The MSc (Health Professions' Education) is an online programme. The programme runs over two years. Year 1 runs over an academic year (nine months) and Year 2 runs over a calendar year (twelve months). There is no work placement element to the programme however students are expected to have access to teaching opportunities to allow completion of compulsory assignments.

Entry to the programme is via the Postgraduate Certificate in Health Professions' Education. All students will be registered for the Postgraduate Certificate in Health Professions' Education in the first instance.

Candidates must have the following:

• An undergraduate degree or an equivalent qualification in an appropriate healthcare related subject, such as (but not restricted to) medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, psychology, social science;
• Access to teaching opportunities to allow completion of compulsory assignments.

Applicants who do not meet these requirements may also be considered on a case by case basis following a review of their individual qualifications and experience by the programme board.

In accordance with UCC's Policy for Recognition of Prior Learning, students who have completed relevant university postgraduate modules in a cognate area at similar NFQ level may apply for exemptions for modules taken within the last five years.

To access and interact with the course content, assignments and assessments etc., students will require access to a PC/Laptop running at least Windows 7 or later or a recent version of Mac OSX. Common plug-ins such as Microsoft Silverlight, Java and Flash will also be required. Students must have access to MS Office or an equivalent suite of applications such as Open Office.

Students must also have access to a modern standards compliant web browser. UCC recommends either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. A minimum of 1MB download speed and 500KB upload speed is required. To engage productively and successfully with the content, basic technical computer skills such as familiarity with word processing, web browsing and email is recommended.

Year 1
Students take 30 credits from the Postgraduate Certificate:
MH6020 Teaching, Assessment and Feedback: Teaching and Learning in Health Professions' Education I (10 credits)
MH6021 Theory in Health Professions' Education (10 credits)
MH6022 Instructional Design: Teaching and Learning in Health Professions' Education II (10 credits)

Students who have successfully completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Health Professions' Education will be conferred with the Postgraduate Certificate and are eligible to progress to the Postgraduate Diploma in Health Professions' Education.

Module Semester Information may be found here. Module descriptions may be found here.

Year 2
Postgraduate Diploma
Students take 60 credits:
30 credits from the Postgraduate Certificate and select 30 credits from the following Elective Modules:

MH6023 Scholarship and Professional Development in Health Professions' Education (10 credits)*
MH6024 Advanced Assessment in Health Professions' Education (10 credits)
MH6025 Leadership and Academic Programme Development (10 credits)
MH6031 Online and Simulation-based Approaches to Health Professions' Education (10 credits)

*Students intending to progress to the MSc in Health Professions' Education must take MH6023

and
MH6027 Dissertation in Health Professions' Education (30 credits)

Note: Students intending to progress to the MSc in Health Professions' Education must note their intention to the programme director at the start of Year 2 and must complete the programme within 5 academic years from the date of successful completion of the Postgraduate Diploma Examination.

Module Semester Information may be found here. Module Descriptions may be found here.

Examinations
Full details and regulations governing Examinations for each programme will be contained in the Marks and Standards 2020/2021 Book and for each module in the Book of Modules, 2020/2021.

Programme Learning Outcomes for MSc (Health Professions' Education) (NFQ Level 9, Major Award)
On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

• Apply educational principles when teaching inHPE settings;
• Critically evaluate his/her teaching in the light of students' learning;
• Design a Health Professions' Education research project;
• Apply appropriate research methodologies to gather and analyse information in HPE;
• Research and write up an issue in Health Professions' Education to a professional standard;
• Participate in peer review of his/her teaching within his/her community of practice;
• Hold a commitment to professionalism and scholarship in Health Professions' Education.