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Masters degrees in Health Psychology explore the psychological factors and related behavioural processes that contribute to the maintenance and improvement of physical wellbeing.
Related postgraduate specialisms include Public Health and Psychology of Health. Entry requirements typically include an undergraduate degree such as Sport and Exercise Science, Medicine, Nursing or Psychology.
These courses are for high-performing, self-directed individuals who want to learn about complex problems of health and healthcare from a psychological perspective. Applicants will have the desire to conduct innovative research to understand these issues and develop and evaluate potential solutions. The programme is a Stage 1 Health Psychology qualification accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS). It has been designed for students who would like to go on to a PhD or DPsych in Health Psychology.
The MSc Health Psychology is for students with an undergraduate degree accredited by the British Psychological Society. If you do not have Graduate Basis for Registration with the BPS but would like to undertake a Masters degree in this subject, we offer the MSc Psychology and Health as an equivalent programme with identical modules (but no accreditation by the BPS).
Health psychology explores the psychological and behavioural processes that influence the maintenance and promotion of health, the development of illness, and the delivery of healthcare through rigorous research that feeds into evidence-based practice.
Teaching at City promotes the scientist-practitioner model in which research influences how we practice, while allowing our experiences in practice to shape the research questions we address.
We recognise that great research will not make a difference to people’s lives unless the lessons learned feed into interventions for the public, patients and healthcare professionals. You will learn how to make research evidence accessible to help maximise its impact.
Taught by a team of leading research-active academics, who are members of the Centre for Health Services Research (CHSR), the MSc Health Psychology/ Psychology & Health programme is designed to give you foundational knowledge to propel you to an exciting career in the discipline.
Here are some examples of the kinds of questions the course considers:
The MSc in Health Psychology has been accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) since 1999 and confers the Stage 1 requirements towards becoming a Health Psychologist.
The MSc in Psychology and Health, which is not accredited by the BPS, was set up in 1999 for applicants who do not have Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the BPS, but who have an interest in psychological issues related to health.
The course uses a range of teaching methods including classroom teaching, seminars and workshops. You will also be able to learn from our on-site TECS lab. This is a dedicated smart home equipped with tele-health and tele-care applications and an adjacent monitoring system.
The purpose of the TECS lab is to enable researchers to monitor long-term conditions, and use technology to track an individual’s health in real time. For example seat and bed occupancy sensors enable health psychologists to monitor physical movement and intervene when routine behaviours are disrupted.
You will be assessed through a varied combination of formats throughout the programme including coursework, examination, a diary component, online discussion forums and a significant piece of empirical research.
The programme consists of eight compulsory modules and all the teaching takes place in the first two terms. In term one you will be introduced to behavioural medicine, lifestyle, gender and culture, theoretical foundations of health psychology and research design and statistics. In the second term you study understanding and managing long term conditions, developing complex interventions, professional practice and contextual issues in health psychology and advanced research design and statistics. The third term is dedicated to the dissertation.
You may have the opportunity to interact directly with patients or healthcare professionals at the dissertation stage of this Masters degree. You will be conducting your own independent research and this may, for example, involve interviewing patients or professionals about a particular subject, or delivering behaviour change interventions.
To become a qualified researcher and practitioner, you will need to be able to understand and critique published research and to understand practitioner issues, so you can conduct your own research from scratch. At City we will encourage you to conduct research on the front line working on projects that require ethical approval, where you are engaging with real people so you can have a direct impact on their lives.
Core modules
Health psychologists work in academia as researchers and within the NHS and the wider healthcare sector. The nature of the work means you will be trying to influence public health policy in terms of the way that health care is practised. You will also be evaluating how health care professionals do their work while adhering to the best clinical standards.
As a UK student, because the Health Psychology MSc is accredited, it is known as Stage 1 of the standard training in healthcare psychology. By successfully completing this course you will be able to move on to Stage 2 training (a doctoral level qualification in health psychology). This leads to becoming a fully recognised health psychologist whereby you can apply for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Full membership of the Division of Health Psychology means you will also be eligible to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Chartered Health Psychologist. You can only use the protected title ‘Health Psychologist’ by registering with the HCPC, the statutory regulator.
Delve into the exciting field of health psychology on our BPS-accredited course, one of the only master's of this kind to include a compulsory 16-week placement.
