My Path to Improving Cancer Care Worldwide

Why It Matters

The blend of policy, finance, and epidemiology expertise enables clinicians to address systemic barriers in oncology, accelerating equitable treatment access. This model illustrates a scalable pathway for health professionals to influence global cancer outcomes.

Key Takeaways

• LSHTM MSc equips graduates for clinical leadership
• Radiotherapy access remains limited in low‑income regions
• Alumni leverage public health training to drive global oncology initiatives
• Partnerships between academic centers improve cancer care pathways
• Education bridges policy, finance, and clinical practice

Pulse Analysis

The Master of Science in Health Policy, Planning and Finance at LSHTM blends epidemiology, economics, and health systems analysis, giving graduates a toolkit that extends beyond traditional clinical training. Students learn to translate data into actionable policies, negotiate budgets, and design programs that scale across diverse populations. For physicians like Sagar Grewal, this interdisciplinary foundation proved essential when transitioning from classroom to the oncology wards of Toronto’s Princess Margaret and Odette Sunnybrook Cancer Centres. The degree’s emphasis on evidence‑based decision‑making now informs his daily choices in patient management and research design.

Worldwide, only a fraction of the estimated 7.5 million new cancer cases each year receive curative radiotherapy, with low‑ and middle‑income countries bearing the greatest shortfall. High capital costs, limited skilled staff, and fragmented referral networks keep machines idle or nonexistent in many regions. Grewal’s work illustrates how a public‑health lens can identify financing gaps, streamline procurement, and advocate for policy reforms that prioritize equipment maintenance and workforce training. By aligning clinical protocols with sustainable financing models, health systems can expand treatment capacity without compromising quality.

The LSHTM alumni network amplifies individual expertise into collective impact, linking clinicians, policymakers, and researchers across continents. Collaborative projects between Canadian cancer centres and institutions in Africa or Asia enable technology transfer, joint clinical trials, and shared best‑practice guidelines. Such partnerships accelerate the diffusion of innovative radiotherapy techniques while fostering local capacity building. As more graduates apply their policy and finance training to oncology, the sector can expect a steady stream of evidence‑driven initiatives that close treatment gaps and improve survival outcomes globally.

Original Description

In this video, Sagar Grewal reflects on the career journey since graduating from LSHTM with an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Finance and how the degree helped prepare for medical training and his current role as a resident physician at the University of Toronto, based at the Princess Margaret and Odette Sunnybrook Cancer Centers. Sagar shares how lessons from his MSc continue to inform his work and his goal to improve access to radiotherapy globally, highlighting the lasting impact of an LSHTM education.

Curious about where an LSHTM degree can take you? Explore more alumni stories on the LSHTM YouTube channel, and visit the LSHTM website to learn more about our courses and programmes.

Click here to learn more: https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/study

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