Profile
Connor Fitchett
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About Me:
I’m a PhD student in Cambridge currently studying medical stats. I spend my playing chess, baking cakes, and even programming my own game!
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I’ve been playing chess since I was in school, and have slowly been learning from my friends which are much better than me alongside youtube videos like Gothamchess.
I enjoy baking just about everything, I have a very sweet tooth. Whilst my favourite to bake are probably biscoff caramel brownies, my friend and I always took an challenge and tried to baking something very difficult for another friend’s birthday every year. This involved baking things like a donut looking mousse cake, a precise oreo cake, and even a crepe cake!
As for my programming, I’m using a program called gamemaker which allows you to easily start making 2D games, I recommend having a look if this is something that interests you! You’d be surprised how much you’ve learned in school comes up in programming games.
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My pronouns are:
They/them
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My Work:
I am PhD student studying biostatistics. This means that I look at clinical trials and I work with my supervisors and colleagues to figure out what is the best way to test new medicine.
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When you’re thinking about introducing a new medicine to humans, there are a lot of questions to consider. Is it better than what we already have and how can we be sure we can trust our results? And how can we test all of that whilst making sure that the patients in the trial and getting the best possible treatment. I study all of this mainly through simulations. Through coding, I create virtual environments which mimic real life trials. Then, I can edit small things and see which ideas perform best for the patients.
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My Typical Day:
There are two typical work days I have: ones where I work from home and ones where I go into work. Either way, I start with weetabix and oat milk (the sweetness of oat goes really well with the weetabix which absorbs it). Once the work day is over, I like to relax by cooking dinner and calling friends.
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If I’m working from home, I usually work on coding all day, taking breaks for things like cooking lunch. I can normally be a lot more productive at home as long as I can keep focused! If I go into work, then the day is often filled with interesting presentations of my colleagues talking about what they’ve been working on recently, as well as lovely chats with friends. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and I’m happy I get the choice.
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Education:
I started off at Wood Green School, a state comprehensive school. I did my GCSEs and A-levels there, before moving onto studying Maths and Stats at Oxford. I studied 4 years there, completing an integrated masters, which brings me to my Biostatistics PhD at Cambridge now.
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Qualifications:
GCSEs: 9s in everything except English lit
A* for an EPQ on black holes.
A-levels: A*s in French, Physics, Maths, Further Maths
You’ll see that a lot of what I’ve studied is very maths focused, but doing French A-level was one of my highlights at sixth form. The break from unending science to a more open language learning was always appreciated. And I always thought it’d be more useful than another science A-level like chemistry because now I can also speak French!
First in the Bachelors, Distinction in the Masters for Maths and Stats at Oxford.
The integrated Masters program at Oxford is split into two sections which are marked separately: the 3 year bachelors and then the 1 year masters. It culminates in a 7500 word dissertation; mine was on something called causal inference. This is essentially about rigorously separating correlation from causation.
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Work History:
My first job was being a waiter at a local pub. I did that for a year before COVID happened. Before I could go back, I was moving off to uni.
At uni, I did quite a bit of tutoring on the side, both volunteering and paid. Seeing the students improve over time was very satisfying, and it was always fun catering the lesson plans to their needs.
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Current Job:
I am currently a PhD student at Cambridge studying Biostatistics.
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Employer:
MRC Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge.
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
I wanted to do a lot of things, but as long as there was a problem solving element I'd be happy.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Not really, I always kept my head down, although I did get detention once for forgetting food tech homework.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Teaching most probably! I've always enjoyed teaching, and even spent a few months teaching English in Thailand.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Right now I'm really liking Jorge Rivera-Herrans, he just finished a musical about the Odyssey.
What's your favourite food?
My homemade macaroni and cheese.
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
A big house for all my friends and family, a pantry constantly filled with every baking supply, and an endless supply of board games.
Tell us a joke.
What did 3 say to pi after an argument? Stop being so irrational!
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