Our MSc Health Psychology is designed to give you a solid grounding in all the main areas of health psychology.
Taking a multidisciplinary approach to the subject, we look at how psychology can be used to help us better understand health and health behaviours, looking at everything from preventing ill health to managing long-term conditions and developing effective healthcare provision.
You will gain hands-on experience of methods for conducting research in diverse healthcare settings before going on to apply those skills.
Choose Bath for one of the only BPS-accredited courses to offer a 16-week placement as an integral part of its master's. You'll be based in an academic, public health or clinical setting and will work on a piece of real research, using your knowledge of health psychology theories, models and approaches to tackle a particular issue.
As well as gaining invaluable experience, you'll see first-hand how health psychology can be applied in diverse contexts and ways. For example, you might be using research to inform policy around health promotion or disease prevention; or helping a service to use evidence-based models and approaches to develop more effective health interventions.
The Psychology Department at Bath is highly regarded. You will be working with internationally renowned tutors with expertise across the whole spectrum of health psychology subjects, including public health, addictive behaviours, mindfulness, palliative care and digital interventions.
You will leave this course with:
Studying this course will set you up well for moving into a wide range of health-related posts, whether you choose to go on to work at a university, within government, the private sector or in a charity.
Our graduates have good employment prospects. Recent students of this course have gone on to work in a wide variety of roles, including:
Join our webinar on Tuesday 6 March 2018 at 12:00-13.00 GMT.
If you’re interested in finding out more about what health psychology is, then we invite you to join us for an online webinar.
In this webinar, you will see an online presentation where you can find out more about health psychology, and also the MSc Health Psychology that we offer in the Department. You can also ask questions to teaching staff and our Admissions Team.
This course lasts 1 year. Occasionally we make changes to our programmes in response to, for example, feedback from students, developments in research and the field of studies, and the requirements of accrediting bodies. You will be advised of any significant changes to the advertised programme, in accordance with our Terms and Conditions.
These compulsory units are currently being studied by our students, or are proposed new units.
Choose Bath for one of the only BPS-accredited courses to offer a 16-week placement as an integral part of its master's. You'll be based in an academic, public health or clinical setting and will work on a piece of real research, using your knowledge of health psychology theories, models and approaches to tackle a particular issue.
As well as gaining invaluable experience, you'll see first-hand how health psychology can be applied in diverse contexts and ways. For example, you might be using research to inform policy around health promotion or disease prevention; or helping a service to use evidence-based models and approaches to develop more effective health interventions.
By studying a course with a professional accreditation, you could have the chance to get workplace experience, learn about new developments in the industry and apply for membership with the accrediting body. You may also be able to apply for jobs in the industry without having to do any more exams.
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.
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.
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.
Example module listing
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.
The aims of the programme are:
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
Students will gain knowledge and understanding of the following:
Intellectual / cognitive skills
Students will be able to:
Professional practical skills
Students will have the skills to:
Key / transferable skills
Students will be able to:
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.
Health psychologists apply their knowledge of psychology and health to understand illness and promote health and wellbeing. They aim to enhance psychological and emotional outcomes for individuals who are ill or who have a disability.
They develop healthcare policy and work to improve the healthcare system.There is an urgent need to produce graduates who have experience of an interdisciplinary approach and who can apply both their academic knowledge to understand and contribute to the development of topics in health psychology as well as their practical skills to enhance practices such as stress and pain management in clinical health contexts. Furthermore, skills acquired by postgraduate psychological researchers are needed to promote evidence-based practice in healthcare.
The health psychology programme at Teesside presents a coherent programme of study which, at the same time, reflects the major debates and produces graduates who can creatively and innovatively contribute to the development of their field. The programme encourages you to develop your own interests within health psychology and to explore how health psychologists can work within these specialist areas. Health psychologists work in a variety of settings including the NHS, universities, private practice, health-related organisations, within communities and schools.
Professional accreditation
The course is accredited by the British Psychological Society and provides Stage 1 practitioner training, a pre-requisite for Stage II training in Health Psychology and Chartered Psychologist status.
The course comprises six core modules that aim to develop your knowledge of how psychology can be employed to facilitate and protect health, and develop your ability to effect change and suggest alternatives in healthcare provision.
