Masters Degrees (Health Data Science)

Take advantage of one of our 100 Master’s Scholarships to study Health Data Science at Swansea University, the Times Good University Guide’s Welsh University of the Year 2017. Postgraduate loans are also available to English and Welsh domiciled students. For more information on fees and funding please visit our website.

Healthcare, with an already established strong relationship with Information & Communication Technologies (ICT), is continuously expanding the knowledge forefront as new methods of acquiring data concerning the health of human beings are developed.

Processing this data to extract valuable information about a population (epidemiological applications) or the individual (personalised healthcare applications) is the work of health data scientists. Their work has the potential to improve quality of life on a large scale.

Swansea University is the first institution in the UK to offer this taught master's programme in Health Data Science designed to develop the essential skills and knowledge required of the Health Data Scientist.

Key Features of the Health Data Science Programme

- A one year full-time taught master's programme designed to develop the essential skills and knowledge required of the Health Data Scientist.
- The Health Data Science course is also available for three years part-time study.
- An integrated programme of studies tailored to the essential skill set required for Data Scientists operating within healthcare organisations covering key topics in computation, data modeling, visualisation, machine learning and key methodologies in the analysis of linked health data.
- Hands on experiential learning from the professionals behind the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank, a UK-exemplar project for the large scale mining of healthcare data within a secure environment.
- Strong collaboration links with colleagues from the Centre for Health Services Research of the University of Western Australia, a group of leading experts in the analysis of linked health data.
- The Health Data Science course is based within the award winning Centres for Excellence for Administrative Data and eHealth Research of Swansea University, awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC), enhancing the quality of the course.

Who should study MSc Health Data Science?

The Health Data Science course is suitable for those working in healthcare with roles involving the analysis of health data and also computer scientists with experience in working with data from the healthcare domain, as well as biomedical engineers and other similar professions.

Course Structure

Students must complete 6 modules of 20 credits each and produce a 60 credits dissertation on a Health Data Science project. Each module of the programme requires a short period of attendance that is augmented by preparatory and reflective material supplied via the course website before and after attendance.

Attendance Pattern

Health Data Science students are required to attend the University for 1 week (5 consecutive days) for each module in Part One. Attendance during Part Two is negotiated with the supervisor.

Modules

Modules on the Health Data Science programme typically include:

Scientific Computing and Health Care
Health Data Modelling
Introductory Analysis of Linked Health Data
Machine Learning in Healthcare
Health Data Visualisation
Advanced Analysis of Linked Health Data

Professional Development

The College of Medicine offers the modules on the Health Data Science course as standalone opportunities for prospective students to undertake continued professional development (CPD) in the area of Health Data Science.

You can enroll on the individual modules for the Health Data Science programme as either an Associate Student (who will be required to complete the module(s) assessments) or as a Non-Associate Student (who can attend all teaching sessions but will not be required to complete any assessments).

For information and advice on applying for any of the continuing education opportunities, please contact the College directly at [email protected].

Employability

Postgraduate study has many benefits, including enhanced employability, career progression, intellectual reward and the opportunity to change direction with a conversion course.

From the moment you arrive in Swansea, specialist staff in Careers and Employability will help you plan and prepare for your future. They will help you identify and develop skills that will enable you to make the most of your postgraduate degree and enhance your career options. The services they offer will ensure that you have the best possible chance of success in the job market.

The student experience at Swansea University offers a wide range of opportunities for personal and professional development through involvement in many aspects of student life.

Co-curricular opportunities to develop employability skills include national and international work experience and study abroad programmes and volunteering, together with students' union and athletic union societies, social and leisure activities.

For the MSc Health Data Science course, we are in the process of identifying opportunities for our students to complete volunteering placements with a number of our collaborative partners.

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The current model of healthcare delivery in the UK is subject to unprecedented challenges. An ageing population, the impact of lifestyle factors and increasing costs mean that the existing approaches may become unsustainable.

This, coupled with a drive towards personalised medicine, presents an opportunity for a step change in healthcare delivery.

To do this, we need to make best use of the health data we collect and create a better understanding of the relationship between treatments, outcomes, patients and costs.

This requires individuals who understand:
-The healthcare sector and medicine
-How data is collected and analysed
-How this can be communicated to influence various stakeholders

Our MSc in Health Data Science aims to create a new breed of scientist able to work across all three sectors - health data scientists who will be at the forefront of this step change in healthcare delivery.

The course promotes the need for translational thinking to provide the knowledge, skills and understanding that will be applied across new challenges within healthcare delivery.

Students from a variety of professional backgrounds will benefit from the course, as the structure of the MSc ensures that you will share this knowledge with each other and learn to work in multidisciplinary teams, rather than in specialist silos.

The course has nine taught units covering key skills for health data science. Seven units are core and there is one optional unit depending on training needs and background. For those studying for an MSc, there is also a 60 credit research project.

Aims

This course will allow you to:
-Gain key background knowledge and an understanding of the healthcare system, from the treatment of individuals to the wider population;
-Gain an understanding of the governance structures and frameworks used when working with health data and in the healthcare sector;
-Experience key technical skills and software for working with and manipulating health data;
-Understand the breadth and depth of application methods and the potential uses of health data;
-Comprehend key concepts and distinctions of the disciplines that need to be synthesised for effective health data science;
-Appreciate the role of the health data scientist and how they fit into the wider healthcare landscape;
-Understand the importance of patient-focused delivery and outcomes;
-Develop the in-depth knowledge, understanding and analytical skills needed to work with health data effectively to improve healthcare delivery;
-Develop a systematic and critical understanding of relevant knowledge, theoretical frameworks and analytical skills to demonstrate a critical understanding of the challenges and issues arising from heterogeneous data at volume and scale, and turn them into insight for healthcare delivery, research and innovation;
-Apply practical understanding and skills to problems in healthcare;
-Work in a multi-disciplinary community and communicate specialist knowledge of how to use health data to a diverse community;
evaluate the effectiveness of techniques and methods in relation to health challenges and the issues addressed;
-Extend your knowledge, understanding and ability to contribute to the advancement of healthcare delivery knowledge, research or practice through the systematic, in-depth exploration of a specific area of practice and/or research.

Special features

MSc students will have an opportunity to conduct their research project in other settings such as the NHS and the biopharmaceutical industry, as well as academia.

Teaching and learning

The course covers four main areas that bring together technical, modelling and contextual skills to apply these to real world problems when harnessing the potential of health data.

In each of the units that deliver the key skills, both the importance of the patient and the governance surrounding working in the healthcare environment (especially structures around information governance) is embedded throughout.

Each unit will use case studies provided by existing work and research at the Health eResearch Centre (HeRC). The course will focus on large and complex health datasets (often routinely collected) in environments that safeguard patient confidentiality.

The course will encourage intellectual curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking, providing transferable skills for lifelong learning and research and cultivation of reflective practice.

Through the development of these innovation, critical, evaluative, analytical, technical, problem solving and professional skills, you will be able to conduct impactful work and advance healthcare delivery.

We see learning and teaching as collaborative knowledge construction, which recognises the contribution of all stakeholders (academic staff, service users and carers and students). This is demonstrated in the course through contributions made by these stakeholders through case studies, examples, invited seminars and participation in group work.

A variety of teaching methods will be used within the constraints of the method of delivery. The course will be student centred and will be delivered from the outset using a combination of face-to-face, distance learning and blended learning units.

Coursework and assessment

A range of assessments are used within each course unit and across the course as a whole.

All assessments require you to integrate knowledge and understanding, and to apply this to case studies and the outcomes of each unit.

Assessment will occur in a variety of forms including (but not exclusively) essays, case studies, assessed seminar/tutorial presentations and literature reviews.

Written assignments and presentations have a formative role in providing feedback (particularly in the early stages of course units) as well as contributing to summative assessment.

