Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

The Institute for Global Health and Development (formerly Centre for International Health Studies and Institute for International Health and Development) was founded in 1993 as a multi-disciplinary centre for education, research and technical assistance supporting international health development in low and middle income countries. Staff of IGHD and associated faculty have experience of work in nations, spanning Eastern Europe, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and South and East Asia.

The approach of IGHD is characterised by an emphasis on social and organisational development issues within the process of health systems reform and development. Working with a wide range of partner institutions and agencies - international and local - IGHD seeks to promote study of key issues impacting international health policy and practice. IGHD has particular strengths in the fields of healthcare human resource development, health economics and systems, reproductive health women's health, pscho-social interventions, emergency assistance and support to post-conflict societies.

Technical assistance and research work associated with the areas of expertise noted above is extensive, and reflects a strong international orientation. Recent work includes a WHO-commissioned study of methods of determining staff mix, costs and care outcomes in health organisations in differing countries; an assessment for UNICEF of nutrition education needs in North Korea; initiatives in foot-care for those suffering from leprosy in Nepal; and an EU-funded evaluation of the impact across Europe of personal computers as decision-making supports.

With a broad multi-cultural student enrolment, a growing postgraduate research school, excellent links within the Scottish Health Service and with projects and programmes for refugees and asylum seekers in Scotland, international linkage (through such organisations as TropEdEurop and the European Consortium for Primary Care) and close collaboration with a range of non-governmental agencies, IGHD provides a stimulating environment for an increasing number of international visitors and research collaboration.

Edinburgh, combining the attractions of an historic city of learning with those of a vibrant contemporary capital, is an appropriate context for IGHD to fulfill its role as the primary focus for work in the field of international health development in Scotland.

Queen Margaret University and International Healthcare Development

The work of IGHD is supported by the context of QMU as a major provider of healthcare training, professional development and research across its faculties of Health Science and Social Science & Healthcare.

At any one time there are approaching 2,000 students registered at QMU on healthcare programmes at postgraduate and undergraduate level. Postgraduate provision includes multi-disciplinary programmes, such as the MSc Healthcare Management, MSc Primary Care, MSc Health Informatics and MSc Health Promotion, which are accessed by medical doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and a wide range of other workers to support career development and personal competence in specific areas of work.

More specialist provision includes postgraduate programmes in physiotherapy, nursing, occupational therapy and mammography. At undergraduate level, the wide range of courses leading to professional qualification include programmes in nursing (including a number of specialist awards in such areas as palliative and coronary care), speech and language therapy, dietetics, human nutrition, podiatry, radiography, occupational therapy and physiotherapy.

Welcome to the School of Arts & Social Sciences at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
Providing a range of professionally relevant courses, the School with equip students with the skills and knowledge to build a successful career in their chosen area. The School is also actively involved in research and consultancy to external bodies and companies. We also have collaborations with universities across the globe.

The School provides high quality teaching and research in the areas of:
• Media, Communication and Performing Arts
• Psychology and Sociology

Media, Communication and Performing Arts
All of our media and communication-related undergraduate courses, including the only programme in Scotland accredited by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), offer a critical understanding of the media, culture and society, while one sixth of each programme is devoted to practical media production. QMU is the only Scottish Institution to offer CIPR accredited undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and to teach the CIPR Diploma.
QMU has an excellent reputation for providing undergraduate degrees in the performing arts and we have produced many graduates who have gone on to become familiar faces on stage and screen. Our staff are a lively community of enquiring practitioners. Our aim is to educate and train theatre and screen practitioners, and cultural sector workers, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The emphasis is firmly on the creative practice of making performance for live and recorded media, and on the study of the cultural sector. This practice is strongly rooted in theory. The staff team is comprised of working theatre and screen directors, actors, writers, journalists, designers, community arts workers, cultural sector workers, musical directors, stage managers, technicians, voice coaches and choreographers. In addition, the School regularly engages guest staff and resident theatre companies.

Psychology and Sociology
We are rapidly expanding our undergraduate and postgraduate courses, while maintaining the high standards required for accreditation by the Bristish Psychological Society.
Successful students on our Health Psychology and Psychology BSc Honours degrees all become eligible for Membership of the British Psychological Society and Graduate Basis for Registration.
At postgraduate level, our courses are mostly available on a full-time and part-time basis. Some are taught in short blocks which means that you may only need to visit the university a few times.

Providing a range of professionally relevant courses, the School with equip students with the skills and knowledge to build a successful career in their chosen area of health . We offer the widest range of Allied Health Profession courses in Scotland and also offer our BSc (Hons) Nursing in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The School is also actively involved in research and consultancy to external bodies and companies.

The School provides high quality teaching and research in the areas of:
• Nursing
• Podiatry
• Speech and Hearing Sciences
• Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences
• Physiotherapy
• Podiatry
• Occupational Therapy, Music Therapy and Art Therapy
• Speech and Hearing Sciences

At postgraduate level, we offer courses that will allow to you expand your knowledge in your chosen field or allow to specialise in a particular area of that field. We also offer a few post-registration courses which will allow people with an undergraduate degree in any science discipline to completely change career in approximately two years. Our courses are mostly available on a full-time and part-time basis. Some are taught in short blocks which means that you may only need to visit the university a few times and our MSc Diabetes is delivered entirely by distance learning.

The School is at the forefront of learning and teaching opportunities across Nursing and the Allied Health Professions, both within the UK and internationally.

Having moved to a brand new campus in 2007, the School is equipped with the latest facilities and technology to provide teaching and learning to students.
We have a number of functioning labs and clinics, including Nursing, Radiography, Podiatry and Speech and Hearing Sciences which support student learning and give students experience of working with real equipment. Students on the Podiatry and Speech and Hearing Sciences courses even get the chance to work with real patients.

Research
We currently have 45 research students and our staff are very research active. This not only improves the quality of our teaching, but enables us to work with external companies and bodies to ultimately help the general public. Recent research projects have included our staff and students securing funding. Here is an example of some of the recent projects:

• Chief Scientist Office Funding for Research on Obesity and Intellectual Disabilities - £50,000 from the Chief Scientist Office to carry out research on obesity and intellectual disabilities.
• Success with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) - Audiology researchers were awarded £56,000 of research funding from the EPSRC for the project ‘MultiMemoHome: multi-modal reminders within the home’ which aims for results that can be applied to a wide range of uni-and multi-modal systems and that can be translated into a wider range of products and services.
• Play@Home Scheme - Physiotherapy and CIHR were awarded £150,000 by NHS Health Scotland to conduct a research evaluation of the impact of an Early Years intervention project which encourages parents to play and interact more with their pre-school aged children.
• FitVoice - Speech and Hearing Sciences have developed a new technique to monitor vocal chords and detect when voices are under strain. This development has implications for a third of the workforce who rely on their voices for their jobs such as teachers and call centre workers. They have devised new software that can be used on the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.

Recognition and Achievements
The School has a European and International reputation for excellence in teaching. This shows itself in:
• Quality Assurance Agency assessments
• high student numbers
• staff involvement in QAA working groups
• staff involvement in the Health Professionals Council
• staff involvement in European education committees.
• international collaborations

The School has the highest quality research in allied health professions in Scotland.