2018/19 Taught Postgraduate Programme Catalogue

MSc Medical Education

On-line distance learning

Total credits: 180

Entry requirements:

School/Unit responsible for the parenting of students and programme:

The School of Medicine

Examination board through which the programme will be considered:

Postgraduate Programmes Examination Board

Relevant QAA Subject Benchmark Groups:

We have developed the programme using the World Federation for Medical Education draft standards for Masters’ Degrees in Medical Education (2015). There are no relevant QAA Subject Benchmarks, however a Subject Benchmark Statement Education Studies: Draft for Consultation was published in September 2014. Whilst largely concerned with UG programmes in educational studies, the consultation recognised that “studies in areas of education often provide academic foundations for professional groups in many formal and informal fields of education. It is therefore anticipated that this subject benchmark statement may offer useful points of reference for the design of other programmes” (QAA 2014, p.5).

The following Benchmarks are relevant to the MSc Medical Education
Knowledge: Students should demonstrate a critical understanding of: participants (including learners and teachers) can influence the learning process.
Application: Students should be able to demonstrate the ability to: cts of subject knowledge and their application in educational policies and contexts -based evidence, to extend their knowledge and understanding anges in practice.
Reflection: Students should be able to demonstrate: systems the subject

The online MSc Medical Education is a development from the M.Ed. Clinical Education, which is mapped to the UK Professional Standards Framework for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and the Nursing and Midwifery Council Standards, both of which align with the Draft Education Benchmarks.
In developing the MSc Medical Education, the requirements of the Economic and Social Research Council's Expectations for Core Research Methods Training, quoted below, have been consulted. Although these refer to doctoral training, the 1+3 pathway is relevant to the part-time professional learners recruited to the Clinical Education Masters programme, several of whom have progressed to part-time doctoral study on EdD programmes. It is anticipated that some of those taking the MSc Medical Education will progress to doctoral study.
“Training Outcomes
As a result of their training in research methods, students will be expected to acquire the following skills and to be able to apply them:
• comprehension of basic principles of research design and strategy, including an understanding of how to formulate researchable problems and an appreciation of alternative approaches to research
• competence in understanding and applying a range of quantitative and qualitative research methods and tools including mixed methods approaches
• capabilities for managing research, including managing data, and conducting and disseminating research in a way that is consistent with both professional practice and the normal principles of research ethics
• understanding the significance of alternative epistemological positions that provide the context for theory construction, research design, and the selection of appropriate analytical techniques.
Principles of Research Design
Students must be able to develop and demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the connection between research questions or hypotheses and the tools required to address them, as well as to gain practical experience of applying those tools. Students need to be able to set out and demonstrate their understanding of these issues in the course of their postgraduate research training.
Data Collection and Analysis
Students must acquire a basic understanding of the potential and pitfalls of the range of methods of data collection used in the social sciences. The ESRC is not prescribing what this should include but expects that students will be exposed to a breadth of approaches, tools and techniques. Students must also be able to gain direct practical experience of analysing data, using a range of tools, including appropriate computer packages.” (ESRC 2009, 18)

Programme specification:

The programme will: offer learners a part-time, blended online distance learning programme which has been designed with the needs of emergent leaders in medical and health professions education in mind. In developing the online programme we have benefitted from the support and expertise across the Faculty and institution made possible by the university’s investment in blended learning. The residential workshops in Leeds provide added value to the online learning and also provide valuable networking opportunities for participants. The programme offers a high level of support for academic and research skills development which is specifically tailored to practice-based adult professional learners. This not only enables students to fulfil their potential in relation to the MSc but can also encourage progression to doctoral study and deepen professional collaboration and networking.
Academic leadership of the programme is informed by the wider strategy, values and standards of the University of Leeds which enables us to provide students with an inspirational experience of leadership in medical and health professions education. Participants will be encouraged to emulate this research-led teaching in and for practice in their own educational context. A key aspect of this experience is the influence that excellence in clinical education research and teaching exerts on public policy and practice, which the course team models throughout the programme for both students and the healthcare stakeholders supporting and benefitting from their studies. The university’s values of community, inclusiveness, integrity, sustainability and professionalism are, within our programme, also underpinned by and in dialogue with the values espoused by healthcare professionals. Patient safety, public protection and trust are revisited throughout the programme, where they provide a touchstone for debates about learning, teaching and assessment in practice. The capacity to develop and demonstrate this synergy between academic theory and professional practice is drawn partly from the wider university infrastructure, partly from the rich diversity of experience and collaborative approach which characterises the Programme Management Team and partly from the knowledge transfer and networking which results from the emphasis on interactive, experiential learning from participants. A distinctive aspect of this programme is the explicit attention given to comparative studies of health systems and their models of leadership and medical education.
As students move through the programme, the emphasis shifts from their individual practice as medical educators to a concern with the broader context and their wider roles as change agents, leaders and advocates for learning and teaching. To support this, there is a critical engagement with evidence-based teaching and learning, and support in developing both the capacity to critique policy and research and to design and conduct small-scale empirical research on issues and topics relevant to their medical education workplace.
A further distinctive feature of the programme is the inter-professional – and interdisciplinary nature – of the course and programme teams which draws on expertise from a range of clinical professions and academic disciplines across the social and healthcare sciences and diverse teaching experience in clinical and non-clinical workplaces and tertiary institutions.

Year1 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

PgCert - Medical Education

Compulsory modules:

Pass all modules for progression

Year2 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

PgDip Medical Education

Compulsory modules:

Pass all modules for progression

Year3 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

MSc Medical Education

Compulsory modules:

Pass all modules for award

Last updated: 21/02/2018

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