applications to fund PhD
• Bhargarvi Rao Consideration of the health system
  needs for transition from pre-elimination to
  elimination phases of malaria in Sub Saharan
  Africa. Collaboration between ITD, IC and LSE.
  Involves infectious disease modelling, economic
  evaluation, policy analysis. Case study in
  Tanzania
• Ishani Kar-Purkayastha Study focused on public
  attitudes to consent for medical testing. Will
  look specifically at these issues in relation to
  the new born infant heel prick. Work is being
  done within the Health Policy Unit and will
  involve questionnaire design and semi structured
  interviews.

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How to apply

• If you are interested
• Informal discussions between trainee and
  educational supervisors
• Trainee should be clear on purpose of placement,
  and types of skills/ interests they would like to
  pursue
• DO YOUR RESEARCH via LSHTM website Research
  (who does what)
• Educational supervisor can help facilitate
  contacts with potential supervisors
• Introduction of new structured application
  process
• Trainee obtains approval of Deanery programme
  director for academic placement
• Official application to LSHTM (educational
  supervisors) via short application form
• Educational supervisor assesses fit of trainee
  to placement (through meeting), and liaises with
  potential project supervisors at LSHTM
• Finally, project supervisor obtains agreement for
  trainee placement from Head of Unit/ Head of
  Department (including start date)
• NB Requires some forward planning

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Who to contact

• Karen Lock and Helen Hogan
• Educational Supervisors
• Karen.Lock_at_lshtm.ac.uk
• Helen.Hogan_at_lshtm.ac.uk