Online quizzes provide a useful method of regular testing, ensuring that you actively engage with the taught material.
The assessment of tutorials contains an element of self and peer evaluation, so you can learn the skills associated with the effective management of and participation in collaborative activity.

The course also places an emphasis on group work, as this a vital skill for professionals operating in a multidisciplinary area such as health data science, and this is shown in the teaching methods and assignments.

Each unit has a different emphasis on the group work assessment based on the nature of the material being covered, how they are to apply the knowledge and the work they are to complete.

The dissertation for the MSc requires you to undertake an extended written piece of work (10,000 to 15,000 words) that focuses on a specific aspect of health data science.

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Data science is an emerging new area of science. With City’s MSc in Data Science you can develop the skills and knowledge to analyse data in many forms and communicate insights.

Who is it for?

This programme is for students who have a numerate first degree or can demonstrate numerate skills. Students are often at the early stages of their careers in diverse professions including economics, statistics and computer science.

Students will have a curiosity about data, and will want to learn new techniques to boost their career and be part of exciting current industry developments. The MSc in Data Science includes some complex programming tasks because of the applied nature of the course, so many students have a mathematics or statistics background and enjoy working with algorithms.

Objectives

The demand for data scientists in the UK has grown more than ten-fold in the past five years *. The amount of data in the world is growing exponentially. From analysing tyre performance to detecting problem gamblers, wherever data exists, there are opportunities to apply it.

City’s MSc Data Science programme covers the intersection of computer science and statistics, machine learning and practical applications. We explore areas such as visualisation because we believe that data science is about generating insight into data as well as its communication in practice.

The programme focuses on machine learning as the most exciting technology for data and we have learned from our own graduates that this is of high value when it comes to employment within the field. At City, we have excellent expertise in machine learning and the facilities students need to learn the technical aspects of data analysis. We also have a world-leading centre for data visualisation, where students get exposed to the latest developments on presenting and communicating their results – a highly sought after skill.

Placements

There is the opportunity to do an internship as part of the programme. The final project, which is normally three months for a full-time student, can be extended to six months if you want to study within a specific organisation. When it comes to the big data and data science area, we have established relationships with organisations including the BBC, Microsoft and The British Library so you can be confident that with City, your access to professional experience is unparalleled. One recent student undertook an internship with Google and has since secured a job within the company.

Academic facilities

The School's computer science laboratories are equipped with the latest up-to-date hardware and software. From Oracle’s leading commercial object-relational database server to PCs with state-of-the-art NVidia GPUs for computer graphics, you will have access to an array of tools to support your learning.

The MSc Data Science programme offers two (three by mid 2016) dedicated computer servers for the Big Data module, which you can also use for your final project to analyse large data sets. We give you the opportunity to undertake training in MATLAB, the most popular numerical and technical programming environment, while you study.

Scholarships

A scholarship for the full fees of the MSc will be offered to an outstanding applicant. The scholarship is available to UK/EU and overseas students, studying full-time. To be considered for the scholarship, please include with your full application a one-page essay with your answer to the question:

'What are the challenges that Data Science faces and how would you address those challenges?'

The submission deadline for anyone wishing to be considered for the scholarship is: 1 MAY 2017

Teaching and learning

The teaching and learning methods we use mean that students’ specialist knowledge and autonomy increase as they progress through each module. Active researchers guide your progress in the areas of machine learning, data visualization, and high-performance computing, which culminates with an individual project. This is an original piece of research conducted with academic supervision, but largely independently and, where appropriate, in collaboration with industrial partners.

Taught modules are delivered through a series of 20 hours of lectures and 10 hours of tutorials/laboratory sessions. Lectures are normally used to:
-Present and exemplify the concepts underpinning a particular subject.
-Highlight the most significant aspects of the syllabus.
-Indicate additional topics and resources for private study.

Tutorials help you develop the skills to apply the concepts we have covered in the lectures. We normally achieve this through practical problem solving contexts.

Laboratory sessions give you the opportunity to apply concepts and techniques using state-of-the-art software, environments and development tools.

In addition to lectures, laboratory sessions and tutorial support, you also have access to a personal tutor. This is an academic member of staff from whom you can gain learning support throughout your degree. In addition, City’s online learning environment Moodle contains resources for each of the modules from lecture notes and lab materials, to coursework feedback, model answers, and an interactive discussion forum.

We expect you to study independently and complete coursework for each module. This should amount to approximately 120 hours per module if you are studying full time. Each module is assessed through a combination of written examination and coursework, where you will need to answer theoretical and practical questions to demonstrate that you can analyse and apply data science methods and techniques.

The individual project is a substantial task. It is your opportunity to develop a research-related topic under the supervision of an academic member of staff. This is the moment when you can apply what you have learnt to solve a real-world problem using large datasets from industry, academia or government and use your knowledge of collecting and processing real data, designing and implementing big data methods and applying and evaluating data analysis, visualisation and prediction techniques. At the end of the project you submit a substantial MSc project report, which becomes the mode of assessment for this part of the programme.

Course content

Data science is the area of study concerned with the extraction of insight from large collections of data.

The course covers the study, integration and application of advanced methods and techniques from:
-Data analysis and machine learning
-Data visualisation and visual analytics
-High-performance, parallel and distributed computing
-Knowledge representation and reasoning
-Neural computation
-Signal processing
-Data management and information retrieval.

It gives you the opportunity to specialise so, once you graduate, you can apply data science to any sector from health to retail. By engaging with researchers and industrial partners during the programme, you can develop your knowledge and skills within a real-world context in each of the above areas.

Core modules
-Principles of data science (15 credits)
-Machine learning (15 credits)
-Big Data (15 credits)
-Neural computing (15 credits)
-Visual analytics (15 credits)
-Research methods and professional issues (15 credits)

Elective modules
-Advanced programming: concurrency (15 credits)
-Readings in computer science (15 credits)
-Advanced databases (15 credits)
-Information retrieval (15 credits)
-Data visualisation (15 credits)
-Digital signal processing and audio programming (15 credits)
-Cloud computing (15 credits)
-Computer vision (15 credits)
-Software agents (15 credits)

Individual project - (60 credits)

Career prospects

From health to retail, and from the IT industry to government, the Data Science MSc will prepare you for a successful career as a data scientist. You will graduate with specialist skills in data acquisition, information extraction, aggregation and representation, data analysis, knowledge extraction and explanation, which are in high demand.

City's unique internships, our emphasis on machine learning and visual analytics, together with our links with the industry and Tech City, should help you gain employment as a specialist in data analysis and visualization. Graduates starting a new business can benefit from City's London City Incubator and City's links with Tech City, providing support for start-up businesses.

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The MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine provides a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary foundation in global health. This exciting new course embraces the breadth and complexity of global health challenges facing resource limited contexts and equips candidates with the tools and awareness to contribute to innovative solutions. The course is embedded within the Oxford Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health [embedded link] and benefits from the Centre's reputation and expertise in Global Health research and practice.

The course aims to develop students':
• knowledge and understanding of the major global health problems in resource limited settings and their potential solutions;
• knowledge and skills in research techniques applied in the analysis of global health problems, including quantitative and qualitative research methods, health policy and systems research and public health, with opportunities for training in additional specialist fields;
• capacity to critically appraise evidence in global health;
• skills and practical experience in researching specific health problems.

Upon completion of the course, students will be equipped to continue to advance their knowledge, understanding and skills further in research or professional practice in the field of global health. In the future we anticipate our graduates will assume leadership and research positions within major international health organisations and ministries of health.

Course Content:
In the first term, the course provides an introduction to the breadth of topics in, and methods applicable to global health. The second term offers options ranging from international development to vaccinology. The third term provides students with the unique opportunity to apply their skills and gain first hand experience in a global health project in a resource limited setting. Students will then produce a 10,000 word dissertation related to their third term project.

