Masters Degrees in Serology, United Kingdom

Programme description

This new three-year, part-time, online postgraduate programme leads to the degree of Masters of Science in Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (CMID).

Aimed at junior doctors currently undergoing, or about to undertake, specialty training in an infection discipline, this programme is open to trainees in the UK and worldwide.

This degree will also be attractive to those who have completed their training but wish to fulfill continuing medical education requirements or those who wish obtain a formal qualification in Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

The programme is aligned with JRCPTB and RCPath training in infection disciplines: Combined Infection Training and Higher Specialty Training in Infectious Diseases, Medical Microbiology and Medical Virology.

This programme is designed to support trainees/specialists in preparation for FRCPath Part 1/Diploma in Infection, Infection Specialty end of training assessments and hospital-based practice.

Programme participants will have access to key texts and research bases and will have direct contact with leading clinicians and clinical scientists, providing a repository of information on infection disciplines that can be accessed at any time.

Online learning

Our online learning technology 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.

• More information on how you will learn

Programme structure

This programme is taught entirely online. The structure of the degree is designed to meet the needs of trainees and specialist practitioners from all over the world.

Courses are offered as five week courses, each worth 10 credits. Courses in Year 1 are compulsory. Year 2 is a mix of compulsory and optional modules.

Year 1:

• Introduction to Immunology
• Science and biology of bacteria
• Science and biology of viruses
• Science and biology fungi, parasites and prions
• Laboratory practise in microbiology, virology and serology
• Anti-infective therapy and resistance

Year 2:

• Immunopathology
• Molecular diagnostics of infection
• Community acquired infections and public health
• Infection prevention & control
• HIV infection and other immune-compromised patients
• Clinical syndromes and infection
• The returning traveller: Diagnosis, investigation and management of imported infection
• Bioinformatics and study design in infectious diseases
• Emerging Infectious Diseases

Year 3:

• Research in Infection Medicine, written reflective element (project)
• More information on programme structure

Postgraduate Professional Development (PPD)

Postgraduate Professional Development (PPD) is aimed at working professionals who want to advance their knowledge through a postgraduate-level course(s), without the time or financial commitment of a full Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate.

You may take a maximum of 50 credits worth of courses over two years through our PPD scheme. These lead to a University of Edinburgh postgraduate award of academic credit. Alternatively, after one year of taking courses you can choose to transfer your credits and continue on to studying towards a higher award on a Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme. Although PPD courses have various start dates throughout a year you may only start a Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme in the month of September. Any time spent studying PPD will be deducted from the amount of time you will have left to complete a Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme.

Please contact the programme team for more information about available courses and course start dates.

Flexible study

The programme also offers the opportunity to take a Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits), either part-time over 9 months or on an intermittent basis over 2 years; or a Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits), either part-time over 21 months or on an intermittent basis over 4 years.

Please contact us before submitting an application if you are interested in applying to the Certificate or Diploma programme.

• Online learning options

Career opportunities

This unique programme will offer the student the knowledge and skills required to enhance their career progression in clinical or academic medicine. The programme will offer an alternative to traditional classroom based research training for those candidates who do not wish to take time away from their professional commitments.

Your programme of study

If Biology is your passion Microbiology at Aberdeen allows you to understand advances in microbiology, adaptation, host-pathogen interactions and infection and disease processes. You learn with established and renowned international researchers and there are opportunities to learn and apply knowledge in practical situations. You also learn about applied statistics methods, bioinformatics and immunology plus regulation and genome enabled medicines.

This programme is designed to provide advanced training in molecular microbiology. You will investigate molecular microbiology, host-pathogen interactions and immune system interactions by pathogens, environmental microbiology, and the core physiology and biochemistry of bacterial and fungal pathogens. Bioinformatics and biotechnology areas are currently in high growth within innovation markets due to major advances in the discipline areas, IOT and Photonics advances and customised methods of treating disease at source within advanced stratified medicine for example. Careers upon graduation can include hospital diagnostics, pathology laboratories and microbiology research. There is a lot of scope to develop innovation in this subject area if you continue to apply innovative research towards new solutions within biological patents.  Scottish innovation centres http://www.innovationcentres.scot/innovation-centres/ you may be interested in finding out about if you want to continue within research and innovation at SMS-IC, IBioIC, DHI and CENSIS or if you live within England the CPI. All of these innovation centres allow for exciting new research and upstream testing towards new spin out companies or product lines. You may also be interested in continuing your studies to PhD in order to teach.

Courses listed for the programme

Semester 1

Basic Skills - Induction

Introduction to Microbiology

Applied Statistics

Bioinformatics

Generic Skills

Semester 2

Regulation in Microbial Biochemistry

Genome -Enabled Medicine

Research Tutorials

Host-Pathogen Reactions

Semester 3

Masters Research Project

Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/degree-programmes/184/microbiology/

Why study at Aberdeen?

• Aberdeen is a top 10 university to study MSc Microbiology at one of the largest clinical complexes in Europe
• You are taught by world renowned researchers from Aberdeen Fungal Group to MRC Centre for Medical Mycology status
• The University if ranked 9th in the world and 5th in Europe for international research collaboration in Biomedical and Health Sciences (Leiden 2015)

Where you study

• University of Aberdeen
• Full Time or Part Time
• 12 months or 24 months
• September start

International Student Fees 2017/2018

Find out about fees:

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/tuition-fees-and-living-costs-287.php

*Please be advised that some programmes have different tuition fees from those listed above and that some programmes also have additional costs.

Scholarships

View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/finance-funding-1599.php

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/funding/

Living in Aberdeen

Find out more about:

• Your Accommodation
• Campus Facilities
• Aberdeen City
• Student Support
• Clubs and Societies

Find out more about living in Aberdeen:

https://abdn.ac.uk/study/student-life

Living costs

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/finance.php

This is a research-based degree, providing you with essential training in scientific research methodology and data analysis, as well as specific scientific techniques appropriate to the research microbiologist.

The course draws from the Department of Biological Sciences research strengths and expertise in cell biology of infectious diseases, host-parasite relationships and drug discovery across a wide range of infectious pathogens/bacteriology, mycology and parasitology. You will undertake a research project in the laboratories of internationally recognised researchers.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Designed for people who want to learn about the nature of microbes - and how to work with them.
• Also suitable for microbiologists who want to update and expand their knowledge.
• Department awarded the highest grading for quality of teaching and learning in the latest Quality Assurance Agency assessment.
• In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), in a joint submission with UCL, Biological Sciences at Birkbeck were ranked 11th in the UK, with a research environment supporting world-leading and internationally excellent research.

COURSE STRUCTURE

The programme consists of lectures and practicals, with a research project in the second year. All modules are compulsory.

Topics include:

• bacterial pathogenicity
• antimicrobials
• medical bacteriology
• molecular microbiology
• statistics
• parasitology
• medicinal chemistry
• research skills in microbiology.

COMPULSORY MODULES

• Antimicrobials
• Bacterial Pathogenicity
• Immune Responses to Disease
• Medical Bacteriology
• Medical Mycology
• Medicinal Chemistry of Natural Products
• Molecular Microbiology
• Parasitology
• Research in Microbiology
• Research Project MSc Microbiology