I was excited to continue my studies in Sheffield as there is always something fun happening here!

I chose the MSc Human and Molecular Genetics course as there was the possibility of gaining valuable work experience by undertaking a placement in the NHS at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, which other courses did not offer. Additionally, I wanted to gain more experience performing lab techniques, and this was offered on this course partly in the form of a research project. Having done my undergraduate degree in Sheffield, I was excited to continue my studies here as there is always something fun happening here!

I really enjoyed gaining lots of new skills on this course, especially as these are applicable to future jobs, for example karyotyping which is used to help diagnose disease.

Laura Allen

Human and Molecular Genetics MSc

I really enjoyed gaining lots of new skills on this course, especially as these are applicable to future jobs, for example karyotyping which is used to help diagnose disease. In my research project, I really enjoyed being able to perform the whole process myself from keeping cells alive to imaging their chromosomes on the microscope. After the course had finished, we were given the opportunity to take part in a placement with Sheffield Diagnostics Genetics Service. This involved researching the mutations that cause a specific disease and this will be used to help inform the diagnosis of future patients, which is very exciting!

I believe the excellent training in lab techniques given in both semesters helped me secure my role as a Research Assistant at the Sanger Institute, as I was able to talk about this applicable lab experience in my interview. This job involves performing DNA extraction, PCR and cell culture, all of which I learnt during the masters course.