The first term will consist of core topics on research methods, an overview of some major global health challenges, and topics related to the research and practice of global health. Core modules include:
1. Paradigms and Tools for Global Health: This module will cover epidemiology, statistics, health economics, social science for health and health policy and systems analysis. Methodological paradigms in the health and social sciences will be introduced and basic tools provided for each. Upon completion of this module, students will be able to critically review published literature covering a wide range of global health topics and can opt to further their application skills through the third term placement project.
2. Challenges and Change in International Health: This module will cover some of the key health challenges found in resource limited contexts. Topics will include: water and sanitation; land use, population and migration; climate change; nutrition; vector borne diseases; vaccine preventable diseases; neglected tropical diseases; maternal and child health; non-communicable diseases; accidents and injuries. Upon completion of this module, students will have a broad awareness of the kinds of factors affecting international health, their challenges, solutions that have worked and current efforts to affect change.
3. Global Health Research and Practice: This module highlights some of the important considerations in the research or practice of global health. Topics covered include global health governance, global health research ethics, challenges to research in global health, data management and governance, health impact evaluation, design of disease prevention and health promotion programmes, health programme evaluation, and outbreak investigation.

In the first term, there will be a series of problem-based learning sessions to integrate the core topics covered and allow students the opportunity to engage in more depth with real global health scenarios.

During the second term, in addition to some continued core content, students can select two of the following six options for further study:
1. Advanced Topics in Tropical Medicine: This option delves deeper into the range of infectious diseases affecting resource limited settings and provides a historical account of efforts to address them, the failures and successes, as well as current developments and advances.
2. Vaccinology: This exciting option is for those with an interest in the application of more basic science. The module will examine the science of vaccine development and the challenge of its application in real world contexts. The content will cover advances at the cutting edge of vaccine development.
3. Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health: This option addresses in more depth the persisting challenges faced by mothers, infants and young children in resource limited settings. Topics will engage with the current challenges, discuss viable solutions and address the obstacles to implementation.
4. International Development and Health: This option, offered jointly to MPhil students in Development Studies, aims to introduce students to the important linkages between processes of development (political and economic) and health. The module challenges conventional health thinking and compels a broader consideration of the inter-related factors affecting the health of populations.
5. Health, Environment and Development: This innovative option brings together students (and teachers) from Geography, Development and Global Health to engage with a series of cases illustrating the intersection between processes of development, environmental changes and human health.
6. Case Studies in Field Epidemiology: This option aims to familiarise students with the principles and practice of field epidemiology by lectures and discussions of outbreak investigation case studies.

The third term will involve a funded eight week placement with a global health project in a resource limited setting. Projects represent the range of subjects covered in the course. We have established a series of projects hosted by the Oxford Tropical Network in various geographic regions. Students, with advice from their departmental tutors, may choose from the placements available or propose their own placement (providing it meets course guidelines). The placement project will then form the basis of an independent 10,000 word dissertation to be submitted six weeks after return from placement.

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Public Health is about preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the efforts of society. Whether you are already a working professional in this area, or new to the subject, this Master of Public Health (MPH) is the ideal programme for those wishing to address today’s problems in public health.

Our MPH programme provides students with an understanding of how different scientific disciplines can be used to investigate and then develop the best professional practice in epidemiology, public health and the social science of health.

After successful completion of year one, you can choose to follow a general Public Health programme or a programme specialising in the important global health area of Noncommunicable Diseases.

This programme is taught by lecturers based at the University of Edinburgh's Usher Institute, which is part of the Edinburgh Medical School. The Usher Institute is an interdisciplinary research and teaching hub which draws together researchers, clinicians and practitioners from public health, primary care and biomedical and social sciences. The Centre for Population Health Sciences, within the Usher Institute, is also a WHO Collaborating Centre for Population Health Research and Training.

• Read more about our online and on-campus Public Health programmes
• Read more about the Usher Institute

This programme is affiliated with the University's Global Health Academy, an interdisciplinary network which aims to improve global health through collaborative, interdisciplinary research, education and resource development:

• Global Health Academy

Online learning

Our online learning platform is fully interactive, award-winning and enables you to communicate with our highly qualified teaching staff from the comfort of your own home or workplace.

Our online students not only have access to the University of Edinburgh’s excellent resources, but also become part of a supportive online community, bringing together students and tutors from around the world.

Programme structure

You can study to Masters, Diploma, or Certificate level. All students follow the same compulsory Year One Certificate-level courses, which provide a solid foundation in the fundamentals of public health, whilst a suite of elective courses and a specialist strand in noncommunicable diseases offer students the opportunity to explore areas of interest in more depth and to tailor the programme to their own learning needs and career goals.

Year One (Certificate)

All students take the following compulsory courses:

• Epidemiology for Health Professionals (20 credits)
• Health Systems Analysis (20 credits)
• Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods (10 credits)
• Introduction to Health Promotion (10 credits)

Year Two (Diploma)

If you have satisfactorily completed the Certificate level, you can decide whether you want to follow a general Public Health programme or a more specialist programme in Public Health (Noncommunicable Diseases). Regardless of which path you decide to follow, if you would like to do a dissertation, the following courses are compulsory:

• Research Skills for Public and Global Health (10 credits)
• Introduction to Systematic Reviews (10 credits)

Year Two: Postgraduate Diploma Public Health

Students planning to do a dissertation in Year Three should choose elective courses totalling exactly 40 credits. At least 20 credits must be chosen from the elective courses list A (see below). Students not planning to do a dissertation should choose elective courses totalling exactly 60 credits. At least 40 credits must be chosen from the elective courses list A (see below).

Year Two: Postgraduate Diploma Public Health (Noncommunicable Diseases)

The following courses are compulsory for all students following the Public Health (Noncommunicable Diseases) programme:

• Introduction to Global Health (10 credits)
• Globalisation and Non-Communicable Diseases (10 credits)

Students following the Public Health (Noncommunicable Diseases) programme and not planning to do a dissertation should choose exactly 20 credits from either list A or B of elective courses below.

Year Three (Masters)

Students who have completed the Diploma level and are eligible to progress to Year Three can choose either to take a further 60 credits of elective courses (at least 40 of which must be chosen from the elective courses list A) or to do a dissertation project (if agreed by the programme directors), worth 60 credits. The dissertation option will only be available to students who have met the stipulated academic requirements.

Students who complete the Masters degree successfully will graduate with one of the following degree titles, depending on which strand they have selected:

• Master Public Health
• Master Public Health (Noncommunicable Diseases)

Elective courses

List A:

• Project Management for Effective Global Public Health Programmes (10 credits)
• Introduction to Global Health (10 credits)
• Globalisation and Non-Communicable Diseases (10 credits)
• Public Health Epidemiology (10 credits)
• Intermediate Epidemiology (10 credits)
• Introduction to Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology (10 credits)
• The Global Burden of Mental Illness (10 credits)
• Palliative and End of Life Care in an International Context (10 credits)
• The Burden of Diabetes in the Developing World - Epidemiology to Strategic Management (10 credits)
• Family Medicine in Developing and Emerging Economy Health Care and its Role in Non-Communicable Disease Management (10 credits)
• HIV and Non Communicable Diseases (10 credits)
• Cultivating communities of practice: leadership and management within multi-disciplinary teams (20 credits)
• Investing in Global Health and Development (10 credits)
• Research Skills for Public and Global Health (10 credits)
• Introduction to Systematic Reviews (10 credits)
• Data Analysis (10 credits)
• Statistical Modelling (10 credits)
• Societies, Reproduction and Health (10 credits)

List B:

• Maternal Health (10 credits)
• Global Health Challenges: An Introduction (20 credits)
• Child Development and Wellbeing in a Global Context (10 credits)
• Neglected Tropical Diseases (10 credits)
• Emerging Infectious Diseases (10 credits)
• The Communication of Disease Control (10 credits)
• Water and Sanitation (10 credits)
• Principles and Practice in Public Engagement with Science (10 credits)
• Introduction to Clinical Trials (20 credits)
• An introduction to One Health (20 credits)
• Physical Activity for Health (20 credits)
• Introduction to Global eHealth (10 credits)
• Public Health Informatics (10 credits)
• mHealth in High and Low Resource Settings (10 credits)

Career opportunities

The programme will prepare you for a career in research or academia, professional public health service, clinical epidemiology, health technology assessment, public-health protection and a wide range of national and international organisations concerned with preventing disease and improving the health of populations.