You will explore current issues in health psychology, and gain transferable and practical skills to facilitate progression in the field of health psychology. Supported by a research methods team with expertise in both quantitative and qualitative methods, you will critically evaluate the nature and practice of research in health psychology, study research ethics and integrity and systematic reviewing, and develop skills in advanced research design and analysis.
The programme aims to develop writing and presentation skills that are transferable to practice, including conference presenting and writing for publication. Throughout the programme, you will be encouraged to think critically and reflect upon your skills development. Emphasis is given to the study of clinical and professional skills and you will be equipped with theoretical knowledge and practical skills to enable effective communication with patients and health professionals. You will explore our range of physiological measures, have an opportunity to practice assessment techniques and will gain knowledge of interventions including mindfulness, guided imagery and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Opportunities are provided for you to gain work experience in healthcare practice as well as to work alongside academic staff to conduct health psychology research and evaluation. The programme has strong links to organisations providing a range of volunteering opportunities as well as external agencies, including the NHS and within the public health sector.
Course structure
Core modules
Modules offered may vary.
How you learn
You learn by knowledge and skills acquisition through directive teaching, group discussions, independent exploration and examination of academic resources. You will work with project data, review professional practice scenarios, and will have an opportunity to present a poster at our annual Teesside University Psychology Conference.
The course is delivered by a team of experts with wide-ranging research, consulting and practice expertise. There are also contributions from practitioners working in the fields of research, consultancy, and NHS practice.
Staff areas of specialism include: breast cancer, complementary and alternative therapies, neurological conditions, doctor-patient communications, psychosocial interventions and sexual health. The team has close links with the Psychology Research Unit within the Social Futures Institute (SoFI) and with AskFuse, The Centre for Translational Research in Public Health.
How you are assessed
A range of assessment methods is used, from traditional essays and examinations to a critical review, poster presentation, and a video of you conducting a stress management intervention. You will develop a research proposal including a mini systematic review and will reflect on your skills and development. Your final research project is written in the style of a research article.
Previous students have conducted their final project research on topics including:
• The male pill
• Quality of life and the utility of a guided imagery intervention for individuals with motor neurone disease
• Subject and neural indicators of health-related anxiety as a consequence of using the internet
• Experiences of being a mother with epilepsy
• The effectiveness of weight loss management groups
• Stress management
• Chronic disease
After Stage 1, you can become a Chartered Psychologist by successfully completing Stage 2 training in Health Psychology. This will confer eligibility to apply for registration with the HCPC and use the protected title of ‘Health Psychologist’.
The course team includes experienced supervisors of the British Psychological Society Qualification in Health Psychology (QHP Stage 2). The MSc programme additionally provides you with the skills to pursue a PhD and the course team have the expertise to supervise a broad range of health psychology topics.
Following the MSc, our students frequently progress to a PhD, undertake the QHP Stage 2 and obtain posts within academia, the NHS, and public health services.
The MSc in Psychology of Health & Wellbeing is designed to prepare psychology graduates for the next stage of their career relating to health and wellbeing – whether in an academic or applied setting.
Keele has a vibrant, well-established and ever-expanding community of researchers in the psychology of health and wellbeing. Students will benefit from their expertise across a wide range of areas including health promotion, health literacy, women’s health, ageing,positive psychology and wellbeing. Staff additionally have expertise in community health psychology, including community-based health promotion for marginalized groups and exploring the benefits of the arts for health and wellbeing. As part of this course students will also have the exciting opportunity to undertake some work experience within a health-related organisation in the local community. Career Destinations
Many of our MSc graduates go on to take up positions in the workplace, register for professional health psychology training or a PhD in psychology.
The MSc in Psychology of Health & Wellbeing is designed to prepare psychology graduates for the next stage of their career relating to health and wellbeing – whether in an academic or applied setting.
The course aims to:
Our MSc Psychology programmes are designed to foster a vibrant and collaborative peer culture amongst our MSc students. Several of our modules are shared by all four of our MSc psychology programmes. We also know it’s vital that you develop the advanced specialised skills you will need to pursue careers in your chosen fields. Throughout your MSc degree you are supported and encouraged to focus your work to help you conduct in-depth explorations of your specialist subjects and personal interests.
