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
Advance your expertise in sport and exercise science and boost your employment prospects in this competitive field.
This course is designed to meet the professional standards set by industry governing organisation, the British Association of Sport & Exercise Sciences. You will enhance your awareness of the professional issues and research applications within health, exercise and sport by engaging with consultancy and research projects and working with elite-level athletes.
You will upgrade your knowledge of physiology, nutrition, biomechanics and psychology while gaining experience through an independent project related to your specific interests. Exciting placement opportunities will help to further refine your knowledge, enhance your skills and boost your CV. Previous students have secured placements with Leeds United, Yorkshire Carnegie, Leeds Rhinos and SportsAid, a UK charity helping the next generation of sports stars achieve their potential.
Sport & Active Lifestyles
At Leeds Beckett we're passionate about sport. There's a huge range of sports and activities for you to get involved in, including more than 40 sports clubs. If you'd like to find out more about what we have to offer - including our Carnegie Sports Scholarship Scheme - take a look at our Sport & Active Lifestyles website.
Research Excellence Framework 2014
Research Excellence Framework 2014: 59% of our research submitted was assessed as world leading or internationally excellent.
Our University is recognised as a leader in the field of sport and exercise science. The quality of our research is evident in the outstanding results achieved in sport-related studies in the Research Assessment Exercise completed in 2014 in which Leeds Beckett came second in the country for sport and exercise science, leisure and tourism.
Much of our outstanding and pioneering research feeds directly into our taught modules providing the opportunity for you to develop the professional skills and expertise in the area of sport and exercise science.
Modules
Core Modules
Option Modules
Core Modules
Option Modules
Select three modules from the following options:
A variety of career options will be available to you upon graduation. You could lead sport science support programmes for professional teams and athletes or get involved in physical activity and intervention programmes in the public sector. You will also be well equipped to progress your expertise and conduct further research in your specialist area by studying for a higher degree.
This Masters course is designed to provide enthusiastic professionals with practitioner-led training in the Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM). We are based in Yorkshire, home to the highest concentration of Sport and Exercise Medicine trainees and consultants in the UK. This is a flexible course compromising of blended learning opportunities suitable for applicants in full-time employment.
Benefits:
Sports and Exercise Medicine is now a recognised training route by the GMC for clinicians. SEM is a key deliverable in new government strategies, demand for training has increased with portfolio GPs and GPwSI specifically interested in training for Sports Medicine, and an increasing expectation amongst professional sports clubs that team doctors should have undergone structured training programmes to Masters Level.
Dr Dane Vishnubala is the Curriculum Director for this course; he is a Sport and Exercise Doctor and General Practitioner (MRCGP) with 13 years Exercise Prescription experience.
"The University of Leeds has one of the best Sports Science departments in the UK and it's got one of the oldest medical schools as well. If you combined the two then you have a very interesting course led by some very high ranking individuals within this sector"
Dr Jon Powers is the Placement Director on this course; his current role in elite sport is working for the Football Association as England Men's Team Performance Medicine Doctor.
"The flexibility of the course allows you to continue doing a full time job whilst working around University studies without having huge amounts of face to face commitment at the University. The placements we have arranged mean that most of the clinical learning will be done in a real life sporting environment rather than in a lecture."
This Masters is available as both a full time course and as a two year part time course.
During your studies you’ll focus on the following modules:
You’ll attend a two-day Immediate Care in Sport course in your induction week and arrange MSK clinics and club placements to give you the opportunity to apply your knowledge through practical experience.
You’ll also have access to our brand new sports facilities and labs, where Olympic athletes train.
The course will equip you with strong team working skills through its interdisciplinary approach to training. You’ll be equipped to work in teams of professionals with complimentary expertise such as strength and conditioning, team coaches, physiotherapists and acute injury settings.
Attendance is compulsory and will be approximately one and a half days a month (you will not be expected to be in every week). Recorded lectures of shared modules with other courses will be available to be viewed online, along with specified eLearning material.
Seminars will be recorded, where appropriate. Some practical sessions, group tutorials and specific teaching sessions will be compulsory.
Placements at appropriate professional clubs and NHS clinics will be organised, with some flexibility to negotiate clinic dates and times, and contacts will be provided for self-organised additional experience opportunities. Predominantly we use a case based approach; the eLearning each week will have a relevant case or scenario identified, and required reading and practical tasks set.
