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With introductory week and the first week of lectures behind me it seems like an opportune time to reflect on my initial experiences upon returning to campus. I'm hoping to relearn some of what I thought I knew about "health", gaining a perspective somewhat removed from my erstwhile clinical observation of individuals. To do this I need to study new subjects, fully engage with a new learning environment, take on the new adventure of commuting by public transport, and consider utilizing opportunities for extracurricular learning and activities.

Different courses for different horses

It's 16 years since I last graduated from a university, and I'm at the beginning of an intensive postgraduate taught course that should lead, initially, to a Master of Public Health. Full-time study entails 2 days of direct teaching but most postgraduate education is self-directed (they say 3 hours of independent study for every hour taught). Other buzz words used to distinguish it from undergraduate teaching include "critical thinking", "challenging assumptions", and "problem-centered learning". A Master degree requires 180 credits—60 of those being derived from a dissertation. There are four core (obligatory) modules on my course worth 15 credits each, all delivered in the first semester:

• Introduction to public health;
• Introduction to research methods;
• Introduction to statistics;
• Needs assessment, planning and economic evaluation.

I have made up the remaining 60 credits by choosing the following optional modules:

• Systematic review and critical appraisal (systematic reviews are one of three possible dissertation types, and good preparation for a PhD);
• Epidemiological research design (essential for the FPH exam—see below);
• Public health informatics (an area of personal interest);
• Health protection (essential preparation for the FPH exam);

Old horse, new technology

The last time I was a university student there were no wall signs asking for mobile phones to be turned off—nobody had them. Very few students had laptops; I bought one of the first truly portable models, a PowerBook 100, just a few months before graduation. The World Wide Web was not available outside of CERN. Now every student has online access to the university portal, with networked file storage accessible from any computer (theirs or yours), campus-wide "free" WiFi, and VPN for secure connections made from home. The Information Commons, a fancy name for the study resource centre comprising library and computing facilities, provides access to gigabytes worth of e-journals, e-books, and databases.

All this technology makes it easier to cut academic corners too: thanks to copy-and-paste plagiarism is apparently a real temptation for some. Most of our assignments therefore must be certified against a text-matching index prior to submission. Likewise we are warned not to collude, but simultaneously encouraged to collaborate in group work (I haven't quite yet got my head around the practicalities of sharing without sharing here).

Students are automatically subscribed to multiple mailing lists from which they have no option to unsubscribe; although supposedly "targeted" it's hard to see the immediate relevance of international law conferences, sports events, concerts, exhibitions, and bicycle sales to my interest in having a spam-free inbox. Online lectures notes are a great paper-saving idea, but delays have meant no access to them while the computing department plays catch-up with all the access requests.

Student face, commuter face

Undergraduates and postgraduates traditionally don't mix. Interestingly as I walked around campus during the introductory week lots of leaflets and goodie bags were being handed out to fresh-faced students as they passed by. My not-so-fresh face attracted no leaflets at all; it was almost as if I was invisible (not that I would have gone to the parties anyway).

As a commuter, however, I blend right in. Just one of many crammed into an uncomfortably hot train, unable to get a seat, and wearing the resigned expression that comes with having to endure predictable delays. I've adopted the stress minimization tactic of taking the train before the one that should get me where I'm going on time if that train did in fact run to time. I've also found the Trains app for iPhone rather handy for quickly checking the timetable at either end of the journey.

Optional exams, extracurricular activities

I haven't yet decided whether to sit for the Part A of the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) membership examination. The average pass rate Jan 2005–2008 is only 40% so with a fee of over £500 it must be a nice earner for the Faculty. Apparently to date only a single student completing the MPH at ScHARR has passed on the first sitting. I did request online access to lecture notes for the following modules (non-credited) as they could be useful preparation:

• Promoting evidence-based healthcare;
• Health promotion;
• Sociology of health and illness (also of interest).

But the way things are looking I won't have time for anything optional. For example, the required reading for one module alone lists 3 entire textbooks, 9 partial textbooks, over 40 reports and papers, and reading "beyond" this. One two hour lecture suggests 6 complete textbooks in its reading list. It's overwhelming—there's no better word for it.

Being at university isn't solely about doing what you must or should do. Some of the sessions on our timetable are non-assessed and student-directed (we say what we want to arrange talks about). The wider University offers many other academic, recreational, and social opportunities. For example I could take a course in German, or join the Photography Club (although I think the sensible approach is to see how the "must dos" pan out first).

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