Health, Sport and Bioscience Graduate Profiles
Ramarao - MSc Toxicology
I originally trained as a veterinarian scientist in my home country, India. After graduating, I worked at a veterinary assistant surgeon for over six years and during that time I discovered I loved the laboratory work. After careful consideration, I realized I’d like to move forward in this area, experience lifeoverseas and expand my skill set. With that in mind, I looked up a host of Toxicology degrees.
I eventually decided to apply to the University of East London as their MSc Toxicology degree offered a very broad course whereas others were too grounded in pharmacology for my interest and agenda. It’s been great to return to study. Although, for the first few months I was terribly homesick and it took a long time to acclimatize to the cold, I’ve really enjoyed being in a socially and cultural diverse community – it’s given me new life experiences that I would not be able to have anywhere else. The support given to international students is great too – lots of organized gatherings to orientate yourself local and nationally. There’s also lots of specialist study support for overseas students that help with making your new transitions – so you really are well taken care of.
Second time round I’ve found I really appreciate the School’s academic house style of teaching that is intentionally laissez faire and encourages independent thinking and critical analysis – it’s made me become a much more curious, testing and observant scientist – in fact, I’m a better scientist now than I was a year ago. I’ve loved specializing in Toxicology and the volume of lab work I’ve been able to undertake has been highly beneficial from a professional basis. In fact doing my Masters has made me realize that I’d love to go into a more research and academic direction – ultimately I’d love to be able to set up my own Toxicology laboratory in India and do pre-clinical work, but before I get there, my next stop is a PhD in Toxicology.
