I've basically fallen in love with Sheffield

Why did you choose a postgraduate taught/ research programme?

After finishing my undergraduate degree I was torn between further study, getting a job and going traveling. I was worried that if I did that I would find it really difficult to get back into education following a year off and I knew that biomedical science wasn’t the field that I wanted to go into.

I wanted to work in healthcare and interact with people on a day to day basis, so to do anything in that area I knew I had to study for a degree in the relevant subject as the majority of roles in healthcare are vocational.

It just so happened that University of Sheffield were offering the course I wanted to do starting from September 2016 with funding available, so I just applied. When I was offered a place I was incredibly surprised but knew I had to take the opportunity that I had been given to pursue the career that I wanted!

After studying here for three years I’ve basically fallen in love with Sheffield, I feel at home here. A lot of my friends were still going to be around and I just wasn’t ready to leave.

Samantha Brettell

Diploma in Physician Associate Studies

Why did you decide to stay in Sheffield?

After studying here for three years I’ve basically fallen in love with Sheffield, I feel at home here. A lot of my friends were still going to be around and I just wasn’t ready to leave.

A huge part of my wanting to stay was not only that I knew the teaching and the opportunities available to me would be excellent (as some of our biomedical modules were ran by the Medical School), but because I had been heavily involved in the Swimming and Water Polo team.

Being on the committee for two years as social secretary and tour secretary, and competing for both sports regularly, I really didn’t want to leave it behind. I’ve also been invited to train with City of Sheffield ladies squad and I wasn’t ready to leave that.

Sheffield has so much to offer, not only in terms of the teaching but everything else. The student union is excellent in terms of support and providing the opportunities for you to get involved with things that you are interested in or feel strongly about. There is a real sense of community and being a part of something.