From Public Health to Health Economics: a student’s experience at Deakin University, Australia
Shalika started her Deakin University journey in 2013 as a Master of Public Health student. She chose to study at Deakin as it is a top-ranked university that prepares its students for the global workplace.
Deakin is among the Top 2% of universities worldwide (QS, Times Higher Education and Shanghai Rankings) and in the Top 50 young universities in the world (QS and Times Higher Education). Deakin has had the highest rate of student satisfaction in the Australian State of Victoria for the last six years (Australian Graduate Survey 2011–2016).
Shalika had graduated with a degree in medicine and was interested in looking at health from a broader perspective. ’I was interested in the health of popula- tions, healthy communities and identifying public health priorities’, she said. Deakin’s Master of Public Health emphasises promoting population health and strategies and policies to achieve this.
After completing the Master of Public Health Shalika decided to enrol in the Master of Health and Human Services Management at Deakin.
‘The Master of Health and Human Services Management introduced me to health economics; an area I had previously known nothing about,’ Shalika said. ‘With my clinical background, I was interested in the economic burden of different diseases to the individual, government and to the entire society.’
‘I was lucky enough to be able to do my master’s thesis on “the costs of living with Parkinson Disease in Australia” which showed the economic burden of Parkinson’s Disease, highlighting the cost to the patient over 12 months, from drug therapy, medical, hospital and allied health services. Later I was awarded with a scholarship by Deakin University to publish my thesis.
‘One of the things I learnt from my thesis was that I enjoyed both health economics and analysing health data,’ Shalika continued. ‘Today I am a very successful early career researcher at Deakin University’s Centre for Population Health Research. My research areas are around the economics of chronic disease and child and maternal health, and I am collaborating on research projects with teams from the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and Barwon Health, Geelong (a partner organisation to Deakin University). I am also tutoring in the new Master of Health Economics and Master of Public Health programs at Deakin University.
‘In my career, I have won several research awards, and publication grants. I am planning to enrol in a PhD through Deakin University in the near future.’
Shalika graduated from Deakin with a double master’s degree, completing both the Master of Public Health and Master of Health and Human Services Management in 2015. She is very grateful about all the support she has received from her supervisors and teachers at Deakin.
‘The Master of Health and Human Services Management introduced me to health economics; an area I had previously known nothing about,’ Shalika said. ‘With my clinical background, I was interested in the economic burden of different diseases to the individual, government and to the entire society.’
Please contact Deakin Sri Lanka Office for further information: srilanka@deakin.edu.au