There are increasing rates of ill-health resulting from sedentary living, poor dietary habits and high stress lifestyles. The duties performed by a Clinical Exercise Specialist (CES) are linked closely to treating patients living with a long term condition in which exercise has been shown to provide therapeutic benefit. Specifically, cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary diseases, diabetes, stroke, cancer and musculoskeletal limitations remain important health concerns that have all been shown to benefit from regular, safe exercise.
Therefore, this innovative course is designed to offer you an interdisciplinary approach to exercise in clinical settings as well as vocational qualifications and experiences that will enable you to apply theory to practice. The integration of theory and practice within this course will enable you to critically analyse, adapt and modify existing approaches to develop safe and effective physical activity programmes to optimise the health-related fitness of clients.
On this course you can:
Obtain lab-based and field skills, as well as the ability to communicate with clients in a professional and approachable style.
Gain Register of Exercise Professionals endorsed vocational qualifications in clinical exercise, including exercise referral, cardiac disease, chronic respiratory diseases, stroke, cancer and falls prevention which are essential requirements should you wish to pursue a career as a clinical specialist exercise instructor.
Work with clinicians providing exercise in the management of a range of long term conditions
The programme provides an opportunity to work toward ACSM Clinical Exercise Physiologist certification and units aligned to National Occupation Standards for Health and Fitness.
Here are some routes our graduates have pursued:
Health and wellbeing physiologist
Bariatric exercise physiologist
NHS trainee clinical scientist
Health advisor
Clinical Exercise Physiologist
Exercise Referral Coordinator
Exercise Therapist
PhD Research
The modular programme is offered in two formats: Full-time (12 months) and Part-time (24 months). The course includes 120 credits of taught units and a 60 credit Project. It is also possible to study parts of this course for CPD purposes, such as a single unit (30 credits) or top up a related Postgraduate Diploma to a full MSc.
The units contain vocational elements relevant for providing personalised exercise training for a range of medical conditions, including classroom, exercise laboratory and placement learning. The MSc Clinical Exercise Project unit prepares you for your independent project, where you will plan and implement a service evaluation, research project or enterprise & innovation project in the area of clinical exercise.
Teaching takes place on Thursdays, Fridays and some Saturdays, so attendance on selected weekends is necessary for the vocational training included in some of the units. Placements take place in areas such as Southampton, Winchester, Portsmouth and Chichester and are scheduled according to placement provider requirements during the week. Each unit is generally taught over a three week block, however cardiac rehabilitation requires a longer study period.
The core unit you will study is:
MSc Clinical Exercise Project (60 credits)
Optional units to choose include 120 credits from:
Exercise for Cardiac Rehabilitation (30 credits)
Exercise for Chronic Respiratory Diseases (30 credits)
Exercise and Cancer Care (30 credits)
Exercise and Fitness after Stroke (30 credits)
Exercise for Falls Prevention (30 credits)
Paediatric Exercise Science and Medicine (30 credits)
The delivery format for the course is largely based around seminar, practical, workshop and placement learning to integrate theory into practical sessions. Teaching sessions will include vocational training, seminar and exercise laboratory work, led by leading practitioners in the area of clinical exercise. You will be provided with a personal tutor to assist with academic and pastoral issues.
The course has a problem-based learning approach and you will be assessed in a variety of ways with a focus on self-reflection and initiative and problem-based assignments. Here’s how we assess you:
Vocational training (MCQ and case study)
Practical assessment
Applied essays
Case studies
Project report
Poster presentation
We have strong links with National Health Service partners in the Wessex region and professional training providers in exercise, such as the American College of Sports Medicine and the Register of Exercise Professionals. Graduates of this course possess qualifications to provide exercise in cardiac rehabilitation, pulmonary rehabilitation, exercise after cancer, exercise after stroke or exercise for falls prevention provided by leading vocational clinical exercise training providers. Having such a skills-set is important for being employable as an exercise physiologist in diverse multi-disciplinary teams, whilst also presenting the opportunity to work as an exercise entrepreneur as your own exercise service manager.
Roles our graduates have taken on include
Exercise referral coordinator
NHS trainee clinical scientist
Health advisor
Cardiopulmonary exercise physiologist
Health and wellbeing physiologist
Bariatric exercise physiologist
NHS physical activities advisor
Private exercise physiologist
This course will suit you if you are a sport and exercise graduate, a graduate from a related science or a medical student looking to specialise in the field of exercise physiology.
It is designed to focus on professional skills that improve your employability, as you learn with equipment including environmental chambers, breath-by-breath analysers, blood sampling analysers and transcranial magnetic stimulation devices.
You also again gain real-world experience in areas relevant to your interests by working alongside experienced practitioners. Past projects have included working with participants in our cardiac rehabilitation programme.
