Name: Andrew Creese
Current job and employer : (last employer) The World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Degrees: MA (Oxon) Politics, Philosophy and Economics, Oxford University, 1967
Msc London School of Economics, 1968
B.Phil (Oxon) Oxford University, 1973.
What was the most important transition when going from undergraduate to postgraduate?
The three years of work experience in between! The main transition when beginning the B. Phil in Oxford was the higher level of quantitative skills needed - I arranged private coaching in calculus, for example. Also the level of participation by other students was more and at a higher level.
Considering the cost of postgraduate study, do you feel it was a suitable investment in your future?
Yes, definitely the right investment for my future. I had an SSRC grant.
What part do you feel your postgraduate degree had in securing your current job?
My BPhil in Economics led directly into my work in a research post in health economics at St Thomas's Hospital medical school in London (jointly with the LSE) and that, in turn, led to a university lectureship in development studies and thence on to the WHO.
What advice would you give to students who are considering postgraduate study?
I found that my motivation and maturity was the greater for a three year spell working mainly overseas with the British Council. I felt much more able to profit from what Oxford had to offer as a graduate student, in spite of the fact that the social life and much College life is heavily oriented to undergraduates. So my advice would be - get some work experience first.
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