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The techniques we use to model and manipulate data guide the political, financial and social decisions that shape our modern society and are the basis of growth of the economy and success of businesses. Technology is growing and evolving at an incredible speed, and both the rate of growth of data we generate and the devices we use to process it can only increase.

Data science is a growing and important field of study with a fast-growing number of jobs and opportunities within the private and public sector. The application of theory and methods to real-world problems and applications is at the core of data science, which aims especially to use and to exploit big data.

If you are interested in solving real-world problems, you like to develop skills to use smart devices efficiently, you want to use and to foster your understanding of mathematics, and you are interested and keen to use statistical techniques and methods to interpret data, MSc Data Science at Essex is for you. You study a balance of solid theory and practical application including:
-Computer science
-Programming
-Statistics
-Data analysis
-Probability

Our Department of Mathematical Sciences has an international reputation in many areas including semi-group theory, optimisation, probability, applied statistics, bioinformatics and mathematical biology.

You also benefit from being taught in our School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, who are ranked Top 10 in the UK in the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities, with more than two-thirds of their research rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (REF 2014).

The collaborative work between our departments has resulted in well-known research in areas including artificial intelligence, data analysis, data analytics, data mining, data science, machine learning and operations research.

Our expert staff

Our Department of Mathematical Sciences is a small but influential department, so our students and staff know each other personally. You never need an appointment to see your tutors and supervisors, just knock on our office doors – we are one of the few places to have an open-door policy, and no issue is too big or small.

The academic staff in our School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering are conducting world-leading research in areas such as evolutionary computation, brain-computer interfacing, intelligent inhabited environments and financial forecasting.

Specialist staff working on data analytics include Dr Paul Scott, who researches data mining, models of memory and attention, and artificial intelligence, and Professor Maria Fasli, who researches data exploration, analysis and modelling of complex, structured and unstructured data, big data, cognitive agents, and web search assistants.

Specialist facilities

-Unique to Essex is our renowned Maths Support Centre, which offers help to students, staff and local businesses on a range of mathematical problems. Throughout term-time, we can chat through mathematical problems either on a one-to-one or small group basis
-We have our own computer labs for the exclusive use of students in the Department of Mathematical Sciences – in addition to your core maths modules, you gain computing knowledge of software including Matlab and Maple
-We have six laboratories that are exclusively for computer science and electronic engineering students
-All computers run either Windows 7 or are dual boot with Linux
-Software includes Java, Prolog, C++, Perl, Mysql, Matlab, DB2, Microsoft Office, Visual Studio, and Project
-You have access to CAD tools and simulators for chip design (Xilinx) and computer networks (OPNET)
-We also have specialist facilities for research into areas including non-invasive brain-computer interfaces, intelligent environments, robotics, optoelectronics, video, RF and MW, printed circuit milling, and semiconductors
-We host regular events and seminars throughout the year
-Collaborate with the Essex Institute of Data Analytics and Data Science (IADS) and the ESRC Business and Local Government (BLoG) Data Research Centre of the University of Essex
-The UK Data Archive and the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Essex contribute to our internationally outstanding data science environment

Your future

With a predicted shortage of data scientists, now is the time to future-proof your career. Data scientists are required in every sector, carrying out statistical analysis or mining data on social media, so our course opens the door to almost any industry, from health, to government, to publishing.

Our graduates are highly sought after by a range of employers and find employment in financial services, scientific computation, decision making support and government, risk assessment, statistics, education and other sectors.

We also offer supervision for PhD, MPhil and MSc by Dissertation. We have an international reputation in many areas such as semi-group theory, optimisation, probability, applied statistics, bioinformatics and mathematical biology, and our staff are strongly committed to research and to the promotion of graduate activities.

We additionally work with our Employability and Careers Centre to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

Example structure

-Dissertation (optional)
-MSc Project and Dissertation (optional)
-Applied Statistics
-Machine Learning and Data Mining
-Modelling Experimental Data
-Text Analytics
-Artificial Neural Networks (optional)
-Bayesian Computational Statistics (optional)
-Big-Data for Computational Finance (optional)
-Combinatorial Optimisation (optional)
-High Performance Computing (optional)
-Natural Language Engineering (optional)
-Nonlinear Programming (optional)
-Professional Practice and Research Methodology (optional)
-Programming in Python (optional)
-Information Retrieval (optional)
-Data Science and Decision Making (optional)
-Research Methods (optional)
-Statistical Methods (optional)
-Stochastic Processes (optional)

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The MSc in Applied Health Research equips you with the skills necessary to design, implement and publish healthcare research.

You gain an in-depth understanding of qualitative and quantitative research methods in the healthcare context. You also learn the principles and practices of evaluating health services and understand the theories and application of health economics. You acquire the skills necessary to critically understand the concepts, theories and empirical application of epidemiology. The programme is set in a multi-disciplinary context and promotes best practice and interdisciplinary collaboration in healthcare research.

The programme is for practising health professionals or managers wanting to develop their analytical and research skills, or recent graduates looking for a career in health and social care research.

Visit the website https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/754/applied-health-research

About the Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS)

CHSS is a funded research centre in Kent's School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR). CHSS is a centre of research excellence which undertakes high quality research into a wide range of health systems and health services issues at local, national and international levels.

CHSS also supports and advises health care staff to develop and undertake research projects. CHSS collaborates with a wide range of partners in Kent, the UK and in other countries to improve the links between research, policy and practice. Led by Stephen Peckham, CHSS’s key strength is the diverse expertise and skills of our researchers. Our staff carry out research in the fields of Primary Care, Public Health, Public Policy, Health Psychology, Palliative Care, Statistics, Public Engagement, Clinical Trials and Health Economics.

Course structure

The MSc in Applied Health Research is designed to be studied over one year full-time or two years part-time. There are three compulsory modules, plus four optional modules. To be awarded a MSc in Applied Health Research students are required to obtain 180 M level credits including the dissertation module which comprises 60 credits.

The programme is divided into 2 stages.

Stage 1 comprises taught modules totalling 120 credits. Postgraduate students are required to obtain 60 credits of core modules, and 60 credits from a choice of optional modules.

Stage 2 students are required to obtain 60 credits through a compulsory dissertation module. You must successfully complete each module in order to be awarded the specified number of credits for that module. One credit corresponds to approximately ten hours of 'learning time' (including all classes and all private study and research). Thus obtaining 180 credits in an academic year requires 1,800 hours of overall learning time.

- Compulsory modules are currently:

Introduction to Applied Health Research; Quantitative Methods in Health Research and Qualitative Methods in Health Research.

With the agreement of the programme director, students will be able to take an elective/wild module as an optional module from across the School (with the appropriate credit volume).

At Stage 2, students are required to complete a 12-15,000 word dissertation on a subject of their choice.

Modules

The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take modules from other programmes so that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas that interest you.

SO900 - Introduction to Applied Health Research (20 credits)
SO954 - Qualitative Methods in Health Research (20 credits)
SO955 - Quantitative Methods in Health Research (20 credits)
SO813 - Sociology of health, illness and medicine (20 credits)
SO950 - Evaluation and Research in Health Services (20 credits)
SO951 - Epidemiology and Public Heath (20 credits)
SO952 - Statistics in Applied Health Research (20 credits)
SO953 - Introduction to Health Economics (20 credits)
SO998 - Dissertation (60 credits)

Assessment

Assessment for Stage 1 is through: oral presentations; written assignments; seminar contribution; online discussion; reflective learning logs; coursework assignments.

