A Future to Build: Burma by Women

Mi Aye is on her third semester completing her Masters in Health Economics and Health Care Management at Chulalongkorn University (2012 – 2014). At the end of this semester she shared her thoughts about her studies, the progress of her thesis and her experience of university life.

Please tell us about this past semester and update us on your studies? 

My program is a one year program at Chulalongkorn University; the third semester is for Thesis Writing. My Thesis topic is “Determinants of Health Care Utilization among Workers from Private Sector in Yangon, Myanmar”. In my study, I concentrate on one location, the Hlaing Tharyar Township which is one of the largest industrial zones in Myanmar.

In my thesis, I focus on the Social Health Insurance of Myanmar under the administration of Social Security Board, Ministry of Labor and Employment.

During the first two months of this semester, I have spent my time doing data collection in Myanmar. I came back to Thailand after finishing and now I am working on the data analysis part.

I’m continuing to collect more information in the field, so I am extending my studies one semester to finish my Thesis.

What new ideas, concepts and insights did you gain from working on your Thesis project? How will you apply this understanding in your future career or in your daily life?

The Thesis is a very important component in my study. It is a very good experience to learn all the necessary skills to conduct research. It also helped me gain a lot of knowledge as it required to me to read many works of previous studies and imperial studies from around the world which are related with my topic.

My Thesis also gave me practical work experience on conducting research. It is an invaluable experience for my career as I am interested in research and planning to work in my future career. I have gained experience on how to write a research proposal, develop a questionnaire, and collect data as well as how to analyze and discuss data results.

 How is your university life apart from study? Please also mention any challenges you face in different social settings and with university culture. 

University life is a mixture of stress and enjoyment at the same time. As my program is one year and a bit intensive, I have spent most of my time in the lecture room and also commuting from my apartment to the university. Even though, it is stressful because of heavy assignments and tasks, it is a very good opportunity to meet people from different regions and from different cultures.

It is a great experience that I not only have a chance to study but also have the chance to attend the academic seminars and conferences which are organized by Chulalongkorn University. Apart from academic activities, the faculty also arranges some extracurricular workshops for the students to explore Thai culture and traditions.

Personally, I feel lucky as a Myanmar citizen to have the opportunity to study at the very best university in Thailand where most of the culture is similar to our country. So I didn’t have challenges for different social setting except a little challenge on language.