Health Sciences

In the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022, we are ranked in the top 20 UK universities for subjects allied to medicine (19th out of 82). 

Our School of Health Sciences at QMU offers the opportunity for students to build the foundations of a rewarding career in the field of health, drawing on a firm grounding in the social, psychological and physical sciences.

Our courses are designed to develop work-ready graduates, professionals who think critically and are ready to challenge current practice and policy and contribute to a better quality of life for individuals and society. We prepare you for a career, not just your first job.

The School offers the widest range of professional healthcare courses of any university in Scotland.

For entry in 2023, we will offer the following Bachelor of Science courses:

• BSc/BSc (Hons) Nutrition
• BSc/BSc (Hons) Public Health
• BSc Paramedic Science

For entry in 2023, we will offer the following health professions integrated master’s degrees:

• Master of Dietetics (MDiet)
• Master of Nursing (MNurse)
• Master of Occupational Therapy (MOccTh)
• Master of Podiatry (MPod)
• Master of Physiotherapy (MPhys)
• Master of Radiography: Diagnostic (MDRad)
• Master of Radiography: Therapeutic (MTRad)
• Master of Speech and Language Therapy (MSLT)

We hope also to offer an undergraduate degree in the area of food science (subject to validation) and will publish more information on our website when available.

Why QMU?

As a graduate from a Health Sciences course, you will be work-ready, in demand from employers, and eager to progress in your chosen profession.

While studying at QMU, you will learn from engaging, encouraging staff who ensure that your courses are informed by current issues, policy and contemporary knowledge. Additionally, we offer fascinating lectures on current topics from respected visiting specialists.

Your learning experiences will include real-world placements (clinical or volunteering*), involvement with pioneering research, and first-class facilities on campus.

We have built links between our undergraduate teaching and our master’s pre-registration** courses and learning alongside more experienced students will enrich your academic experience. Furthermore, interprofessional cross-school learning and teaching are important components of our courses, allowing you to engage with other professional learners who will be your peers in the working environment. Working together as students helps to break down barriers between professions before entering the workplace.
All our health professions courses are approved and recognised by the relevant regulatory bodies and/or professional bodies and we have excellent links with the government, industry, third sector and NHS across Scotland; these links and our collaborations with private, occupational, social service and other care providers are key to our ability offer relevant placements.

During your course you will hone your skills in our well-equipped School that has specialised teaching facilities and state-of-the-art laboratories. These include a clinical simulation suite, working clinics, research laboratories and a suite for the measurement of human movement using three-dimensional motion analysis, human performance and neuromuscular analysis.

Our approach to learning and teaching

We support student learning through blended learning (online and on campus) that includes interactive lectures, seminars, tutorials, work groups, laboratories and practical classes. Use of a clinical or personal development portfolio is undertaken on some courses, and this complements the wide range of assessments used across the disciplines. On some courses you can choose optional modules, depending on the demands of professional learning.

Being work ready is vital in our professions, and we will help you prepare for this exciting challenge from Year One through your placements that take place across Scotland, and some courses allow elective placements that may be overseas. All module work, theoretical or practical, relates to professional practice or directly to the placements. You will learn in state-of-the-art simulation laboratories and clinic treatment rooms to emulate best practice. Interprofessional learning is a key theme in all of our pre-registration degrees.
Our approach to interprofessional learning experience is embedded in all our programmes and will develop your team-working, leadership and communication skills as well as an understanding of yourself as a key member of a team. Interprofessional learning also offers opportunities to interact with volunteer patients and members of the public in the safe environment of the University. On placements you will develop interprofessional links, learning to understand the role and boundaries of professions and become aware of different or shared leadership working practices. You will have opportunity to discuss how public health, the changing practices of health and social care both nationally and internationally, influence the wider workings of the NHS, private practice, third sector and industry.

Research

Our aim is to ensure that our research findings offer currency and relevance to your learning. Understanding research, epidemiology and public health data helps to develop and enhance your critical thinking and questioning, essential skills for ensuring that practice is evidence based.
Our School research has four main fields: rehabilitation sciences; speech, language and communication; health care policy and practice; and person-centred practice. All students have the opportunity to engage with the wide range of research being undertaken in several ways, for example, as novice researchers during project work, being trial participants or attending keynote lectures and seminars. Clinical research can only be undertaken in collaboration with frontline healthcare providers and we have numerous collaborators in NHS Boards in Scotland, private and social services, and internationally in Europe and further afield.
You will be taught by lecturers and PhD students who are engaged with scholarly activity and research and who have published research in internationally renowned academic and professional journals.

Career prospects

Our courses will give you the professional skills and expertise you need for a rewarding career and the skills we help you develop will be useful lifelong. Many of these skills are embedded in our teaching and practice, and we will actively encourage your learning in verbal and non-verbal communication, team work, presentation skills and delegation. Our graduates have skills and knowledge to enter career paths, not just in the NHS but in research, healthcare management, government and policy practice, private practice and industry, sports-related roles or in health promotion and fitness. You could also choose to progress straight to higher degree learning on an MSc or PhD course.
*Courses that lead to eligibility to register as a healthcare professional undertake a number of clinical placements while other courses have volunteering placements. Both types of placements contribute to the learning on the programme and are requirements of degree. Please see individual course pages.

** Pre-registration courses allow graduates with a relevant first degree to move into a healthcare profession through a two year postgraduate course.

Find out more information on how to apply for a course at QMU.