Stage 2 will be assessed by the dissertation.

Programme aims

This programme aims to:

- foster the intellectual and professional development of health practitioners and trainee health researchers to develop their knowledge, equip them with analytical and research skills, and extend and deepen their reasoning capabilities to undertake applied research in the NHS and other health care settings

- provide a challenging, high-quality focused learning environment that is competitive with other universities within the region

- offer the opportunity to develop multidisciplinary approaches within an ethical framework that supports best practice within applied health research

- attract outstanding students from within the region, irrespective of race, background, gender and physical disability

- help students develop links from outside of the region and work collaboratively in health research to support their professional practice and in their research careers

- equip students with research skills to strengthen local health and social care economies

- where feasible, give students the opportunity to develop and enhance their knowledge and skills of health and social care settings within Europe and elsewhere

- enable health practitioners and health researchers to develop skills in higher level reflection in relation to work-based practice

- provide experienced health practitioners and health researchers with opportunities to gain interdisciplinary perspectives through collaborative inter/ multidisciplinary exchange

- develop the critical and analytical capabilities of health practitioners and health researchers in relation to project management, data analysis and interpretation of data

- provide supervision for health practitioners and health researchers to undertake research that builds a culture of critical evaluation and enquiry in the practice environment

- develop opportunity for self-directed learning and reflection

- enable health practitioners and health researchers from a diverse range of educational backgrounds to access and participate in learning which seeks to capture reflection on experience gained in every day organisational practice.

Careers

Completion of the MSc Applied Health Research will provide you with the skills and practical experience necessary to develop your career in advanced research in the health and social care research context.

Building on Kent’s success as the region’s leading institution for student employability, we place considerable emphasis on you gaining specialist knowledge in your chosen subject alongside core transferable skills. We ensure that you develop the skills and competences that employers are looking for including: research and analysis; policy development and interpretation; independent thought; writing and presentation, as well as time management and leadership skills. You also become fully involved in the professional research culture of the School. A postgraduate degree in the area of social and public policy is a particularly flexible and valuable qualification that can lead to many exciting opportunities and professions.

Recent graduates have pursued careers in academia, journalism, local and central government, charities and NGOs.

Find out how to apply here - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/

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Our MSc Environmental Health course explores how the environment around us impacts our daily lives and our health through analysing how stressors can affect how our bodies function. We deliver the curriculum of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (a world recognised professional body) teaching about hazard and risk in the topics of: housing and health, environmental protection and health, occupational health and safety, food safety and public health. On completing this course you will have a detailed understanding of risks and how to mitigate impacts using technical, scientific or legal interventions to create a safer and healthier environment.

Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) this course fulfils the academic requirement to gain recognition as an Environmental Health Practitioner. Full professional accreditation opens up a broad range of career prospects in the public, private and voluntary sectors in the UK and abroad.

Members of the core teaching team sit on CIEH committees at both local and national level and in their accreditation visit, the CIEH commended ‘the excellent channels of communication established between Northumbria University and the CIEH’.

We offer the MSc Environmental Health as both a full-time and as a part-time course using a day release model. For more information on the part-time option, please view this web-page: https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/study-at-northumbria/courses/environmental-health-msc-pt-dtpenv6/

Learn From The Best

This course is delivered by our highly experienced teaching team. Three of the core four teaching staff are Environmental Health Practitioners who bring many combined years of experience gained working across local government, public health, health promotion, private consultancy, advocacy and specialist divisions of the Health Protection Agency (Chemical Hazards and Poisons Division and health emergency planning) to equip you with specialist knowledge and skills that are at the forefront of the subject.

Our staff are research-active and hold advanced degrees in complimentary subjects (e.g. environmental engineering and sustainable development, and public health) and memberships to professional organisations (including the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, Emergency Planning Society, etc.) to ensure they are aware of the latest trends, research and developments within this field.

Throughout the duration of your course you will benefit from site visits, presentations from guest lecturers and practical tasks to support you in transferring the theory you have learned into practise.

Teaching And Assessment

This course is focused upon the five core CIEH subject areas: food safety, housing and health, health and safety, environmental protection and public health.

Delivering an excellent postgraduate experience you will be offered the opportunity to question and reflect on how the world around us can impact on public health, whilst developing the skills and knowledge necessary to understand these risks and how to intervene and manage them effectively.

Teaching is delivered through a mix of lectures, seminars and workshops. You will also participate in debates, discussion and critiques of academic papers, field trips, case study scenarios and general discussions of academic and ethical issues.

Assessments for this course are undertaken in the form of essays, reports, audits, presentations and assessed discussions completed as an individual and part of a group. Wherever possible assessments reflect the type of work you could be doing as an Environmental Health Practitioner in the future.

At the end of the course you will have also had the chance to complete professional exams in practical food inspection and the integrated professional assessment. In addition, many of our assessments have been devised to be used as a potential basis to complete parts of your Portfolio of Professional Practice submission to the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH). Using these brings you closer to gaining recognition as an Environmental Health Practitioner.

Module Overview
KE7008 - Public Health (NC, 20 Credits)
KE7009 - Environmental Protection and Health (NC, 20 Credits)
KE7010 - Housing and Health (NC, 20 Credits)
KE7011 - Managing for Health and Safety (NC, 20 Credits)
KE7012 - Food Safety Management (NC, 20 Credits)
KE7013 - Foundations for Professional Practice and Research (NC, 20 Credits)
KE7015 - Research or Work Related Dissertation (NC, 60 Credits)
KE7025 - CIEH Integrated Professional Assessment (NC, 0 Credits)

Learning Environment

When studying the MSc Environmental Health course you will have access to our state-of-the-art learning facilities.

You will take part in practical experiments in our research laboratories, in addition to utilising our industry standard portable monitoring and analytical instrumentation to obtain real-world data for air quality, contaminated land and noise.

Specialist software, such as ADMS for air quality modelling, will allow you to analyse and model your findings. All of these experiences contribute to your understanding of how technology is used in the study and practice of environmental health.

With your course’s supporting documentation being available on our e-Learning Portal, Blackboard, and directed reading listed on the e-Reading Lists, both accessible at all times, this means you can support your own learning and self-development of the subject.

Research-Rich Learning

Our teaching team are research-active, specialising in fields such as health and safety management, compliance management, public health, food and safety standards, risk management, peroxides in aqueous solution, air quality, airborne particulates, environmental management in major incidents, and land contamination.

Research-rich learning is embedded throughout all aspects of this course, drawing on national and international findings to deepen your understanding of environmental health.

Your research experience is further enhanced with a dissertation where you are assigned to one of the core teaching team to undertake substantial research into a specific academic or work-based topic. You are encouraged to publish your findings in an appropriate journal.

In the latest UK-wide research assessment exercise (REF2014), 55% of the Geography Department’s research was ranked as world-leading or internationally excellent, making us a top-30 Geography Research Department based on research power.

Give Your Career An Edge

The MSc Environmental Health degree is highly valued by employers thanks to our accreditation with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH).

Graduates entering the job market benefit from the strength and breadth of the specialised knowledge gained alongside seeing its practical application. This, combined with transferrable skills embedded throughout the course, including written and verbal communication, team working, critical thought, and problem solving, prepare you for future graduate level employment across the public and private sectors and voluntary sector.

We boast fantastic links with local employers meaning that there are placement opportunities usually available to help you complete your CIEH Portfolio of Professional Practice (PPP). Many of our students become technical officers and earn a salary whilst they complete their PPP alongside starting to gain experience in their chosen career.

Your Future

Graduates will leave prepared for employment in roles such as Environmental Health Officers, risk managers, public health specialists/advocates, and health and safety managers.