Our teaching laboratories are accredited by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES), as are most of our course staff. You can register on the BASES Supervised Experience Scheme yourself to achieve personal accreditation.
The course is flexible in that it allows you to exit with a postgraduate certificate at the end of one semester (three 20-credit modules) or a postgraduate diploma at the end of two semesters (six 20-credit modules). You must complete the 60-credit research project to qualify for the MSc.
You spend around 100 hours of the course with an organisation related to the practice of physiology, which will allow you to apply your academic knowledge in a vocational setting. Previous students have worked in organisations including a cardiac rehabilitation programme and fall prevention classes with Albion in the Community. Many students have started their professional careers with the organisation that provided them with work experience.
In taught physiology modules, you'll experience and discuss the responses of the human body to various stimuli, including effect of environmental changes (heat and hypoxic chambers) and of ergogenic aids which can be used to simulate peculiar clinical conditions and help students understand better exercise tolerance. This novel approach to teaching integrative physiology will help you to develop a host of laboratory skills. You will be introduced to the latest in the research field of exercise physiology and will have an opportunity to write your own paper from your research project.
With modules such as Professional Enquiry, you'll also gain vocational skills to give you a competitive edge in the job market; through placement opportunities and chances to network in the world of exercise physiology, you'll graduate with a foot firmly in the industry.
Teaching environment
Laboratory work
Tutorials
Modules
Options
Our facilities include a gym over two floors with fitness equipment including a three-camera system to analyse weight-lifting actions and an isokinetic dynamometer to allow measurement of muscle strength.
Our sport and exercise laboratories which are all accredited by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) include:
Career opportunities for sport and exercise scientists are growing. Sports science is recognised as a vital ingredient in the success and development of most sports and for the individuals that take part it is an everyday aspect of their training.
Many hospitals and primary care trusts are also appointing specialists with exercise backgrounds to work in areas such as cardiac rehabilitation and health promotion.
An MSc in Applied Exercise Physiology from the University of Brighton will help you to stand out in today's competitive job market. It will equip you with both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary for a successful career and is also ideal preparation for continuing your study at MPhil or PhD level.
100% of students who completed their course in 2014 found full-time employment or went on to further study within six months.
More than half of our graduates secured positions as exercise physiologists in the private or public sector. 14% joined the community of sports coaches, 14% became data analysts in the private sector and 14% progressed into MPhil/PhD studies.
This flexible Master’s programme commenced in 2003 and has grown significantly, now accepting approximately 20 full-time and part-time students per year, including international students. The programme is highly flexible, allowing students to study full or part time to suit personal and work commitments. This is achieved through each module being delivered in a three or four day blocks, followed by eight weeks of campus or home based learning.
Our course is designed to provide a thorough understanding of cardiovascular health and the process of rehabilitation. Cardiovascular anatomy and physiology is covered in detail, with application to exercise and the practicalities of working with a patient with CVD.
You will also learn about the complexities of exercise prescription, the role of nutrition in CVD and the psychological influences that can drive behaviour change. There is also specialist input from the British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation.
Modules are delivered over a three-day period, which helps fit in with those who work in clinical practice.
Our course is designed to provide a thorough understanding of cardiovascular health and the process of rehabilitation. Cardiovascular anatomy and physiology is covered in detail, with application to exercise and the practicalities of working with a patient with CVD.
You will also learn about the complexities of exercise prescription, the role of nutrition in CVD and the psychological influences that can drive behaviour change. There is also specialist input from the British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation.
Modules are delivered in exercise physiology laboratories, lecture theatres and seminar rooms. There is also the option to undertake a clinical placement at the local cardiac rehabilitation department that allows you to apply the elements learned on the taught course.
Typical contact time during a module is 25 hours, with additional face-to-face and online tutorials optional. There are approximately 170 hours of self-directed study per module.
Assessment is in the form of essays or equivalent – e.g. poster presentations. There are no exams – coursework accounts for 100% of the assessment.
If you are interested in this courses we have a number of opportunities to visit us and our campuses. To find out more about these options and to book a visit, please go to: https://www1.chester.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/postgraduate-visit-opportunities
If you would like to know more about the University please request a prospectus at: http://prospectus.chester.ac.uk/form.php
This combined research and taught masters programme provides students with a research orientated training in the practical, theoretical and applied elements of Exercise and Sport Sciences.
Optional modules make up the taught component of the course, and offer teaching, learning and experience in core disciplines of exercise and health as well as in sport. Research experience is offered in academic or industrial settings within exercise, health or sports sciences.
The MRes in Exercise and Sport Sciences is a one-year full-time masters course programme that provides students with a research-orientated training in a lively, highly interactive teaching and research environment.
