As a child, have you ever thought that you would wake upand would not see your mother next to you? Probably not, and for some people,it may be a nightmare, but I have grown up with such experience.

My mother,only a trained midwife in our village, helped the women whenever needed. I haveseen her inspiration and motivation fading away when she was not able to solvepregnancy complications. I have not only listened to her experiences but also Ihave lived those moments experiencing from her sparkling eyes.

I cherished amammoth dream to serve rural helpless people who were suffering from brutalclaw of diseases at the wee hours of my early adolescent and I am still with mydream.My three-year practical experience as a physician,researcher, trainer and leader has ushered the golden stage of my career. Afterachieving membership of Bangladesh Medical & Dental Council in 2015, Istarted working as Study Physician in Sepsis Implementation Research project toimplement its national guidelines of management of infections in young infantsat International Center for Maternal & Newborn Health in Johns HopkinsUniversity. The center has conducted more than 20 studies in South Asia andSub-Saharan Africa. The research findings are translated into global andcountry-specific policies by working with global partners and with in-countrypolicymakers.

These are being implemented at scale, and have the potential tosave the lives of more than a billion babies every year. The Johns HopkinsBloomberg School has advanced education, research and practice to findsolutions to public health problems around the world. I had the experience ofworking at Bangladesh office of Johns Hopkins University for nine months. Iworked there both with the international delegation and with field staff.

AsStudy Physician, my duties were to coordinate with stakeholders, lead the fieldteam and prepare an action plan to evaluate study indicators within the timeframe. I had to assist Study Manager to develop qualitative and quantitativeresearch questionnaire, supervise qualitative team to organize FGDs and collectqualitative and quantitative data as per plan.In 2016, I worked as a District Trainer at CompetencyBased Training (CBT) in Nutrition in the Department of Epidemiology &Biostatistics of Institute of Child and Mother Health (ICMH). ICMH is anational level government research institute in Bangladesh. This is working forthe improvement of health and nutrition of children and mothers through itsthree objectives of human resource development, conduct research and patientcare since 1992.

The Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics has beenconducting problem-oriented research and programmes to improve the nutritionalstatus of children and mothers. It also organizes training and short courses toenhance the research capacities of the health personnel. They jointly conduct mostof the programmes with Institute of Public Health Nutrition and UNICEF. CBT inNutrition was a programme of UNICEF where ICMH acted a government partner. Theprogramme’s aim was to strengthen government health staff’s capacity innutrition through a comprehensive capacity building initiative in 23 districtsof Bangladesh. Over 10-month programme, as a District Trainer, I had to attendthe planning meeting for the implementation of Competency Based Training inconsultation with the respective district authority, train different categoriesof health workers, supervisors and managers in an assigned district, develop atraining data management and reporting system and provide skill assessmentreports. I trained 655 health staff about Nutrition. From May 2017, I have beenworking as Emergency Nutrition Support Officer in Rohingya Refugee Camp,Bangladesh to improve child nutrition.

I have to mobilize and manage the teamfor an assigned site, manage quality control of screening of children who haveSevere Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM), managequality control of data recording and compilation. At the same time, I ensureeffective referred SAM/MAM children. Throughout my professional life, I havefelt the importance of MPH for my future career.I am interested in studying at the University of Leedsbecause I believe it would enhance my qualification as a public health expert ata higher level. I have reviewed the course curriculum of Master of PublicHealth. All compulsory modules complement my public health experience and willprovide key skills and knowledge in a broad range of public health practice.This school has a wide range of optional modules.

I would study my expectedareas such as Health Systems Development for Primary Health Care, Implicationsof Conflicts and Emergencies on Health and Healthcare Systems, International HealthPolicy. Studying in this course, I want to gain skills and knowledge aboutwriting project proposal and research proposal, techniques of health planning,programmes monitoring and evaluation, develop appropriate researchmethodologies, quantitative and qualitative methods and questionnaire design.Another reason to choose is its international aspect.

The entire programme willbe vital for my future career as a public health expert and my expertise mayallow me to incorporate the UK patterns of public health in Bangladesh.I believe and I am confident that my academic record,experience, professional goals, and my enthusiasm make me a strong candidatefor this programme. Your consideration will provide me a unique opportunity tolearn and to serve my country.