As a CIEH accredited Environmental Health Practitioner you can find a career in the public, private or voluntary sectors. As a consultant in the private sector you could be working for holiday chains, supermarkets, food manufacturers. In the voluntary sector you could work for charities working to bring sanitation and water to developing countries. The public sector offers roles in housing associations, advisor/regulators or as public health advocates in local government, or in central government agencies, for example Public Health England, the Environment Agency or Food Standards Agency.

You will also graduate equipped with the necessary training to support further research around the broad subject of environmental health and could progress to a PhD should you wish to in the future.

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Technologies based on the intelligent use of data are leading to great changes in our everyday life. Data Science and Engineering refers to the know-how and competence required to effectively manage and analyse the massive amount of data available in a wide range of domains.

We offer a two-year Master of Science in Computer Science centered on this emerging field. The backbone of the program is constituted by three core units on advanced data management, machine learning, and high performance computing. Leveraging on the expertise of our faculty, the rest of the program is organised in four tracks, Business Intelligence, Health & Life Sciences, Pervasive Computing, and Visual Computing, each providing a solid grounding in data science and engineering as well as a firm grasp of the domain of interest.

By blending standard classes with recitations and lab sessions our program ensures that each student masters the theoretical foundations and acquires hands-on experience in each subject. In most units credit is obtained by working on a final project. Additional credit is also gained through short-term internship in the industry or in a research lab. The master thesis is worth 25% of the total credit.

TRACKS

• Business Intelligence. This track builds on first hand knowledge of business management and fundamentals of data warehousing, and focuses on data mining, graph analytics, information visualisation, and issues related to data protection and privacy.
• Health & Life Sciences. Starting from core knowledge of signal and image processing, bioinformatics and computational biology, this track covers methods for biomedical image reconstruction, computational neuroengineering, well-being technologies and data protection and privacy.
• Pervasive Computing. Security and ubiquitous computing set the scene for this track which deals with data semantics, large scale software engineering, graph analytics and data protection and privacy.
• Visual Computing. This track lays the basics of signal & image processing and of computer graphics & augmented reality, and covers human computer interaction, computational vision, data visualisation, and computer games.

PROSPECTIVE CAREER

Senior expert in Data Science and Engineering. You will be at the forefront of the high-tech job market since all big companies are investing on data driven approaches for decision making and planning. The Business Intelligence area is highly regarded by consulting companies and large enterprises, while the Health and Life Sciences track is mainly oriented toward biomedical industry and research institutes. Both the Pervasive and the Visual Computing tracks are close to the interests of software companies. For all tracks a job in a start-up company or a career on your own are always in order.

Senior computer scientist.. By personalizing your plan of study you can keep open all the highly qualified job options in software companies.

Further graduate studies.. In all cases, you will be fully qualified to pursue your graduate studies toward a PhD in Computer Science.

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Our innovative MSc Health Psychology programme applies the theories, methods and techniques of psychology to issues of health and illness.

These are integrated into the psychological processes related to the maintenance of health, the promotion of the psychological wellbeing of the physically ill, and the normal and pathological responses to ill health and stress.

PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

Our MSc Health Psychology programme will equip you with a sound knowledge of theories and practical issues relevant to health psychology.

You will consider the psychological and physiological responses of the individual to ill health, as well as the social and community contexts of health-related behaviours and healthcare systems.

The programme will equip you with a sound knowledge of theories and practical issues relevant to health psychology, in addition to a solid understanding of quantitative and qualitative approaches to research.

The programme, which is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), provides the academic component (Stage One) on the route towards becoming a Chartered Psychologist.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time over two academic years. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation. The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
-Conducting Health Psychology Research
-Chronic Conditions
-Psychological Aspects of Health Care
-Maintaining Health Throughout the Lifespan
-Dissertation
-Qualitative Research Methods
-Quantitative Research Methods
-Preparation for Academic Research in Psychology
-Aspects of Experimental Psychology
-Crafting Research: Linking Theory and Methods
-Ergonomics and Human Factors
-Inquiry and Design
-Psychological Neuroscience: Psychophysics and fMRI
-Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Health Psychology
-Psychology of Sustainable Development

EDUCATIONAL AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME

The aims of the programme are:
-To provide students with advanced knowledge and understanding of theory and practice in Health Psychology in accordance with the 15 competence requirements pertaining to Stage 1 of the British Psychological Society criteria for achieving Chartered Status in Health Psychology
-To train students in the informed and systematic application of the research-practitioner involving problem analysis and formulation, intervention design and evaluation
-To enable students to harness relevant theory and evidence in the integrated formulation of a wide range of commonly encountered health problems and issues
-To produce students equipped with the basic interpersonal, technical and creative skills required for the effective analysis and formulation of health problems, and for the effective design, implementation and evaluation of health interventions
-To prepare students for professional work pursued in a highly responsible, self-regulated, self- efficacious and politically sensitive fashion
-To facilitate self-reflection in support of personal and professional development via constructive feedback

PROGRAMME LEARNING OUTCOMES

The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, skills, qualities and other attributes in the following areas:
Knowledge and understanding
-Health psychology as an applied science
-The relevance of theory to professional practice
-Theory and evidence pertaining to the core areas as detailed by the british psychological society: context and perspectives in health psychology, epidemiology in health psychology, biological mechanisms of health and disease, health-related behaviour, health-related cognitions, individual differences, stress, chronic illness/disability, lifespan, gender and crosscultural perspectives, health care contexts, applications of health psychology, research methods, empirical research project, measurement issues and professional issues
-Basic and advanced research design and methods of investigation (qualitative and quantitative), data analysis principles and techniques
-The contemporary economic and political context of health care work
-Place and value of health psychology within an interdisciplinary framework

Intellectual / cognitive skills
-Critically assess and comment on both published and unpublished sources of research and commentary on health psychology issues
-Critically weigh up the contributions and limitations of health psychology in addressing various problems and issues
-Analyse and theoretically formulate various problem scenarios and issues pertinent to the practice of health psychology using a range of models and theories consistent with the principle of integrative practice
-Design, conduct and evaluate health psychology research and researchbased health psychology interventions
-Analyse and take into consideration the economic and political context of a health problem or issue in the process of designing and implementing tailormade interventions
-Reflect on particular case examples (hypothetical and real) with a view to informing theory development/elaboration in an iterative fashion

Professional practical skills
-Select, design, implement and evaluate a wide range of research techniques pertinent to research and research-based practice in health psychology
-Acquire some preliminary skill in designing research-based health interventions
-Analyse and interpret quantitative and qualitative data in a competent and critical manner
-Present/communicate their work in a professional manner for both academic, non-academic and business audiences, in both written and verbal (one-to-one, group) formats
-Apply problem-solving strategy and techniques
-Prioritise work, multi-task and manage time under pressure

Key / transferable skills
-Communicate ideas, principles, theories and problem formulations by oral, written and visual means
-Elicit high quality information and data from field sources
-Operate within a problem-solving research-based practitioner framework
-Conduct oneself in a professional (accountable, responsible), self-regulated and constructively critical fashion
-Use interpersonal and social skills as appropriate
-Apply analytical skill in a problem solving context
-Use information technology
-Pursue continuous improvement via self-reflection and other forms of professional and personal development activity

GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES

We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.

In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.

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This programme offers a unique opportunity for you to develop a critical understanding of the key issues within health and medicine, health policy and health planning, and of the determinants of health and health inequalities from a social science perspective.

Why this programme

◾You will examine health issues that arise for different population groups and across national boundaries, including social and cultural constructions of health, disability and chronic illness, and global and national health policies.
◾You will make a critical analysis of health and its determinants, and develop a deep understanding of the influence and role of equality/inequality, demographics and location on health.
◾You will study quantitative and qualitative social science research methods, and apply at least one of these in the completion of an original piece of research.
◾The University is a leading centre of applied and policy related research. This programme brings together expertise in health inequalities, health and wellbeing, disability, urban health, health economics and the history of medicine.
◾The degree is fully interdisciplinary in its structure and content, and is designed to allow you to focus your learning around the global health issues that interest you most.
◾You will be taught by experts from the following world-leading centres based at the University: Institute of Health and Wellbeing, MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, Strathclyde Centre for Disability Research, Centre for the History of Medicine, Policy Scotland and Centre for Public Policy for Regions.
◾From the start of the programme you will be closely supported to build the skills, experience and networks that will open doors to you in your future career in Global Health.

