Health Research

The Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Health Research is designed for medical and dental trainees with the potential to be the independent researchers of the future, and to be taken part-time alongside work commitments, normally over one to three years.

It consists of two compulsory modules and four option modules selected from an extensive list of subjects. This provides the students with an opportunity to learn how the principles of health research can be translated into practical actions in selected areas.

Students who transfer to this programme of study from the Postgraduate Certificate in Health Research, with three successfully completed modules, are required to undertake three additional option modules to fulfil the requirements of the Postgraduate Diploma.

These are modular part-time programmes, particularly suitable for academically gifted medical and dental trainees with the potential to be the independent researchers of the future.

The programmes are delivered through the Department for Continuing Education, with the expertise in curriculum design and teaching drawn from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, the Clinical Academic Graduate School and the Department of Statistics.

The two compulsory modules are:

• The Practice of Evidence-Based Health Care
• Introduction to Study Design and Research Methods

Three further modules may be chosen from List B
One further module either from List B or List C

List B

• Clinical Trial Management
• Ethics for Biosciences
• Mixed Methods in Health Research
• Knowledge into Action
• Evidence-based Diagnosis and Screening
• Introduction to Statistics for Health Care Research
• Systematic Reviews
• Randomized Controlled Trials
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Essential Medical Statistics
• The Structure of Clinical Trials and Experimental Therapeutics
• How to do Research on Therapeutic Interventions: Protocol preparation
• Biological Therapeutics
• Pharmacodynamics, Biomarkers and Personalised Therapy
• Adverse drug reactions, drug interactions and Pharmacovigilance
• Drug development, Pharmacokinetics and Imaging

List C

• Quality Improvement Science and Systems Analysis
• Human Factors, Teamwork and Communication
• Becoming a Medical Educator
• Teaching Evidence-Based Practice
• History and Philosophy of Evidence-Based Health Care

A module is run over an eight week cycle where the first week is spent working on introductory activities using a Virtual Learning Environment, the second week is spent in Oxford for the face to face teaching week (this takes place on the dates advertised), there are then four Post-Oxford activities (delivered through the VLE) which are designed to help you write your assignment. You then have a week of personal study and you will be required to submit your assignment electronically the following week (usually on a Tuesday at 14:00 UK Local Time).

Online modules are delivered entirely through a Virtual Learning Environment with the first week allocated to introductory activities. There are ten units to work through which are released week by week (starting on the dates advertised), you then have five weeks of personal study with use of a revision forum and then you will be required to submit your assignment electronically the following week (usually on a Tuesday at 14:00 UK Local Time).

Assessment methods

To complete the Postgraduate Diploma students must:

• attend six modules, as detailed above
• successfully complete six written assignments, usually of no more than 4000 words, one on each of the chosen modules

Applicants are normally expected to be predicted or have achieved a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours (or equivalent international qualifications), as a minimum, in an appropriate discipline, or have an equivalent professional qualification in a profession allied to medicine with post-qualification experience, or have successfully completed the final year of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery or Bachelor of Dental Surgery or equivalent.

For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA we normally seek is 3.6 out of 4.0.

If you hold non-UK qualifications and wish to check how your qualifications match these requirements, you can contact the National Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom (UK NARIC).

No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.

• Official transcript(s)
• CV/résumé
• Personal statement:One page
• Written work:Two essays of 2,000 words each
• References/letters of recommendation:Three overall, generally academic

ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

Higher level