Luke Shilson-Hughes
The shift towards digitised health data is creating new jobs using data to improve health outcomes
Diploma in Languages
I spent my childhood years in Queensland before moving to Sydney for high school, graduating from Caringbah Selective High School in 2003. After completing high school, I briefly studied science at the University of Sydney before completing a Diploma in Software Development through TAFE. After my studies I worked as a Software Developer for several years before moving into a media management role in the television industry. At the same time I taught static trapeze on the side for my own personal interest and continued studying to obtain a Certificate III and IV in Fitness. I married my husband in 2015 and we moved out of Sydney to the Blue Mountains. Moving out of Sydney created the opportunity for me to return to university as a mature aged student and finally get an undergraduate degree.
I knew I wanted the next stage in my career to be something that combined positively contributing to society with my technical skills and interest in science. Health Science, and more specifically the Digital Health and Analytics major satisfies all of these criteria in an area that is undergoing significant growth. The shift towards digitised health data is creating new jobs using this emerging data to improve health outcomes in our communities, and I think it is a very exciting area to be diving into the field as it develops.
When it came to choosing which course and university, I started with the area I wanted to study and consider myself very lucky to have been looking for this type of course at the same time that UTS was running it for the first time. The Digital Health & Analytics major definitely swayed my decision to study at UTS. The fact that UTS is conveniently located and is a well respected institution was an additional bonus.
What's been most rewarding is how how much my understanding of the health environment has been broadened in a short period of time. At the start of the course I had an idea of what health science was, but having my eyes opened to just how big an area of study health science is and how much work there is to do in the field has been both rewarding and a bit humbling.
The course takes a practical approach to assessments, with exercises that are designed to reflect tasks that we might realistically perform as a health professional. I really like this approach to assessment as it gives us the opportunity to learn by doing, and provides an insight into what work might be like in different health fields.
We’ve had a number of guest lecturers who have all been very interesting. We were fortunate to hear from Sabera Turkmani who spoke to our class about her work establishing maternal health services in Afghanistan. Sabera’s lecture was eye opening as she recounted having to overcome the problems of funding, geography, cultural barriers, and midwife beheadings to improve the health outcomes of women in a war ravaged country.
I still have two years of the course to go but I am looking forward to my industry placement in the third year as the first step from study to working as a health professional.
For future students I would say there really is no trick to doing well at university. The subjects are designed for you to do well if you use the resources made available to you. Do the weekly pre-work for each subject before turning up to class and make use of face to face time to engage with your tutors to reinforce your understanding. If you don’t understand something or make a mistake it is much better to do it in front your tutor where you can be corrected, rather than making the mistake in your assessment!
The library is also a great resource to draw upon. I’d strongly recommend doing some of their research skills workshops, it’ll significantly increase the quality of your assignments.