Programme structure

You will take three core and three optional courses. Courses will be delivered via lectures and seminars. You will also undertake an independent research project focusing on an issue in Global Health that particularly interests you, and will submit this as a dissertation at the end of the degree.

Core courses
◾Global Health in social context
◾Improving health and social outcomes
◾Methods of social research.

Optional courses
◾Applied qualitative methods
◾Cultural, social & biological determinants of mental health
◾Epidemiology, evidence and statistics for primary care
◾Equality and human rights
◾Generalised linear models
◾Globalisation and public health
◾Health and culture
◾Health economics
◾Health technology assessment in a global context
◾Health technology assessment: Policy and principles
◾Improving access to mental health care in the global context
◾Mental health and disability: International law and policy
◾Mental health promotion across the life-span
◾Psychosocial approaches to public health
◾Qualitative methods
◾Quantitative data analysis
◾Research design
◾Studies in the history of medicine before 1850
◾Studies in the history of medicine 1850-2000
◾The disabling society
◾Understanding health policy.

Career prospects

Throughout your time at Glasgow you will have the opportunity to be closely supported in preparing for your future career in Global Health. Early in the programme, you will be given advice on career pathways and how to achieve them, and how to use social media to enhance your career prospects. There will also be an opportunity to organise an event that brings together leading global health professionals and benefit from their experience of forging a successful career in this field. Our students have gone on to careers as health care professionals and health care policy advisors, and to work in public health care systems, and the voluntary and third sectors. Others have opted to stay in academia and undertake a PhD

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Take advantage of one of our 100 Master’s Scholarships to study Health Informatics at Swansea University, the Times Good University Guide’s Welsh University of the Year 2017. Postgraduate loans are also available to English and Welsh domiciled students. For more information on fees and funding please visit our website.

The Health Informatics programme is designed for healthcare professionals and those who want to increase their knowledge and skills in health informatics. Accredited by the UK Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP), the programme uses state-of-the-art technologies and has a strong focus on practical experience is strongly linked with National Health Service (NHS) organisations, other research institutes and industry within the Life Science sector in Wales, UK.

Key Features of the Health Informatics Programme

- A one year full-time taught masters programme in Health Informatics that has been running successfully since 2001 and has an international reputation.
- The Health Informatics course is also available for three years part-time study with minimum attendance requirements.
- Accredited by the UK Council for Health Informatics Professions Education Quality Assurance Scheme.
- Uses state-of-the-art technologies and has a strong focus on practical experience.
- Strongly linked with National Health Services organisations and industry within the Life Science sector in Wales, UK.
- The Health Informatics course is based within the award winning Centres for Excellence for Administrative Data and eHealth Research of Swansea University, awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC), enhancing the quality of the course.

Who should study MSc Health Informatics?

The Health Informatics course is suitable for current informaticians, those working in the health and healthcare sector, and graduates preparing for a career in health informatics. Applicants from non-graduates with domain experience are welcome.

Course Structure

Health Informatics students must complete 6 modules (5 core and 1 further module from a choice of two) to earn a minimum of 120 credits in total in Part One and produce a dissertation of not more than 20,000 words on a relevant health informatics topic in Part Two to graduate. Each module for this course requires five days of intensive study in Swansea. This will be augmented by preparatory and reflective material supplied via the course website before and after your visit.

Attendance Pattern

Health Informatics students are required to attend the University for 1 week (5 consecutive days) for each module in Part One. Attendance during Part Two is negotiated with the supervisor.

Modules

Modules on the Health Informatics programme typically include:

• Health Informatics in Context
• Communications and Coding
• Using Secondary Health Data
• Systems and Technologies
• Knowledge Management
• Understanding Health Informatics Research

The Health Informatics course introduces two pathways for health informaticians who wish to specialise in one of the following areas:

1. Health Informatics Research

2. Leadership in Project Management

Research Opportunities

In partnership with the National Health Service (NHS) Wales Informatics Service and Health Boards in Wales, the Health Informatics course is able to offer NHS research opportunities within local NHS facilities and the NHS Wales Informatics Research Laboratories based at Swansea University.

Industry Links

In collaboration with the e-Health Industries Innovation Centre UK, this course offers you a unique opportunity to work with the industries to develop your work-based project that will give you the competitive edge and enhance your future employability.

Career Prospects

Health Informatics remains one of the fastest growing areas within healthcare in the UK and US.

In the UK working as a professional health informatician, you could be introducing electronic health records for every person in the country or exploring patient data to identify trends in disease and treatment. If you love working with computers or have an analytical and inquisitive mind, then there is a job for you in health informatics as the NHS Careers in Health Informatics has demonstrated.

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For graduates or holders of a relevant professional qualification, who are working or intend to work in public health, the programme provides an opportunity to gain the academic background for leadership roles. Core and optional modules delivered by leading experts in a mix of formats. There are also a options to study for an MPH (Primary Care) or MPH (Environmental Health) award.

Key benefits

- We make extensive use of visiting lecturers from local NHS bodies and central government agencies such as Public Health England and the Department of Health.

- The programme is taught in a primarily UK context and has more emphasis on prevention than some programmes.

- Located in the heart of London.

- We offer the following specialist MPH pathways:

(i) Primary Care
(ii) Environmental Health

Visit the website: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/taught-courses/public-health-mph-msc-mph-primary-care.aspx

Course detail

- Description -

- Master of Public Health (MPH)

The Master of Public Health was introduced at King's in 2002 to satisfy the need for a modern generic public health masters programme aimed at assisting public health professionals to prepare for management and leadership roles. The MPH is aimed at graduates or holders of a relevant professional qualification, whether medical or non-medical, who are working or intend to work in the broad field of public health.

The curriculum was originally based on that of the Faculty of Public Health but it has a stronger emphasis on prevention and the broader determinants of health.
Since the Programme’s introduction, elective modules have been developed in Toxicology and Health Protection Science to better meet the needs of those working in health protection and environmental health. Other elective modules have been introduced more recently e.g. in the areas of Health Psychology and Global Public Health.

The orientation is towards high income countries and most subjects are taught in a UK context, though we take many students from overseas.

- MPH (Primary Care)

In September 2012, the highly regarded MSc in Primary Health Care merged with the Master of Public Health programme, reflecting the newly combined Department of Primary Care and Public Health Sciences. This has ensured the continued viability of the Primary Health Care programme and enhanced the learning opportunities available to students; ensuring they continue to reflect the demands of practice.

The roles undertaken by GPs, and other members of the Primary Care team have continued to develop and the Health and Social Care Act 2012 introduced further changes to the organization and delivery of healthcare. GPs are playing a central role in these reforms, which include the establishment of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), with implications for education and training. Furthermore, the requirement of appraisals and advent of revalidation will mean that continuing professional development is ongoing. The MPH (Primary Care) programme will provide the opportunity to fully integrate policy, theory and excellence in practice.

- Course purpose -

The MPH aims to provide graduates (or holders of a relevant medical or non-medical professional qualifications), with the academic background required for leadership roles in public health. The MPH (Primary Care) specialty aims to enable health professionals involved in primary health care provision to develop both personally and professionally.

- Course format and assessment -

Specialist lectures; interactive seminars and workshops; project work; computer-based and problem solving exercises; case-study group work. A wide variety of assessment methods, including: conventional unseen essay-type examinations; short answer examinations; case studies; and conventional essays, poster and oral presentations and mini-projects.

