Course description
Key facts
-The maximum proposed length of this course (six years) is in line with the continuous nature of professional development and the design of the initial modules is such that they have ‘an extended shelf life’.
-It is possible to take single modules as part of your continuing professional development.
Course Content
-This course offers a variety of professional, academic and work-based modules, which are designed to allow you to create and select a programme of study that is most suited to your needs.
-Core/Introductory Modules
Personal Development in Professional Practice
Planning Research
You will also be expected to take at least one of the following introductory modules:
-Clinical Reasoning
-Introduction to Research
Optional Modules
Our optional modules fall under the broad categories of ‘academic’, ‘professional’ or ‘work-based’ - you will be asked to select 70 to 80 credits’ worth to reflect your area of interest and personal commitments. Please see the list at the bottom of this page for a more detailed description of each module.
Please note that all module details are subject to change.
Dissertation
Once you have completed the taught components of this course, you will undertake a research and dissertation module to build on the skills you have developed during the earlier stages of the course.
This dissertation gives you the opportunity to complete a major individual and substantial piece of work, involving the application of investigative, critical and analytical skills, and the presentation of a report (12,000 to 15,000 words) of the process and outcome of the work, together with a viva voce examination.
Course Structure
The MSc can be completed over three to six years of part-time study, allowing you the maximum flexibility to fit this qualification around your other commitments.
The course is modular, based around two semesters per year, and begins with one week of full-time study at the University's Clinical Sciences Building at Nottingham City Hospital.
The course comprises 180 credits in total, split across 120 credits’ worth of taught modules and a 60-credit research dissertation. You are required to submit your dissertation in a relevant subject area within six years of commencing the course.
Your Time Commitment
The modules offered are delivered through a highly flexible mix of intensive full-time sessions, part-time over several weekends or on given weekdays throughout a semester, which means that you can organise your attendance within your existing work schedule.
Generally, the academic modules each require attendance at the University on six full days during the semester in which they are taught. Professional modules are delivered over a series of intensive weekend courses, or as a series of workshops, supported by directed study. Work-based modules take place in your work place over 30 weeks.
Academic Support
Following your acceptance on to the course, you will have the opportunity to discuss individually your identified needs with members of the course team and to come up with an agreed plan of study.
You will be allocated a Personal Tutor who will provide academic and pastoral support throughout the course.
This course is designed to let you progress at your own rate and to end at a point of your own choosing, which is why we also offer a Postgraduate Certificate and a Postgraduate Diploma in Continuing Professional Development (Physiotherapy).