There will be a variety of assessments, appropriate for vocational character of the course and the nature of the subjects studied. These will include
You'll have access to a wide range of supervised experience via placements. They are available at NHS Bradford & Airedale MSK clinics; York City FC, Leeds United FC, Hull City FC; options also include GB Swimming, GB Basketball and more.
This course is designed to train enthusiastic professionals wishing to pursue a career in the relatively new discipline of Sports and Exercise Medicine (SEM). With this Masters, you'll be able to apply what you have learned to any physical activity, exercise or sporting event that requires qualified SEM cover, with immediate effect.
Overall, the course aims to equip you with the skills and expertise to enhance the value of previous training to those organisations.
Employment opportunities exist within NHS musculoskeletal and private sports medicine clinics, as well as sports clubs. Sports and Exercise Medicine is now a recognised training route by the GMC for clinicians.
Gain an in-depth understanding of the physiological and metabolic effects of exercise and training and develop the practical skills required to meet the specific needs of the client, be it optimal performance or improved health.
Supervised by qualified staff, you will have the opportunity to develop your knowledge, expertise and applied experience working with athletes. You will also develop clinical exercise physiology skills working alongside physiologists and doctors on a research project or with athletes through the University's commercial screening services.
With the flexibility to select from a range of modules covering different aspects of sport and exercise physiology, you will be able to specialise in an area matched to your career ambitions. If you are studying the MSc, you will also explore different research methods before conducting a major independent study related to your specific area of interest.
Sport & Active Lifestyles
At Leeds Beckett we're passionate about sport. There's a huge range of sports and activities for you to get involved in, including more than 40 sports clubs. If you'd like to find out more about what we have to offer - including our Carnegie Sports Scholarship Scheme - take a look at our Sport & Active Lifestyles website.
Research Excellence Framework 2014
Research Excellence Framework 2014: 59% of our research submitted was assessed as world leading or internationally excellent.
Our University is recognised as a leader in the field of sport and exercise science. The quality of our research is evident in the outstanding results achieved in sport-related studies in the Research Assessment Exercise completed in 2014 in which Leeds Beckett came second in the country for sport and exercise science, leisure and tourism.
Much of our outstanding sport and exercise science research pervades our taught modules providing the opportunity for those of you working or intending to work in the field of sport and exercise science and its sub-disciplines (physiology, nutrition, biomechanics and psychology) to upgrade your academic and professional skills, expertise and knowledge.
Core modules
Option modules
Select two modules from the following options:
Core modules
Option modules
Select three modules from the following options:
Core modules
Option modules
Select three modules from the following options:
With your advanced knowledge, research experience and a range of transferable vocational and scientific skills, a wide variety of roles will be open to you. Your career choices could include leading fitness testing programmes for teams and elite athletes, involvement in public health initiatives or employment with national governing bodies.
On this established and well respected course, you gain the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to be an effective sport and exercise science practitioner and/or researcher. You develop strong technical, analytical, practical and professional skills, alongside specialist skills in • biomechanics and performance analysis • physiology and nutrition • strength and conditioning.
The course enables you to
We offer a first-class suite of research and teaching laboratories alongside excellent facilities offered by our partnership venue at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield. Our laboratories are all British Association of Sport and Exercise Science (BASES) accredited.
The four overarching themes in the programme are
Many of the teaching staff support elite athletes as part of their work and undertake research in sport and exercise. We benefit from the expertise of our staff in the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science (CSES). The team for sport performance have worked successfully with athletes competing at the Olympics, Paralympics, and Winter Olympics. They have provided, or are currently providing, sport science research and consultancy services at elite level for the • Amateur Boxing Association • Amateur Swimming Association (diving and swimming) • British Cycling • British Speed Skating Association • British Skeleton-Bob Team • English Bowls Association • English Golf Union • Royal Yachting Association • GB table tennis • GB volleyball.
You benefit from CSES' activities as they allow us to keep course content at the cutting edge, based on our knowledge and experience of sport and exercise science delivery. You can also benefit from a work-based learning programme to help develop your experience of working in multidisciplinary teams, supporting athletes and coaches.