You will undertake a double weighted Advanced Study module in The Psychology of Health and Wellbeing (30 credits).
Using a guided independent learning approach, this module aims to deepen students’ knowledge and understanding of key concepts, theories and research evidence on the psychology of health and wellbeing and to develop their critical awareness of current issues and new insights in this area of psychological research. In addition, students are given the opportunity to apply their knowledge and gain valuable experience by undertaking some work within a health-related organisation in the local community.
All MSc Psychology undertake the following core modules designed to help you engage with the pluralistic nature of psychology and understand the broader field within which your specialised interest sits:
In addition to the core modules all students can tailor their research methods training to suit their needs and interests by choosing one of the following option modules:
Research is a key emphasis in our programmes and you will be supported by a specialist tutor in your chosen field to undertake original research as part of the Research Preparation (15 credits) and Dissertation (60 credits) modules.
For example, previous students have completed research on topics such as: motivations and barriers to participating in happiness-enhancing activities, the impact of arts interventions on the wellbeing of older adults and displays of compliance by clients in counseling sessions.
Each module has different prescribed learning activities, including formal lectures and seminars, discussions and consultation with staff. You should expect some lively debates and interesting discussions. Please be aware that you will be expected to contribute to the programme, in the form of advance reading (of which there is a substantial amount), preparing presentations and contributing to discussions in seminars, and bringing your own ideas to bear on the teaching material.
The programme is assessed through a range of formats including:
Full time and part time students all study together for the taught/seminar/class discussion elements of the programmes, but in certain modules part-time students have more extended deadlines to enable them to complete work without placing too much burden on them. Attendance is compulsory at all teaching sessions.
In order to obtain an MSc degree, every student is required to obtain 180 M level credits:
A Postgraduate Certificate is available for students who have completed 60 credits of their programme and a Postgraduate Diploma is available for students who have completed 120 credits of their programme. There are no restrictions on which modules need to be passed.
Apart from additional costs for text books, inter-library loans and potential overdue library fines we do not anticipate any additional costs for this postgraduate programme. Limited support is available for research-related expenses.
There are substantial scholarships available, please see this link: http://www.keele.ac.uk/studentfunding/bursariesscholarships/internationalfunding/postgraduate/
or
http://www.keele.ac.uk/studentfunding/bursariesscholarships/
31st May 2018
Our MSc in Health Psychology is designed for students interested in a career in health psychology and has been accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).
Health psychologists are interested in the psychological processes underlying health, illness and healthcare. They seek to develop interventions that enable people to maintain good health, as well as improve outcomes for people with health conditions and improve the experience of undergoing diagnostic and healthcare processes.
On successful completion of a BPS-accredited MSc in Health Psychology, students who hold BPS Graduate Basis for Chartership can continue to Stage 2 training to become Chartered Psychologistswith the BPS and to become registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as Registered Health Psychologists.
You will learn from staff at the Manchester Centre for Health Psychology , covering topics such as:
You will learn through face-to-face interactive sessions consisting of some lecture material with discussions and group work, as well as audio-visual stimuli.
All course units are supported by the use of Blackboard (a virtual learning environment) through which you can access lecture slides, reading lists and other accompanying material.
Each course unit on Blackboard also has its own discussion board, where you can post questions and interact with staff and other students on the course.
A significant amount of teaching and learning will take place through the dissertation unit (60 credits), where you will be expected to take a lead role in developing a research project with regular support, input, and mentorship from their project supervisor.
We use a wide range of methods to assess your progress on the course, including:
You will also be required to prepare a CV and application for a job or further training, providing you with the opportunity to gain feedback on the way you present yourself to maximise employability or progression to further training at the end of the course.
Full-time students will take four 15-credit taught units in each of Semester 1 and Semester 2. Two of these units will be taught on Mondays, the other two on Thursdays. Part-time students will take two taught units each year of their studying (such that they will be expected to attend classes on one day of the week each year).
In addition, all students will be allocated a supervisor for the dissertation (60 credits), a unit that runs for the full year (students are also expected to work on the dissertation over the summer). The dissertation consists of an independent piece of research.
Note: we are aware that you may have other commitments outside of the MSc (eg employment) and we fit teaching into two days of the week to help you to manage multiple commitments. However, this is an intensive, demanding course, so you need to make sure that you are able to fit in full-time (or part-time) studying hours around external commitments.
