Statistics with Applications in Medicine - MSc

An MSc is generally accepted as being highly desirable for starting and developing a career in Medical Statistics. The MSc in Statistics with Applications in Medicine is also an excellent preparation for embarking on a PhD project in Statistics or Medical Statistics.

The MSc in Statistics with Applications in Medicine, taught by one of the largest and strongest Statistics groups in the UK, will provide you with a sound Masters-level training in Statistical methodology, with an emphasis on practical problems arising in the context of collecting and analysing Medical data. Several modules are delivered by Medical Statisticians, who can provide data and case studies from their own day to day work at Southampton General Hospital and the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit.

While studying for your degree, you will develop key transferrable skills, such as written and oral communication, the use of and some programming in Statistical software, time management, and basic research skills. 

Programme objectives are:

• to give you knowledge of statistical theory and methods at an advanced level
• to train you for a career as a statistician, particularly in areas related to medicine
• to give you experience of applications of statistical methods
• to enable you to develop oral and written communication skills

Careers:

Past graduates have joined major pharmaceutical companies, research teams at the Medical Research Council, university-based medical research units, contract research organisations, government, the financial sector, or have continued with further study to become successful PhD students.

Introducing your course

The ever-increasing amount and range of patient data presents the pharmaceutical industry and medical research institutions with significant challenges and great opportunities. Medical Statisticians design and analyse clinical trials for new treatments; they help to identify the genes responsible for disease and they developing methodology to enable advances in personalised medicine. 

Their work underpins scientific breakthroughs that will be life-saving for many. In the MSc in Statistics with Applications in Medicine you will examine new developments in challenging medical data problems through the study of clinical trials, statistical genetics and epidemiological methods.

Overview

The full-time MSc is completed over a 12-month period. There are two semesters of taught material, which account for 60 ECTS credits, followed by the MSc project in summer, which accounts for 30 ECTS credits.

The programme structure allows you to select options ranging from the more theoretical aspects of Statistics, including a module on research topics, to those which cover material focussed on practical applications of Statistics in a clinical setting. This is complemented by modules on research skills, a Medical Statistics seminar series providing insight into the role of Medical Statisticians in various different careers (which also gives opportunities for networking with the speakers), and several presentations on transferrable skills by the University Careers and Employability Service Team.

View the programme specification document for this course

Modules

Compulsory modules: Clinical Trials; Epidemiological Methods; Survival Analysis; Statistical Theory; Statistical Computing; Design of Experiments; Generalised Linear Models; Research Skills; Statistics Seminars; Dissertation as three-month project.

Optional modules include: Statistical Genetics; Bayesian Methods; Modelling Hierarchical (Multilevel and Longitudinal) Data; Computer-intensive Statistical Methods; Multivariate Analysis.

Visit the Statistics with Applications in Medicine - MSc page on the University of Southampton website for more details!