During the course you use a mix of traditional and online learning resources to ensure the course is flexible and can fit in with your existing commitments.
The quality of our provision was rated 24/24 by the Higher Education Council.
Sheffield Hallam are a Skills Development Partner of the Chartered Institute for Managing Sport and Physical Activity.
This course is designed to meet some of the needs of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science (BASES), and the United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association accreditation.
The masters award is achieved by successfully completing 180 credits.
Core modules
Optional modules
30 credits from:
As a graduate you benefit from the skills and experience gained from the employability modules and our connections with industry.
Previous graduates have gone into careers as • developers for suppliers of sport equipment • sport science officers • advisors for national governing bodies and the English Institute of Sport • coaches • developing corporate wellness programmes in the health and fitness industry • advisors to local authorities and local health trusts • strength and conditioning coaches • sport and exercise nutritionists • researchers • technicians • university lecturers.
The course's strong focus on research skills provides an ideal platform for further study at PhD level. It is also an important first step into employment and can open many other doors into further training.
Sport scientists
Sport scientists support athletes or sports clubs, they generally provide advice and support, designed to monitor and improve sport performance, alongside a team of specialists including coaches, psychologist, performance managers and medical staff. Areas of expertise include • strength and conditioning • physiology • nutrition and analysis of movement and tactical performance.
Exercise scientists
Exercise scientists are more concerned with improving a person's health and helping them recover from illness through a structured programme of physical activity and other health-based interventions. They are also involved with preventative treatments and work closely with GPs and primary care trusts or private healthcare organisations. Exercise scientists might be employed by local authorities to run community based health and exercise initiatives.
It may be possible to move into a particular clinical area, such as cardiology, or work as a health promotion specialist for a local authority or healthcare trust. Our close links with the National Centre for Sport and Exercise medicine, part of which is based in Sheffield, will provide additional opportunities to those wishing to pursue careers in this area.
Other careers
Other careers also include • the pharmaceutical industry • the armed and uniformed services • journalism • teaching. If you are thinking about an academic career, many universities with sport-related courses require staff to have a higher degree.
If you hold the British Psychological Society (BPS) Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) this course will support you along the path to becoming a registered sport and exercise psychologist. You can choose to study to obtain GBC after completing the MSc if you decide to follow the full pathway to becoming a registered sport and exercise psychologist.
Successfully completing the course provides you with Stage 1 of the BPS Qualification in Sport and Exercise Psychology (QSEP), and prepares you for stage 2, which is required to become a registered psychologist within the division of Sport and Exercise Science.
You gain core skills in the academic and intellectual understanding and researching of sport and exercise psychology. You also begin to consider applied practice in sport and exercise settings, enabling you to be supervised and taught by registered, practising psychologists.
The course provides you with opportunities to study psychology in both a sport and exercise setting. In this setting, you consider the role of psychological interventions for sport performers, coaches and teams as well as lifestyle behaviour change, such as exercise and physical activity adoption.
You develop your work-related and applied skills throughout the course whilst keeping a major focus on developing your core psychological skills, especially in the sport and exercise psychology subject area.
To gain the masters, you complete a major research project. It may be possible to study your project overseas if it satisfies the module aims and learning outcomes.
Professional links and experience
Our teaching team are registered psychologists in the Division of Sport and Exercise and BPS supervisors for the QSEP. They also have substantial practice experience in both elite athlete and physical activity and exercise settings.
Sheffield Hallam are a skills development partner of the Chartered Institute for Managing Sport and Physical Activity.
Research expertise
75 per cent of Sheffield Hallam’s sport research is of international standard according to the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). ‘Research Research’ ranks us as fourth in the country for sports research, based on the results of the 2008 RAE.
Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology
If you do not hold Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership, you can complete our Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology (conversion course) before or after completing the MSc.
Professional recognition
This course is accredited by the British Psychological Society.
The masters award is achieved by successfully completing 180 credits.
Modules
Our graduates are ideally positioned to progress to Stage 2 of the QSEP and work towards becoming a registered sport and exercise psychologist.
Once obtaining registration (HCPC) you can work in a range of settings including sport, physical activity and exercise or rehabilitation. This may be supporting athletes, coaches, parents, patients and families.
Prepare for a global business career with Durham University Business School – Scholarships Available