Career prospects

Job titles of recent MPH graduates include: Public Health Specialist; Head of Public Health Intelligence; Health Partnership Programme Manager; Health Promotion Campaign Manager; Epidemiologist; Health Data Analyst; Project Coordinator; Public Health Advisor; Health Protection Specialist; Public Health Screening Coordinator; Vascular Prevention Programme Coordinator; Health Improvement Practitioner; Public Health Specialist: Healthy Living; and Lecturer in Public Health . Other MPH students have gone on to PhDs at King's and other universities.

How to apply: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/taught-courses.aspx

About Postgraduate Study at King’s College London:

To study for a postgraduate degree at King’s College London is to study at the city’s most central university and at one of the top 20 universities worldwide (2015/16 QS World Rankings). Graduates will benefit from close connections with the UK’s professional, political, legal, commercial, scientific and cultural life, while the excellent reputation of our MA and MRes programmes ensures our postgraduate alumni are highly sought after by some of the world’s most prestigious employers. We provide graduates with skills that are highly valued in business, government, academia and the professions.

Scholarships & Funding:

All current PGT offer-holders and new PGT applicants are welcome to apply for the scholarships. For more information and to learn how to apply visit: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/pg/funding/sources

Free language tuition with the Modern Language Centre:

If you are studying for any postgraduate taught degree at King’s you can take a module from a choice of over 25 languages without any additional cost. Visit: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/mlc

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This professional degree is for people who are passionate about drawing meaningful knowledge from data to drive business decision-making or research output.
Data is a vital asset to an organisation. It can provide valuable insights into areas such as customer behaviour, market intelligence and operational performance. Data scientists build intelligent systems to manage, interpret, understand and derive key knowledge from this data.
For those with strong mathematical or quantitative backgrounds, this degree will develop your analytical and technical skills to use data science to guide strategic decisions in your area of expertise. It offers the flexibility to tailor your learning to your professional and personal interests.
Leveraging the University’s research strengths, you will explore the latest in data mining, machine learning and data visualisation, while developing the skills to effectively communicate data insights to key stakeholders.
For those with qualifications in other areas such as health and education, a Graduate Certificate in Data Science can provide you with data science capability to complement your existing skills and provide a pathway to the master’s program.
Course structureThe course comprises core units, elective units and a capstone project where you will apply your skills to a real-world data science problem. You can tailor your degree by selecting elective units and a project that complement your particular interests, background and qualifications.
Core units for the Master of Data Science include Principles of Data Science, Computational Statistical Models, Visual Analytics, and Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining.
For the Graduate Certificate in Data Science, core units include Principles of Data Science, Algorithms, Database Management Systems and Introduction to Statistics.
You can select elective units from the following data science subjects, or from other disciplines relevant to your background and qualifications.
Data science electives include:
Advanced Data Models
Cloud Computing
Multimedia Retrieval
Data Analytics and Business Intelligence
Information Security Management
Statistical Learning and Data Mining
Statistical Natural Language Processing
Predictive Analytics.We also offer a pathway for eligible candidates planning to pursue a research degree.

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Diploma MSc is an award-winning provider of online medical education for Postgraduate Diploma and Masters courses. We are now pleased to add the Health Economics Postgraduate Diploma and Health Economics Masters to our growing range of online courses. Our Health Economics courses are offered in conjunction with our partner, the University of South Wales, who have developed a strong reputation for delivering innovative learning.

Our online Health Economics courses are necessary to address the disparity between national and sub-national decision-making, and between different sub-national regions or institutions. They aim to standardise processes and give practitioners the ability to apply the same principles to their individual decision-making. The courses in Health Economics will enable healthcare professionals to be well equipped to elicit the maximum value from finite budgets. They will help students understand why Health Economics has and should become integral to healthcare decision making as well as understanding the underlying principles, methodologies and processes associated with this established and growing international discipline.

This very practical Postgraduate Diploma and MSc will focus on direct application to current topics, case studies and processes relevant to the student’s own remit and country of practice. Unlike other courses, it covers the key disease area pertinent to Health Economics for healthcare decision making.

Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Health Economics

Our online 1 year Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Health Economics will focus on direct application to current topics, case studies and processes relevant to the student’s own remit and country of practice. The course is worth 120 credits and comprises 6 modules of 20 credits each.

On completion of the Applied Health Economics Diploma, you will be able to:
Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the application of Health Economics in healthcare decision making.
Critically evaluate current research in Health Economics for healthcare decision making.
Apply a critical awareness of current issues in Health Economic evaluations.
Implement Health Economic evaluations in clinical practice scenarios.

Course Structure

Our 1 year course consists of 6 modules per year, each of 6 weeks duration.

Module 1 - Health Economic Decision Making and Health Technology Appraisal/Assessment
Module 2 - Principles of Obtaining Patient Access in Healthcare Systems
Module 3 - Health Economic Modelling and Analysis
Module 4 - Understanding the Use of Data in Health Technology Assessment
Module 5 - National and International Health Economic Decision Making
Module 6 - Sub-National (regional, institutional) Health Economic Decision Making

Assessment

The course puts assessment at the heart of learning by using clinical scenarios to facilitate problem-solving, critical analysis and evidence-based care. The scenarios act as both the focus for learning and assessment thus embedding assessment within the learning process.

Each of the 6 modules has the same assessment format. Due to the online nature of the course, students are expected to login and participate in the course regularly throughout the module (ideally on a daily basis).

Students use the skills gained during the lectures to engage with the different activities (see below).

Clinical case scenarios with case based discussion - 40%
Individual learning portfolio - 10%
Group/individual activity - 20%
Case based examination - 30%

Teaching Methods

Each module has the same format. Using an online platform and one tutor per 10-15 students, the self-directed distance learning is guided by tutor stimulated discussion based on clinically rich case scenarios. Group projects are undertaken alongside independent projects. Reflective practice is recorded in a reflective portfolio to help students consider how the learning can be translated into everyday work and practice. Teaching starts with 1 day of introductory lectures. Students may attend these lectures in the UK (Glyntaff campus, University of South Wales). The lecture series are delivered by the faculty and tutors, they are a pre-course organiser, giving students the tools required to undertake the online course such as:

Scientific writing.
Levels of evidence.
Harvard referencing.
Reflective writing.

The lectures series give an opportunity to meet face to face with tutors/other students prior to the online course.

MSc Health Economic

The MSc Health Economics course aims to create professionals who can independently access information and use the information to critically assess, evaluate and disseminate the evidence base related to Health Economics medicine. The online masters in Health Economics will enable more health care professionals to have the required knowledge to treat patients. It will develop problem solving and clinical skills together with preparing students to take a leadership role in Health Economics.

Entry to the 1 year MSc in Health Economics will require the successful completion of the Postgraduate Diploma in Health Economics (120 credits) either from the University of South Wales or from another UK University.

Our Health Economics Masters of Science course has been developed for health professionals who are interested in a leadership role within Health Economics including NHS managers, Doctors, Nurses, Allied Health Professionals, CCG's commissioning teams, CCG Pharmacy teams, Pharmaceutical Industry Professionals and Other suitably qualified and interested individuals.

The MSc Health Economics course is the only one of its title that is accessible online, and is not offered by any other institution. On completion of the course, you will be able to demonstrate:

An applied understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in an appropriate clinical setting.
An in-depth knowledge and understanding of the discipline informed by current scholarship and research.
Advanced level critical skills designed to deal with complex problems.
Advanced knowledge and competence in Health Economics.

Course Structure

Research Methodologies and Critical Appraisal in Health Economics for healthcare decision making
Professional Project: Applied Health Economics for healthcare decision making

Teaching Methods

Module 1: Research Methodologies and Critical Appraisal - MSc teaching methods for this module are similar to the PG Diploma course modules, however it is run over 12 weeks.
Module 2: Professional Project - To produce the professional project, students continue to use the online course; however much of the work is self-directed.

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