Behavioural Sciences Unit
  • About
    • Our Vision
    • Our Team
  • Research
    • Precision Medicine and Genomics
    • Mental Health and Relationships
    • Health Systems & Survivorship
    • Patient Education and Cognition
    • Luminesce Alliance - Psychosocial Enabling Platform
  • Study with us
    • How to apply
    • Our Supervisors
    • Positions Vacant
  • News
    • 2021
    • Events
  • How to Help
  • Resources
    • Useful Links
    • Follow-Up Clinics
  • Contact Us
    • Address and Contacts
    • Directions
  • Blog

BSU Blog

Welcome to the BSU blog.

​Please check back regularly for new posts!

Blog archive

Meet the Team: Ramon Tillemans

12/3/2016

0 Comments

 
In this series of blog posts we will introduce you to the researchers and health professionals of the Behavioural Sciences Unit – including information about their education and training, career direction, and words of wisdom about working in psycho-oncology.
Picture
Describe your education and training.
After finishing my Bachelor of Pharmacy in 2014 I started a Master of Pharmacy at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. As part of this master program I have had to complete six months of pharmaceutical related research, which I am undertaking at the Behavioural Sciences Unit (BSU). After finishing my project in Sydney I will have to study another 1.5 years at the University of Utrecht to complete my education.

What is your current role?
I am currently completing my research internship at the BSU, Sydney Children’s Hospital. In collaboration with the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE) at UTS I’m analysing data from the long-term follow up study of childhood cancer survivors. My research is about “Finding determinants of quality of life in paediatric cancer survivors”. For this research project, data has been gathered from 320 paediatric cancer survivors and 150 parents of paediatric cancer survivors. Using demographic and clinical information I will try to find which characteristics are important in determining the quality of life of (parents of) paediatric cancer survivors.

What are the ‘best’ parts of your current role?
The best part of my internship is that I work at two different locations. At CHERE and the BSU the working environment is very flexible. This means that I can work at any location during the week depending on my needs for SPSS, Stata or specific feedback of my supervisors (Joanna Fardell, Richard de Abreu Lourenco, and Christina Signorelli). Also, living in Australia for six months gives me the chance to see another part of the world, something that really adds something extra to my experience as an intern.

What are the most challenging parts of your current role?
During my internship almost everything I had to do was completely new to me. Organizing, cleaning and analysing a dataset with statistics software Stata/SPSS is something I have never done. Learning these skills took some time and effort in the beginning. Gradually becoming more and more comfortable with the statistics in my project I got more experience in analysing the different variables in my dataset. The good part of all of this is that, in the past six months, I have learned a lot of new skills that are helpful if I would like to work in research after I finish my study. 

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
My main priorities in the next few years are finishing my master and deciding which area of pharmacy I would like to work in. After finishing my study I can end up in public pharmacy, research, medicine development or in a pharmaceutical company. In the past six months I have been experiencing what the field of research is like and it is definitely an option for my future plans.

What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow a similar path in terms of their study/career?
For people who would like to do a study like pharmacy, there should be an intrinsic interest in chemistry, mathematics and the manufacturing of medicines and the effect of medicines on a human body. Other topics that come across in the bachelor and master are social contact between patient and pharmacist. Any advice on determining a study/career path is to explore and experience different jobs/internships in your fields of interest before deciding which direction you would like to go in the next coming years. For me this is the best way to find out if which direction suits me best.






The Behavioural Sciences Unit is Proudly Supported by the Kids with Cancer Foundation.
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    July 2024
    May 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2015 Behavioural Sciences Unit
Photos from technotheory, laura dye