MSc in Translational Health Sciences

This course is available as a part-time course or full-time, delivered by research-active tutors from the University’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, and led by Professor Trish Greenhalgh. It also delivered in conjunction with the Department for Continuing Education. 

Turning innovations into practical solutions for healthcare needs is an imperative – and one that can only become more urgent as demands on health systems increase. Our key focus in this Master's programme will be the ‘downstream’ phases of translational health sciences – the human, organisational and societal issues that impact on the adoption, dissemination and mainstreaming of research discoveries. We will address these issues using robust, interdisciplinary and practice-based approaches in this highly applied course.

This interdisciplinary MSc is ideal for researchers who want to study scientific and technological innovation in a healthcare setting and research managers looking to run clinical trials or promote the uptake of research findings. It will also assist entrepreneurs (from an industry or clinical background) who seek to improve patient care through innovation and policymakers (local and national) wishing to support research and its translation to improve services. For students interested in undertaking doctoral research, the MSc will prepare them to apply for a DPhil in Translational Health Sciences. We expect all our students to have some relevant past experience in a work environment.

At the end of the course students will be able to:

• Explain the theoretical basis and practical importance of translational health science as an interdisciplinary field of study
• Critically analyse the human, organisational, socio-cultural, economic, regulatory/legal, policy and ethical dimensions of translational health sciences
• Identify, combine and apply appropriate theoretical models and empirical methods to address practical challenges of translational health science, thereby producing tangible benefits for patients, health services and wider society.

To complete the course, you must take one compulsory module, five modules that you choose from approximately nine options, and complete a dissertation of up to 15,000 words.

Assessment for each module is based on performance in a group presentation and a 4,000-word essay.

Our teaching model aims to make full use of our students’ real-world experience and diversity. Once you have covered key principles and topics, you will be encouraged to immerse yourself in case studies (some of which can be from your own experience) and to contribute actively and critically to group discussions. Your learning will be further enriched with input from visiting lecturers, experts-in-residence and organisations outside academia (potential examples would include biotech and software companies, policy bodies such as NICE and patient charities).

Compulsory Module

• Introduction and Research Methods for Translational Science

Option Modules (five must be chosen)

• Behavioural Science and Complex Interventions

• Economics and Regulation in Translational Science

• Ethics and Justice in Translational Science 

• Health Organisations and Policy

• Patients, Citizens & the Politics of Evidence

• Research Impact and Health Research Systems

• Technological Innovation and Digital Health

• Translational Science and Global Health