Salma Hassan, 2016/27 Fellowship year
I participated in the Wessex Community Public Health Fellowship in 2016/17.
This really was a formative experience and set me on a path towards a greater interest in public health. I went on to do a Master’s in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and it informs all of my clinical practice to date.
Life took me in a different direction, and I decided to do Internal Medicine Training in Bristol with a view to specialising in Dermatology.
Matt Burgess, 2025/26 Fellowship year
I participated in the Wessex Community Public Health Fellowship in 2025/26. My group of 6 fellows was based in Portsmouth and worked with URBOND, a local charity that provides services including fitness classes, youth groups and food banks to deprived populations in the city. We specifically worked to evaluate URBOND’s adult community fitness programme to see what was working well and how we could make sessions more accessible and enjoyable.
As someone with an interest in public health who was considering applying for specialty training, it was great to have some experience of a public health-related project. I gained an understanding of local health challenges, project planning and the key stakeholders to involve in projects. It was also great to have the opportunity to form some recommendations for the fitness programme alongside URBOND and present these to mentors and other groups at the end of the fellowship.
Even for foundation doctors not intending on applying to public health training, the fellowship is still a really good opportunity to understand how wider determinants of health link into what we see in clinical settings, and to get a feel for the role of the voluntary sector in improving the health of our communities. There are also excellent opportunities to improve teamworking, communication and presentation skills which are valuable in any career.
Overall, it was great to be able to contribute towards the health of our community and I feel like the fellowship helped me to integrate public health into my clinical practice, as well as preparing me for an application to specialty training. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone interested.