Lina Östlund-Lagerström comes from Katrineholm, Sweden and she is starting her second year in the two years master program in Sports Physiology and Medicine. She has been studying at Örebro University for three years.

- I have been engaged in many different sports since I was little and I have always liked to exercise. Nowadays I am working extra as a spinning instructor. However, my by far biggest interest is horses. I have my own horse with which I am competing in dressage and cross-country and I am also coaching other riders. I started my studies in biology at Linköping University for a year. Then I moved to Örebro to study sports management and got my bachelor’s degree.

Lina enjoys Örebro

- Örebro is a really nice city, without being too small, where you find what you need right around the corner. Distances are not too long and it is always easy to go by bike everywhere. Örebro is a real “bikers-city”. However, if it is poor weather some day, it is very easy to go by bus all over town. You learn rather easy to make your way around the city and there are all sorts of nice restaurants and coffee-places here, where you can experience a real swedish “fika”.

Why did you apply to the Sports Physiology and Medicine master program (the first year) and why did you decide to continue for a second year? What are you satisfied with? Would you recommend future students to apply for the program?

-  I have always been fascinated by cells. I enjoyed very much my courses in cell biology and microbiology at Linköping. So this master program in sports physiology and medicine is really a nice combination of the subjects I like, sport and cells. The first year of the master was a real challenge because I felt like entering a whole new world of knowledge. I liked that we started off with a broad overview of the sports physiology/medicine research area and that we were introduced to research techniques currently used in the field. Though it was difficult, I really felt I learnt a lot and was well prepared to start my first year research project. Managing through the first year increased my confidence and beginning the second year was a natural step since I now feel very excited to learn even more. I am very happy with the researchers involved in the master program and I feel that my scientific thinking and writing has improved a lot.   

- Of course I would recommend this master program to other students, but they would better be up for two intense years with a lot of new learning, as this program is built on updated research also including molecular aspects of sports physiology. So this program is not a “walk in the park” but if your goal is to learn and get experience, I think you have found the right course.

What are your plans for the future?

- This master program has really helped to develop my interest for research.  I hope I will find the opportunity to continue with PhD studies in this field because I feel this is a meaningful area. It would be nice to open a bottle of champagne celebrating my doctoral dissertation in some years. I can already see it in front of me. Nice picture right?!