Maria Olsen

Personal and professional background

I decided to apply for a spot at the research track program soon after starting my medical degree at the University of Bergen. Since I already had special interests in politics, moral philosophy, and economics, BCEPS seemed like an excellent research group to be a part of. I was lucky to be accepted as a student at the research track program, and to become a part of an inspiring group of excellent researchers. 

Combining my medical degree with research that interests me, has motivated me to pursue my studies.  

Research interests

My first research project explored the cost-effectiveness and the unequal impacts of scaling up the coverage of pneumonia treatment in separate regions of Ethiopia. The research topic interests me because of the challenging ethical trade-off between maximisation of health benefits and prioritisation of the worse-off in allocation of health care resources. Although all health care systems face economic constraints, the challenge of effective and fair allocation of health resources, is especially pressing in low-income settings.

Plans for the future

I have many interests, and I hope to find a way to combine them all. For the moment, I am planning on finishing my medical degree, and to pursue my interests in philosophy through seperate courses. In the future, I hope to combine clinical work with research on medical ethics and population health. I also plan to apply for a PhD and hope to learn even more about medical research, epistemology, and health policy planning.