Mr Peter Jones

Peter enrolled on the MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care as he lacked the formal qualifications to pursue the academic career he was interested in.

'Prior to undertaking the MSc in EBHC I was a recently qualified consultant in Emergency Medicine at a large teaching hospital. I had recently developed an interest in research and wanted to pursue an academic career but lacked the formal academic qualifications or local pathway to do so. After searching world wide for suitable courses, I was inspired to come to the UK to do the MSc in EBHC at Oxford due to the quality of teaching and academic reputation of the University.

'The most challenging part of the course was fitting in the coursework with a full time clinical job as a consultant in Emergency Medicine and juggling my responsibilities as father with a young family. I was lucky that my department supported me and allowed me to use my paid non-clinical time to complete my studies.

'The most rewarding and inspiring part of the course was staying in-house at Rewley House in Oxford, soaking up the atmosphere of the University and mixing with a diverse range of inspirational people from around the world for a week at the start of each term.  

'Undertaking the MSc in EBHC at Oxford gave me the knowledge and tools to establish and lead a successful research program at my hospital. In the 10 years since I completed the course and returned to my department we have published over 50 articles in the peer reviewed literature including observational studies, randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews and mixed methods studies. We are proud of the fact that all of our research is funded from public good contestable grants and are therefore free of potential conflicts of interest with industry.

'The skills I learnt doing the MSc in EBHC have undoubtedly helped me to achieve my goal of an academic career. I am completing my PhD in Emergency Department crowding this year, and have recently been appointed as an Associate Professor in Emergency Medicine at the University of Auckland.

'Completing the MSc in EBHC also gave me the confidence and credentials to take up leadership positions in the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and within the Emergency Medicine community in New Zealand. Immediately on completing the course I joined the College Trainee Research Committee, which I subsequently chaired. This committee sets the standards for research projects completed as part of specialist training in Emergency Medicine in Australasia. I also chair the New Zealand Emergency Medicine Network, which is a multicentre collaboration of clinicians and lay people focused on improving care quality in Emergency Medicine through high quality research at national level.  I have recently been appointed to the Ministry of Health in New Zealand as the National Clinical Director for Emergency Departments, with a role advising District Health Boards (Trusts) on how best to meeting national quality standards in Emergency Care.

'I cannot recommend the MSc in EBHC highly enough for enthusiastic clinicians across all disciplines wanting to gain skills for creating and appraising the evidence that shapes healthcare in the future.'

Learn more:

• MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care

• Evidence-Based Health Care postgraduate programmes