PG Diploma and MSc in Clinical Trials

Funding is available for this course. Please click here for more information.

The need for rigorous evaluation of components of health care is increasingly recognised worldwide as a global health issue. An important type of evaluation is the randomised controlled clinical trial. This course is suitable for both those wishing to gain an overall understanding of trials before moving into the field, and those who have general or specialist experience in clinical trials and aim to broaden their role in the design, management, analysis and reporting of clinical trials.

Objectives

This course aims: to provide students with a theoretical and practical understanding of the issues involved in the design, conduct, analysis and interpretation of randomised controlled trials of health interventions. It will be suitable for students working in high, middle and low income countries. The core study modules are common to the Diploma and MSc courses. MSc students may choose from a number of advanced modules which will allow them to expand and deepen their conceptual and practical skills. The main disciplinary perspectives will come from clinical trials, statistics and epidemiology, but others will contribute in both the core and optional modules. Students will be trained to develop skills to scrutinise information, to critically analyse and carry out research and to communicate effectively.

See Programme specification (MSc) and Programme specification (PG Diploma) for a more detailed breakdown of how elements of the Course support and achieve learning objectives.

Core

The compulsory core modules, which are common to the Diploma and MSc courses, will comprise:   Fundamentals of clinical trials; Basic statistics for clinical trials; Clinical trials in practice; Reporting and reviewing clinical trials. Each module will require 100-125 hours learning time. These four modules constitute Part I of the MSc.

Advanced Modules

Each Advanced Module will require 80-100 hours learning time. For part II of the MSc, 6 advanced modules from the (provisional) list below must be completed. In addition to the compulsory module, Protocol Development, students can choose between three and five of the following modules (note that not all of these modules are available every year):

Trial designs; Project management and research co-ordination; Regulatory affairs, Good Clinical Practice and ethics; Data management; Data monitoring and interim analyses; Design and analysis of epidemiological studies; Further statistical methods in clinical trials; Cluster randomised trials.

Up to two advanced modules may be chosen from a specified selection of the School's other Distance Learning courses. These distance learning modules include Epidemiology of Communicable Diseases, Epidemiology of Non-communicable Diseases, Advanced Statistical Methods in Epidemiology, Economic Evaluation, Health Care Evaluation, Human Genetic Epidemiology, and Medical Anthropology.

Distance learning MSc students may also be eligible for the 'blended learning option', which allows for the study of two of the advanced modules specified above in London at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine during the spring or summer terms, if these modules are available for 'face to face' teaching.

Integrating Module (compulsory)

All students on the MSc course will be required to complete an integrating module including an examination and a written report..

Course Duration

On successful completion of the core modules, students can exit the programme with a PG Diploma in Clinical Trials, or proceed to advanced modules and MSc studies. MSc students have a minimum period of two years and a maximum of five in which to complete their degree. Diploma students have a minimum of one and a maximum of five years to complete their qualification.

By arrangement, students with suitable past training and experience may opt to study one or more core or advanced modules as short courses without registering for the Diploma or MSc courses.

Entrance Requirements

For the MSc:
A first or second class honours degree or equivalent, from a university or other institution acceptable to the University of London, in a subject appropriate to the course or in another discipline which has, in the opinion of the University, included a suitable preliminary training. An appropriate professional or technical qualification, together with at least three years' relevant experience, which satisfies the University as a qualification equivalent to a Second-class degree may also be considered.

For the Postgraduate Diploma:
A first degree in a subject appropriate to the course or in another discipline which has included a suitable preliminary training, or previous education and experience without a first degree, which satisfies the University that the applicant has obtained a level of academic proficiency equivalent to a first degree.

For all applicants, an advanced level of ability to work in English is required. Applicants may be required to pass or to have passed within the last five years, at the appropriate level, a test of proficiency in English acceptable to the University. Further information on the English language tests and scores accepted by the School are available in the How to Apply section of this website.

Computing Requirements

As this course is primarily internet-based, with the main access to tutors via a virtual learning environment (Blackboard) and e-mail, students will need access to a computer of the following specification. We have provided a minimum specification and a recommended specification; a PC of the minimum specification will be able to support the course but will be rather slow.

Minimum Computer specification:
Processor: Pentium 3,500MHz
Memory (RAM): 256MB Hard disk space: 4 GB
CD-ROM drive
Operating System: (PC)Windows 2000 or later, (Power Macintosh) OS X 10.1 or later
*Screen Resolution: 256 colours at 800 x 600 pixels
Browser: Internet Explorer 5.5, Netscape 6.2, Firefox 1.0 (with Javascript enabled)
Internet Connection: E-mail and Web access - essential. 56K modem or higher
Printer: Either laser or ink jet.

Recommended Computer specification:
Processor: Pentium 4 class
Memory (RAM): 512 MB or higher
Hard disk space: 20GB, 5 GB free.
CD-ROM drive
Operating System: (PC) Windows XP, (Mac) OS X10.3
*Screen Resolution: 24-bit Truecolor, known as "millions of colors" on Macintosh systems)
Browser: Internet Explorer 6.0, Netscape 7.0, Firefox 1.0 or higher (with Javascript enabled) Flash 6 Player
Internet Connection: Email and Web access - essential. 56K modem or higher. Cable, broadband, T1, T3 recommended
Printer: Either laser or ink jet.  

*Students with disabilities may have alternative ways of fulfilling this criterion.