Maths + A-Level

Maths + A-level = ?A presentation to La Sainte Union school : 

Maths + A-level = ?A presentation to La Sainte Union school Dominic Muston 29 March 2006

Who am I? : 

Who am I? SetNet “ambassador” Medical Statistician, Institute of Cancer Research Maths education: GCSE maths A-level maths & further maths BSc applied maths MSc medical statistics Other work: actuarial consultancy/research, maths teacher in India

Today’s talk : 

Today’s talk Examples of two jobs requiring maths: Breast cancer research Actuary What’s next for you? Subjects for which maths is useful Jobs for which maths is useful A-level and other options

Slide 4: 

Jobs using maths: 1. Breast cancer research

Breast cancer and screening : 

Breast cancer and screening Breast cancer affects many women (and men) 11,209 deaths in 2003 (women, E+W) and 36,509 new diagnoses (women, E only) NHS Breast Screening Programme: 50-64 years “Model of outcomes of screening mammography: information to support informed choices”. Barratt et al, British Medical Journal 2005; 330: 936.

Breast cancer screening : 

Breast cancer screening Advantages Disease knowledge Earlier treatment Better outcome Disadvantages Longer time with disease Overdiagnosis Invasive testing Costly Small survival benefit

Aims of Barratt’s research : 

Aims of Barratt’s research Women invited to screening Should I attend? What am I letting myself in for? Health providers Eg Breast Australia, NHS Is screening cost-effective? Warning Data relates to Australia, not UK Does not constitute medical advice. Consider results in context of whole paper.

Andrey Markov, 1856-1922 : 

Andrey Markov, 1856-1922 Russian mathematician Theory of Stochastic Processes – “Markov chains” Movement over time between “states” Eg healthy -> diseased -> dead Memoryless property Can involve lots of matrices

Slide 9: 

Healthy Recall Screening Breast cancer(screen detected) Breast cancer(not screen detected) Death due tobreast cancer Death due toother causes Barratt’s Markov model from any state

Results from Markov model : 

Results from Markov model 10-year outcomes for 10,000 womenwho undergo screening or not.

Slide 11: 

Jobs using maths: 2. Actuary

Actuarial science and the“time value of money” : 

Actuarial science and the“time value of money” £100 Invested for 10 years @5% interest per year = 100 x 1.05 10 = £163.89 Similarly …£163.89 payable in 10 years’ time has a present value of£100.00 if I can earn interest of 5% a year. This is called discounting.

Present value formula : 

Present value formula Present value = Cashflow times discounting factor times probability of payment How much student loan can I afford? What happens to my mortgage repayments if interest rates change? Should I buy an extended warranty on my new mobile phone?

Slide 14: 

What’s next for you?

What subjects is mathsuseful for? : 

What subjects is mathsuseful for? Maths! Physics Chemistry Biology Engineering Computer science Economics Medicine Business studies Law And lots more …

What jobs is maths useful for?No points for accountancy or teaching : 

What jobs is maths useful for?No points for accountancy or teaching Weather forecaster Genetics counsellor Derivatives trader Insurance underwriter Music composer Bookmaker Project manager Lawyer Artist Market researcher Energy analyst Pharma statistician Pensions actuary Marketing manager Computer programmer Bioinformatician Doctor And lots more …

Learning maths after GCSE : 

Learning maths after GCSE Mathematics and Further Mathematics A-levels Mathematics A-level Mathematics AS-level As “part” of another qualification(eg A-level economics, BTEC engineering) No further maths training It’s not just a choice of A-level maths or nothing

Studying maths … : 

Studying maths … Helps you think logically and rationally. There can be less to remember. You (and your examiners) often know whether your solution is correct. Dorset Careers Service: “It is difficult to think of any course/career where [A-level maths] would not be welcomed in combination with other subjects.“

Thank you! : 

Thank you! Questions? Internet resources Andrey Markov: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Markov Barratt paper: go to http://dx.doi.org/ and type 10.1136/bmj.38398.469479.8F then click on “PDF” Studying maths, Bournemouth & Poole college: http://www.po28.dial.pipex.com/maths/study.htm And did you know? The first female member of the Royal Statistical Society was pioneering nurse, Florence Nightingale, in 1858