Charles Makasi

What course are you doing?

Masters of Public Health

What was your pathway to studying at the University of Melbourne?

I am trained as a medical doctor, completing my studies at the University of Dar-es-salaam in the 2000. I then worked as a General Practitioner in Tumbi Hospital, which is a special trauma hospital, about 37kms west of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania.

In 2002, I began to work as a medical researcher for the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), which is the largest research institute in Tanzania. My first assignment was in Handeni District, north-eastern rural Tanzania. This is traditionally a pastoral area where many traditional Masaai live. My first research project was ‘Study 13-Tanzania’ where a protocol was being implemented. This was a clinical trial sponsored by the World Health Organization/NIMR, which was testing the survival benefit of a suppository as pre-referral treatment for malaria when patients cannot reach injectable treatment rapidly. I was a research clinician in Handeni where we enrolled and followed up more than 2000 patients. When the Handeni Site Coordinator went to complete his PhD in 2004, I was appointed as Site Coordinator. Due to a shortage of medical doctors in the District, I decided to volunteer part of my time to practice medicine at Handeni District Hospital because the study offices were located within the Hospital.

Part of the recruitment process in study 13-Tanzania included community mobilization, and community health education on Malaria and other infectious diseases. This is where my journey to public health started because I started working direct with community. I attended different sessions and most of them were in the form of courses to improve my work, experience and training to work in health research and in the community.

Why did you choose to do your course at the University of Melbourne?

From 2007 to January 2010, I worked as a Country Coordinator of another WHO/TDR multicounty Clinical trial known as TB-HAART. My experience in this trial encouraged me to obtain a research degree in a good school as a tool to perform the best research. I always presented my ambitions of acquiring a research degree to my colleagues and a colleague who did his MPH in Curtin encouraged me to study in Australia and in The University of Melbourne. So, I applied for the AusAID scholarship, choosing the University of Melbourne as my preferred location.

How did the Australian Development Scholarship assist you in your studies?

AusAid provides a scholarship, which covers my school fees and supports my living expenses in Australia. The scholarship also offers a lot of academic and social support.

Can you recall a particularly interesting day/event during your course?

Yes, I remember there was an AusAid function in the Melbourne School of Population Health. I almost forgot that the function was on because I had a lot of assignments and I was preparing for my semester examinations. I recall this day because I was asked to speak at the function when I was not prepared, but I was pleasantly surprised when I managed to do it.

Describe for us your student life

My student life is full of challenges, and the main one is time management. I am not sure whether this is caused by my culture, but it is certainly another new lesson for me. Apart from my normal academic life I also live with my wife and two daughters.

There is a lot of voluntary work for my daughters’ school and also I need to interact with friends. Managing time is a challenge, but I think I am getting better and perhaps at the end of my course I will be better at it.

What do you plan to do upon completion of your course, and how will your course assist you?

I am planning to go back to Handeni and answer the rest of the scientific questions from the previous study, 13-Tanzania. I also plan to design a lot of health research studies to improve the health system in Tanzania and elsewhere.

Another dream I have is to establish a network between Australian and Tanzanian researchers. We have a lot of study sites in infectious and non-communicable diseases and these can be used as nodes of excellence in field work training as well as PhD training centres in both countries.