Semester 1:
Semester 2:
This course is taught in parallel with the MSc in Clinical and Health Psychology and students on both courses take the same units for the first semester. Students enrolled on the MSc Health Psychology may transfer to MSc Clinical and Health Psychology at the end of Semester 1 should they wish to do so.
You will be able to access a range of facilities throughout the University.
Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service
Health psychologists work in a range of settings including academia, health authorities and the NHS. Find out more about health psychology careers on the BPS website .
Our MSc also provides a strong grounding in health psychology and research skills, producing students who are strong candidates for roles or training in research (eg PhD study). Find out more about research careers in psychology on the BPS website .
This course is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), which has commended various aspects of the course. Its comments include:
Our MSc Clinical and Health Psychology course is designed for students considering a career in clinical or health psychology and can be taken on a full-time or part-time basis.
You will gain a thorough grounding in the current theoretical understanding of the psychology of physical and mental health problems.
You will also learn about the principles and evidence-base of psychological interventions to change behaviour and cognition at the individual, group and population level, as well as the role of psychologists within healthcare settings such as the NHS and how the science of psychology is applied in clinical practice.
In addition, you will receive advanced training in the methodology and analysis techniques used within clinical and health psychology research.
T his MSc is not an accredited Stage 1 Health Psychology programme. It does not replace an accredited Clinical Psychology doctoral training programme, nor will it guarantee entry to one.
Applicants interested in Stage 1 Health Psychology should apply for our BPS-accredited MSc Health Psychology .
Research training
Learn about a broad range of methodology and analytic techniques used within clinical and health psychology research to prepare you for a potential research career.
Flexible learning
You can choose to study full-time or part-time, enabling you to fit learning around your other commitments.
Our course units are taught using a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, problem-based learning exercises, self-paced online training, student presentations and independent supervised study.
You will be allocated a personal academic advisor who will support your academic and professional development.
You will work collaboratively with your supervisor(s) to produce a high quality dissertation using qualitative, quantitative or mixed research methods.
The course is co-led by Dr Peter Taylor and Dr Lynsey Gregg .
Find out more about postgraduate teaching and learning methods at Manchester.
We use a range of assessment methods, including exams, essays, presentations, poster conferences, case studies, practical reports and a dissertation.
You will take a combination of taught course units and a supervised research-based dissertation on a chosen topic relating to clinical or health psychology.
Key areas of the curriculum include:
Read posts from our students on the Biology, Medicine and Health Student Blog .
You will be able to access a range of facilities throughout the University.
Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service .
Our course is specifically designed for students who want to learn about both clinical and health psychology. However, it is also suitable if you wish to progress to a research career specialising in the science of psychology applied to clinical or health topics.
Career paths leading from the course include clinical psychology, research and academia, NHS service development and health policy making.
The Clinical and Health Psychology MSc is not an accredited Stage 1 Health Psychology programme; it does not replace an accredited Clinical Psychology Doctoral Training programme (ClinPsyD) and will not guarantee a place on a ClinPSyD programme.
However a number of graduates from the MSc have gone on to gain places on the ClinPsyD. See the British Psychological Society website for more information on training as a psychologist.
This unique programme accredited by the British Psychological Society aims to equip students to apply the scientific and theoretical principles and ideas of health psychology using a scholarly and critical approach, and to develop the practical skills and knowledge required for employment or research in the field.
The programme is regularly reviewed by an advisory board including world-renowned experts in health psychology. It provides a thorough grounding in theories, concepts and empirical findings central to current health psychology. Students are encouraged to develop their own area of specialisation, and are given formal training in quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of eight core modules (120 credits) and a research dissertation (60 credits). Please see departmental website for more details.
Core modules
Optional modules
Dissertation/report
All students undertake an independent research project which culminates in a dissertation written up as a mock paper submission to the British Journal of Health Psychology.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, class exercises, project work, training workshops, journal clubs and hands-on computer-based teaching on statistical analysis techniques. Assessment is through coursework (including critical reviews and essays), one unseen examination and the research project. Students are also offered a short work placement.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Health Psychology MSc
Many graduates of the programme continue with PhD studies, or find work as researchers or other positions allied to psychology, health, illness and healthcare delivery.
