IMSc Cert 2017 Bernadette - Director of medical imaging

"What I like best about the Imaging Sciences programme at Edinburgh, is the absolute flexibility I had with my time; I was able to study when I wanted to, I was able to pursue my education at the pace I wanted, and I was supported by experts in every realm whether it was my Professor, Andrew Farrall or his support staff. I felt like I was a valued member of the student community even though I was studying distance learning.

Studying online offers unique challenges for a couple reasons; the first reason is you have to be tenacious and you’ve got to be organised, and you’ve got to get the work done, so prioritisation is key. The second thing is interaction with your peers; if you can establish a nice network of your peers while you’re studying online you can create a community that is just as intimate and just as productive as the university based student community. The course from the Imaging Sciences programme that I found particularly illuminating for me, was the study design course, and the reason why is because as chief research officer, I have been conducting research in a clinical environment and in industry for many years, but the formal education and the certification puts a lot of power behind my experience.

I think the Imaging Sciences programme has prepared me for the future in a number of ways; professionally I believe I’ve got the credentials now to move forward as chief research officer and beyond, and personally I think this has spring boarded me into the confidence that I need to complete my PhD. I would recommend the Imaging Sciences programme at the University of Edinburgh to any student in radiologic sciences that wants to go beyond than being a technologist. Sometimes we earn our certificate and we are happy to just stay at a level where we’re interacting with patients and doing patient care, but some of us want to move into biomedical engineering, or product development, or clinical or translational research – this is where the University of Edinburgh comes in, we’re able to take what we have as clinicians and move it into other areas that are either industry based or research based.

When people ask me why I chose University of Edinburgh and this programme, it’s a funny story because I actually Googled “Best research universities in the world”, and when I saw Edinburgh on the list and did my research, I thought what an amazing place to earn my post graduate certificate or my masters or PhD. It’ a wonderful institution in a city steeped with culture, tradition and history, and what a better place to pursue higher education."

- IMSc Cert 2017 Bernadette - Director of medical imaging

• Imaging MSc / Dip / Cert
• Professor Andrew Farrall
• Study Design
• University of Edinburgh