This programme takes students who have a research focus, from a variety of backgrounds at entry and gives them new skills to enable them to move into further research and/or employment in a number of disciplines.
It is offered by the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, in collaboration with the School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, and Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy in the University of Birmingham Medical School.
The purpose of the MRes Exercise and Sport Sciences is to provide a strong foundation for research in exercise and sport sciences in health and disease
Course Information
The taught elements of the course will be delivered in the form of optional modules in core disciplines within exercise and sports sciences, allowing students to shape the course to their particular interest. Optional modules include: Neuromuscular performance through the human lifetime; Integrated body systems; Cardiovascular and respiratory physiology; Nutrition and metabolism in health and obesity; Psychology of physical activity promotion.
Extended research experience is offered in the shape of a six-month research project in the students chosen discipline.
Specific areas of active research include:
The courses have a taught component, and an extended period of research to produce a dissertation.
The career opportunities available to sport and exercise scientists are expanding all the time. The 2012 London Olympics and increased National Lottery funding for sport has increased the number of jobs in elite level sport and public health. Many hospitals are starting to appoint specialists with exercise backgrounds to work in areas such as cardiac rehabilitation and health promotion. Clubs in a variety of different sports employ sports scientists as performance analysts, biomechanists and coaches. Other career routes include roles in the fitness and leisure industry, governing bodies, teaching, exercise prescription and testing, and sport promotion.
You will also have the support of a dedicated careers and employability team, to offer individual advice and guidance services and deliver an employability programme tailored to your needs.
Find out more on the Careers Network intranet pages
This course will suit you if you are a sport and exercise graduate, a graduate from a related science or a medical student looking to specialise in the field of sport physiology.
It is designed to focus on professional skills that improve your employability, as you learn with state-of-the-art equipment including environmental chambers, breath-by-breath analysers, blood sampling analysers and transcranial magnetic stimulation devices.
You also gain real-world experience in areas relevant to your interests by working alongside experienced practitioners. Past projects have included the design of individualised training programmes leading up to the Brighton Marathon and the physiological testing of elite athletes.
Our teaching laboratories are accredited by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES), as are most of our course staff. You can register on the BASES Supervised Experience Scheme yourself to achieve personal accreditation.
The course is flexible in that it allows you to exit with a postgraduate certificate at the end of one semester (three 20-credit modules) or a postgraduate diploma at the end of two semesters (six 20-credit modules). You must complete the 60-credit research project to qualify for the MSc.
You spend around 100 hours of the course with an organisation related to the practice of physiology, which will allow you to apply your academic knowledge in a vocational setting. Previous students have worked with organisations including Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club and the English Institute of Sport.
Many students have started their professional careers with the organisation that provided them with work experience.
In taught physiology modules, you will experience and discuss the responses of the human body to various stimuli, including effect of environmental changes (heat and hypoxic chambers) and of ergogenic aids, which can be used to simulate peculiar clinical conditions and help you understand better exercise tolerance.
This novel approach to teaching integrative physiology will help you to develop a host of laboratory skills. You will also be introduced to the latest in the research field of exercise physiology and will have an opportunity to write your own paper from your research project.
Through professional modules, placement opportunities and chances to network in the world of sports physiology, you will graduate with a competitive edge in the jobs market and a foot firmly in the industry.
Laboratory work
Tutorials
Modules
Options:
Our facilities include an x-m square gym over two floors with state-of-the-art fitness equipment, which features a three-camera system to analyse weight-lifting actions and an isokinetic dynamometer to allow measurement of muscle strength.
Our sport and exercise laboratories are all accredited by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES). They include:
Career opportunities for sport and exercise scientists are growing. Sports science is recognised as a vital ingredient in the success and development of most sports and for the individuals that take part it is an everyday aspect of their training. Many hospitals and primary care trusts are also appointing specialists with exercise backgrounds to work in areas such as cardiac rehabilitation and health promotion.
An MSc in Applied Sport Physiology from the University of Brighton will help you to stand out in today's competitive job market. It will equip you with both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary for a successful career and is also ideal preparation for continuing your study at MPhil or PhD level.
Our graduates have started their careers with organisations including:
This MSc has been developed in conjunction with the British Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation for healthcare professionals and people aspiring to work in the rapidly evolving field of cardiovascular rehabilitation.
You are supported by teaching staff who are active in research that is critical to our understanding of cardiovascular health. The programme is designed for people already working in the field, as well as students without a professional background.
All students receive a grounding in the theory and practice of cardiovascular rehabilitation, and you will apply this knowledge to real life settings. We have strong links with the NHS and the City Healthcare Partnership. Heart patients come to the University twice a week and are involved in our research, which currently includes a UK study to look at the benefits of high intensity training to heart health.
