My name is Simrit Attwal and I’m currently undertaking the MSc Toxicology course.
I chose Birmingham for my postgraduate studies cause I did my undergraduate here, I’ve had an amazing time, these three years have been incredible. The help that I received from staff is just, I couldn’t compare it to anything else. Whenever I need any help they’re always there. So for that reason I chose Birmingham.
The thing that is special about my course is that there’s not that many people on it so we get a lot of attention from my lecturers and that makes it really good for any work that we have or anything we need to ask.
The course in mainly taught through lectures although depending on the module we have different amounts of labs. My next module is based in Birmingham City Hospital so I’m looking really forward to that and it will give us a chance to see toxicology in the industry.
There’s an excellent postgraduate community at Birmingham. The staff really get involved to make sure everyone is well integrated. We had the Masters Apprentice as our induction which was a lot of fun. Luckily no one was fired, but it was a good icebreaker and a chance to get to meet people on the course.
My favourite thing about being a postgraduate student is that I don’t feel like a fresher anymore and it’s nice to feel a little wiser and it’s nice to give advice to people that I knew as well.
I’m trying to keep my options open at the moment. The Masters course is quite intense but the way I go about things is I make the most of opportunities that come my way.
So my favourite thing about being a postgraduate at Birmingham is that the Masters has a more practical approach to it, so more hands-on experience so we get to see things live and how things are done. So that’s what I am really enjoying at the moment, something that my undergraduate didn’t offer me.
My top tip for prospective students would be really give a lot of thought if this is something that you want to do. It’s not for everyone but I would say consider how you learn best, because every University teacher differently so you need to see what style suites you. For me Birmingham was perfect, but really put some thought into it.