Miles for a Master’s: help a doctor rebuild their career

Hi, my name is Emma. I’m walking 268 miles along the Pennine Way to raise the funds I need to take up my place on the Tropical Medicine and International Health MSc at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

This Master’s degree is designed specifically for doctors wanting to work in global health. After a prolonged period of ill health, and having faced significant barriers to resuming my medical career, I’m incredibly excited to have been offered a place!

I’ve been working part-time in a supermarket for the past 2.5 years. This means I can’t meet the costs myself, and I don’t have a ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ to draw upon. I asked to be considered for a scholarship from LSHTM, which if awarded, would have been worth just over £39,000. But to my surprise, my medical degree meant I wasn’t allowed to even apply.

The opportunity to do this MSc could be transformative for me – so rather than give up my place, I’m trying to bring together multiple sources of funding so that I can start my degree as planned in September.

Hiking has been a big part of my recovery, letting me test my limits and rebuild my confidence. The Pennine Way will be my biggest challenge yet! Passing through long stretches of isolated moorland, it is often considered the UK’s toughest National Trail. I will be camping every night, and continuing to manage my health conditions, one of which becomes particularly troublesome after lots of exercise.

To keep me motivated, I’ll be walking with my trail companion and plush friend, Plasmo! He’s a Plasmodium falciparum, a parasite that causes malaria, which remains a major cause of disease in tropical regions. In the toughest moments on the trail, Plasmo will remind me of why this MSc matters so much to me.

Only a challenge of this scale can reflect how grateful I am to be well, and how eager I am to start this MSc in September. Any amount towards meeting my costs, no matter how small, would be immensely appreciated.

If you’d like to follow my progress on the trail, you can follow me on Instagram.

And to find out more about my story, check out my Substack blog. My first article explores what it means to hike with B12 deficiency, and why the Pennine Way will really test me.

Thank you!