Recent career destinations for this degree
Employability
Given the academic nature of the programme, our students tend to do exceptionally well securing funded PhD studentships or clinical doctorates. As the focus of the MSc is on improving health care and delivery, many students also take up positions within the public or private healthcare sector.
Careers data is taken from the ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’ survey undertaken by HESA looking at the destinations of UK and EU students in the 2013–2015 graduating cohorts six months after graduation.
The Health Psychology MSc is run within the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, which houses 13 research groups, of which two – the Health Behaviour Research Centre (HBRC), and the Psychobiology Group – provide direct support to the MSc.
The HBRC is one of the largest health psychology research groups in the UK, and undertakes research aimed at advancing understanding of behaviours that have a major impact on health, and contributing to the development of interventions to promote healthy lifestyles. The Psychobiology Group is a multidisciplinary group concerned with the pathways through which sociodemographic and psychosocial factors influence physical disease processes.
This environment provides students with unique networking opportunities, being taught by specialists in their field, and completing relevant placements in clinical, academic or policy-related settings. In addition, students are also encouraged to integrate themselves into the research groups and networks closely associated with the programme which can provide invaluable real-world research experience and potential collaborations with national and international leaders in health psychology and related disciplines.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
The following REF score was awarded to the department: Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care
81% rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
If you enjoy understanding the way we think and interact with the world and different areas in it, especially the behaviours and coping mechanisms displayed within health and health care this advanced degree will enable you to play an active role in solving major health challenges. As a society we have already seen the positive health impacts of therapies such as cognitive behaviour therapy and mood control, moving many away from traditional drug therapies to thinking therapies.
As we understand more about the power of the mind we can look at ways to improve our quality of life and impact on others and our life experiences to promote good health outcomes much earlier on and work towards them. This is a highly rewarding field which can have a major impact on people's lives and create more positive outcomes within health services to better manage long term illness, disability, stress and impacts on our coping mechanisms.
The University of Aberdeen MSc in Health Psychology, which is accredited by the British Psychological Society, offers you the opportunity to expand on and apply your knowledge and skills to help solve some of the big health issues facing society today. To be considered it is ideal to have a 2:1 Honours degree in Psychology or equivalent programme overseas which is equivalent to the British Psychological Society accreditation. Topics covered in Health Psychology include:
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page
Find out about international fees
*Please be advised that some programmes have different tuition fees from those listed above and that some programmes also have additional costs.
View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page
Find out more about:
Find out more about living in Aberdeen and living costs
Successfully completing this course allows you to progress onto stage two of the British Psychological Society (BPS) qualification in health psychology or a BPS-accredited doctoral programme in health psychology. Successfully completing stage two confers eligibility to apply to the Health and Care Professions Council for registration as a health psychologist.
We designed the course to give you the knowledge, skills, values and academic approach to improve your work and study in health psychology.
You learn to
You will use your work or voluntary experience from within a health-related setting to aid your learning and training. For example, work-based reflection is a core element of the healthcare contexts module and is designed to contribute to your continuing personal development.
If you do not work in a health related setting once you have started the course then we have a careers workshop and a dedicated careers adviser who can help you find suitable employment or voluntary work. The course leadership team can also advise on what types of work will be suitable for your work-based reflection.
Professional recognition
This course is accredited by the British Psychological Society.
Online and class-based study
Full-time – one year
Part-time – typically one day per month for two years
On campus study
This is a blended learning course that combines online learning with on-campus study days. Full-time students attend a block week on campus at the course start in September, plus 9 days across 9 months (October-June), usually on a Friday in the middle of the month.
Part-time students attend the first three days of the block week at the course start in September, and up to 20 days across 24 months.
Modules
Health psychologists work in a variety of areas where they identify issues that can affect our health and wellbeing. They provide tailored interventions to address individual, group and community needs.
After successfully completing the course, you can progress onto stage two of the British Psychological Society's (BPS) qualification in health psychology or a BPS-accredited doctoral programme in health psychology. Successfully completing stage two confers eligibility to apply to the Health and Care Professions Council for registration as a health psychologist.
The skills and knowledge you develop can also be used within health or in the wider area of psychology including • research • education • industry • health promotion. This qualification can open or progress career opportunities for you inside and outside the traditional health services.
