International Students’ Experiences at QUT School of Public Health and Social Work
Name: Claire Choo Wan Yuen
Course at QUT: PhD, School of Public Health and Social Work
City and country of origin: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
My PhD training was made possible when QUT provided me with the QIDS scholarship. The 3-year journey at QUT has been extremely beneficial, pleasant and encouraging. The staff and students were very friendly and helpful.
I personally learnt a lot from its outstanding teaching faculty especially my supervisor team. QUT provided a stimulating environment with its state-of-the-art facilities that help to facilitate and equip students with knowledge and skills to carry out their research training successfully and make valuable contributions to both research and public health. Upon completion of the training, I have returned to my own country and work as a lecturer in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya.
Name: Yi-Chen Lee
Course and Degree at QUT: Doctor of Health Science, 2008
City and Country of Origin: Taipei, Taiwan
My mane is Yi-Chen Lee and I worked as a coordinator and an administrator in hospitals for three years in Taiwan. I am a full time international student in the School of Public Health and Social Work, and I am researching on the topic of “Trends in demographic and health behaviour factors influencing obesity in Australia from 1995 to 2005”.
The reason that I decided to continue my education and received higher degree is that I found I am interested in academic research and teaching. Health Promotion is a new research field in Taiwan, and QUT has a good research team in this field and well known for Taiwanese. As this field is new in Taiwan, the Taiwanese government is interested in improving people’s health by changing health behaviours. My research experience at QUT can provide a better understanding about “Health Promotion” for Taiwanese and help Taiwanese improve their health before illness.
Name: Cizao Ren
Course and Degree at QUT: PhD, School of Public Health and Social Work, completed in April 2007
City and Country of Origin: Hefei, Anhui province, China
Previous qualifications: Cizao Ren received a B. Med and Master of Medicine from Anhui Medical University (Hefei, Anhui province, China) in 1985 and 1990, respectively. I received Master of Science in Epidemiology from University of California, Los Angeles in 2002.
My name is Cizao Ren. I now work in University of California, Irvine as a postdoctoral researcher, focused on environmental health. I decided to study in QUT because I thought I needed more professional training. During my QUT PhD study, I finished six manuscripts, four of which have been published by the international top journals, such as Environmental Health Perspectives, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Environment International and International Journal of Biometeorology. One is under review and another is pending the revision. My study results have been represented in four international conferences.
The PhD training is extremely beneficial to my real professional life. I learnt a lot from the training process. For example, I know how to rapidly review literature and choice research topics. I also master skills for writing articles and the response of reviewer’s comments. In addition, I know how to conduct peer-review for others’ research. All these skills were obtained from PhD training process at QUT’s School of Public Health and Social Work. - Cizao Ren 2008
Name: Zaimin Wang
Course and Degree at QUT: PhD, School of Public Health and Social Work, QUT, 2000-2004
City and Country of Origin: Jinan, Shandong, China
Current Position and Country: Senior Research Officer, Centre for Chronic Disease , The University of Queensland, Australia
My name is Zaimin Wang, My background is epidemiology in public health--- I now work here as an epidemiologist for Aboriginal Health at The University of Qld.
I decided to pursue PhD study at QUT because I felt QUT can provide everything I need. It has not only outstanding teaching and academic atmospheres but also very friendly staff and students. I still very much appreciate the generous instructions by my supervisor team. From them I gained the knowledge academically, linguistically and culturally. - Zaimin Wang 2008