We are currently seeking accreditation to allow students to register for the BACPR exercise instructor training qualification, permitting them to work directly with cardiac patients undertaking structured exercise training programmes in the UK.
The programme is available at postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma and masters level. It is designed to allow flexible study to enable professionals to continue working
The course combines theory and practice to give students the knowledge and skills to work directly with patients undergoing cardiovascular rehabilitation in the community. Students will undertake a clinical placement and will also gain advanced academic skills and knowledge to undertake an extended research project.
The MSc is a 45 week programme of full-time study although different levels of award are available:
Part-time routes are also available for the postgraduate diploma and masters.
Semester 1 Modules
Semester 2 Modules
Semester 3
Dissertation - a supervised, independent research project.
* All modules are subject to availability.
This programme has been designed as a vocational qualification for professionals and graduates wanting to expand the life chances of people living with heart disease. Many people undertaking this programme of study may already work in the health service.
For these students, the course will strengthen your CV and enable further professional development as you become an expert in your field. People who do not already work in the sector may seek employment within the NHS, or for private healthcare providers, including BUPA and Nuffield Health, or as sports rehabilitators.
Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Sports Science at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
Swansea University has a flourishing research environment looking at elite sports performance and exercise health and medicine.
Sport and Exercise Science research at Swansea University takes place in the Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Medicine (A-STEM) research centre. Engaging in research, teaching and third mission activity that spans the artificial boundaries between traditional disciplines. Swansea University is unique as the only research-intensive university in the UK where Sport and Exercise Science is located in Engineering.
Research activity in Sport and Exercise Science is in two main areas:
Elite Sports Performance
Exercise Medicine and Health
Our research spans the areas of, science, technology, health and medicine applied to sport, exercise and health settings with children, older people, clinical groups and elite international sports people. Importantly, sport and exercise science research is applied in nature and populates teaching, third mission activities and work-related learning opportunities. It has impact on elite sport, students, industry, patients and the general public.
MSc by Research in Sports Science typically lasts one year full-time, two to three years part-time. This is an individual research project written up in a thesis of 30,000 words.
Our new home at the innovative Bay Campus provides some of the best university facilities in the UK, in an outstanding location.
The A-STEM Research Centre has developed its own laboratories that rank alongside the most prestigious and well known universities in the UK.
Find out more about the facilities used by Sports Science students and Researchers at Swansea University.
Swansea University also has a proud reputation for sporting excellence and outstanding sporting facilities. See a 365 degree panoramic of the Sports Village: including the Wales National Pool, Gym, Indoor Courts, Running Track, Astroturf and Indoor Track.
In addition to teaching and research, academic staff are actively engaged with applied practice and consultancy in sport and exercise settings. Our well-established links include organisations such as:
Diabetes UK
Haemaflow
Swansea NHS Trust
Carmarthenshire NHS Trust
UK Sport
Sport Wales
Welsh Rugby Union
International Rugby Board (IRB)
We also work with elite sports teams including:
Scarlets Rugby
Ospreys Rugby
Swansea City AFC
West Ham United AFC
British Bobsleigh
British Bobskeleton
British Cycling
Wales 7s Rugby
Our staff also regularly consult in exercise settings with populations with chronic disease, including diabetes, cardiac rehabilitation and renal care.
Sport and exercise science research occurs within the world-leading Applied Sports Technology Exercise Medicine (A-STEM) Research Centre.
Significant research in diabetes and health as well as sedentary behaviour, physical activity, fitness, fundamental movement skills in childhood obesity is undertaken by a number of clinical exercise science staff.
Our elite sport performance group is leading a project supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government to position Wales at the forefront of Science, Technology and Medicine in elite sport and to promote its wider application in health and education. This project represents a unique collaboration of leading Welsh academics, businesses and sport, with the overall objective of enhancing their respective performances.
Fundamental links integrating engineering and sport and exercise science research are being developed by the Sports Visualisation Group who analyse video material to rapidly produce data for immediate analysis of sports performance. Recently the Engineering Behaviour Analytics in Sport and Exercise (E-BASE) research group was set up to investigate the use of advanced sensor and processing technology to quantify training and activity in sport and clinical populations respectively.
We have international research links and projects with universities in Southern and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USE, Italy and Austria.
I chose Swansea University to study my MSc Sports Science by Research because Swansea has a great reputation for sports and exercise research and the A-STEM research project is an exciting environment to be part of. Swansea also has great funding opportunities for postgraduate study and it is a really friendly and supportive university.
Zoe Marshall, Sports Science, MSc by Research
Events, Hospitality, International Development, Sports Science and Tourism masters at the University of Brighton
