The Importance of Peer Support for the PhD with Milensu Shanyinde

This week’s episode is all about the importance of friends on the PhD journey!

Milensu Shanyinde is a PhD candidate at University College London.  Her research examines the complication of managing HIV in relation to Hepatitis C in persons seen for routine clinical care in Italy. She also works part time as a clinical trial statistician at Oxford University and was one of the team working on a nationwide study to find COVID-19 treatments.

Milensu talks about how her friends helped her in her decision to undertake a PhD.  She describes how connecting with people from a similar African background provided her with a strong support system to face the challenges of a PhD.

She talks about how, as a black woman, imposter syndrome has a particular cultural currency - particularly with the lack of black role models in academia.  Milensu shares how she has sought out a range of role models as part of her journey.  She also recommends connecting with a PhD buddy so that you have someone who you know is there for you through the ups and downs of the process.

The YouTuber Milensu references is Jennifer Kempson:  https://www.youtube.com/c/MamaFurFur

She also mentions The 5am Club by Robin Sharma: https://www.amazon.co.uk/5-AM-Club-Robin-Sharma/dp/0008312834/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1633275596&sr=8-1

You can connect with MIlensu here: 

Email: milensu.shanyinde@gmail.com

IG @milensu_k

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