Ruchi Baxi

I started specialty training in 2010 after completing foundation training. I found the Public Health training scheme to be a real privilege. I was able to build knowledge and skills through a variety of diverse and interesting placements and projects.

In the first year I completed the MSc in Global Health Sciences at Oxford – this consolidated my interest in global public health policy and practice. For my dissertation placement, I spent time with the Instituto de Investigación Nutricional in Peru, on a research project about perceptions of childhood overweight and obesity.

Following this, I undertook placements in a range of settings, including the Thames Valley Public Health England Centre, NHS Oxfordshire, The UK Cochrane Centre, as Teaching Fellow at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, the Ethox Centre, Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford University Hospitals, the Department for International Development (DFID), and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

During my placement as a Health Adviser at DFID I worked in the Policy Division, on HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. I also travelled abroad to join the team in DFID Sierra Leone for 6 weeks, early in 2015, as a Health Adviser in the Ebola Crisis team.

For the final part of the training scheme, I was based at NICE, developing a strategic paper regarding UK support to health systems strengthening in low and middle income countries, and opportunities to work in partnership with the National Health Service and other UK health institutions.

Following training I am now based at the Nuffield Department of Population Health in Oxford. I am Deputy Director of Clinical Teaching part-time. The other part of my time I am pursing a DPhil with the Ethox Centre about ethical issues related to infectious disease data and sample sharing.