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Understanding the global impacts of health and law on society - Q&A with LLM student Karolina Smolicz

Press release issued: 28 April 2020

Examining the relationships between law, governance and health has never been more relevant in today's global climate. Ahead of our Virtual Postgraduate Open Day, law student Karolina Smolicz talked to us about what it is like to study our LLM in Health, Law, and Society and her motivations for specialising her legal knowledge in this area.

What made you decide to apply for the LLM in Health, Law, and Society and what is your favourite part of the course?

Having previously studied at the University of Bristol for my Law LLB, I found the learning environment highly engaging. With consistent support provided by lecturers across all specialities within the Law School I decided to continue my studies by opting for the Health, Law and Society LLM. What particularly drew me to this course was the unique opportunity to gain a substantive understanding as to how health is approached across the UK and jurisdictions globally, whether through law, governance, policy or regulations. Overall, having the opportunity to address health issues retrospectively, as well as looking towards future developments in healthcare, this course effectively offers an equal balance between obtaining an overall understanding of law and policy, alongside the in-depth exploration of problematic areas with potential scope for reform.  

What is your favourite part of living in Bristol?

Aside from the beautiful green city, my favourite part of living in Bristol is exploring the different University societies available and engaging with the student community. Having been involved with the Medical Law society, Modern Jive and Bristol University Jazz Orchestra, joining these societies was an excellent way to meet new people. Whether for undergraduates or postgraduates, from law or non-law backgrounds, there is a diverse community of students across University societies providing the opportunity to try something new or pursue one’s interests further.

What piece of advice would you give students applying for a postgraduate law course at Bristol?

The main piece of advice I would give to prospective applicants for postgraduate law is to explore all the courses available before determining whether to specialise in a specific area. When applying, my main focus was exploring the modules available, the flexibility of options when choosing modules and the methods of examination. By doing so, I was able to achieve a strong idea of how my postgraduate course structure would appear and ascertain which combination of modules would be most appealing. By conducting thorough research into what makes one’s chosen postgraduate law course so unique and what distinguishes it from other courses available, I found that when faced with the application process and writing my personal statement, the process seemed much less daunting. With the knowledge of the curriculum, I felt I could demonstrate both my engagement with the course and excitement to pursue postgraduate study.

Further information

If you have questions about our LLM in Health, Law, and Society course (or any other of our postgraduate law courses), join our next Postgraduate Virtual Open Day on 7 May 2020.

Registration is free and you will have the opportunity to speak with law academics, our Law Employability Adviser plus a selection of students, including Karolina. 

Register your attendance here and find out how you can do more with law.

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