Masters Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma and MSc in Public Health

(by Distance Learning)

Similar to the structure and contents of the London-based courses, these courses provide a multidisciplinary perspective, drawing on a wide range of disciplines from health and social sciences. The courses are interactive, using activities and exercises that build on the personal experience of participants. The courses cover public health in low, middle and high income countries and allow the student to either follow a wide-ranging curriculum, or to concentrate on a specialised area. MSc students will be asked to select one of the following four streams:

• Public Health (General)
• Public Health (Environment and Health)
• Public Health (Health Promotion)
• Public Health (Health Services Management)

Course Duration

On successful completion of the PHM1 modules, students can exit the programme with a Postgraduate Certificate in Public Health or transfer their registration to the Postgraduate Diploma or MSc. Diploma and MSc students have a minimum period of two years and a maximum of five in which to complete their degree. Certificate students have a minimum of one and a maximum of five years to complete their qualification.

Objectives

By the end of these courses, students should be able to demonstrate their ability to apply knowledge of the core disciplines of public health, consisting of statistics; epidemiology; health economics; and social research, to real world health problems.

The Programme specification gives a more detailed breakdown of how elements of the courses support and achieve learning objectives.

Course Content

Students can choose to pursue an MSc, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate, or take individual modules. The last option, “individual modules”, is ideal if you wish to sample the degree or update your professional knowledge.

Credits awarded

Credits will be awarded for all elements successfully completed: 10 credits for each PHM1 module; 15 credits for PHM elective modules; and 45 credits for the project option. To successfully pass an award, the following credits must be gained:

Postgraduate Certificate – 60 credits
Postgraduate Diploma – 120 credits
MSc – 180 credits

Course structures

The compulsory core modules, which are common to the Certificate, Diploma and MSc courses, comprise:  

• PHM101 Basic Epidemiology
• PHM102 Basic Statistics for Public Health and Policy
• PHM103 Introduction to Health Economics; and
• PHM104 Principles of Social Research.

All students take two additional PHM1 modules, selected from:

• PHM105 Issues in Public Health
• PHM106 Environment, Health & Sustainable Development
• PHM107 Health Promotion Theory
• PHM108 Health Services; and
• PHM109 Health Policy, Process & Power.

For those studying for the MSc and choosing one of the three specialised streams, one of these modules is compulsory: Environment, Health & Sustainable Development (for the Environment and Health stream); Health Promotion Theory (for the Health Promotion stream); and Health Services (for the Health Services Management stream).

Completion of four compulsory PHM1 modules and two further PHM1 modules constitutes the Postgraduate Certificate.

After successful completion of the PHM1 modules, those registered for the Postgraduate Diploma and MSc must successfully pass a specific number of elective modules to complete the award.

Students registered for the Postgraduate Diploma must choose four elective modules to complete the award; at least two of these (three are recommended) must be from the PHM2 module list below.

MSc students select eight elective modules from the following list, or alternatively, may choose five from the list and complete a final year project (at least three modules must be from the PHM list).

For those studying for the MSc on one of the three specialised streams, one of these modules is compulsory: Environmental Health Policy (for the Environment and Health stream); Health Promotion Practice (for the Health Promotion stream); and Organisational Management (for the Health Services Management stream).

Note that restrictions and pre-requisites may apply to some of the modules below. Not all modules will be available every year.

• PHM201 Analytical Models for Decision Making
• PHM202 Communicable Disease Control
• PHM203 Economic Analysis for Management & Policy
• PHM204 Economic Evaluation
• PHM205 Environmental Epidemiology
• PHM206 Environmental Health Policy
• PHM207 Health Care Evaluation
• PHM208 Financial Management
• PHM209 Globalisation & Health
• PHM210 Managing Health Services
• PHM211 Medical Anthropology in Public Health
• PHM212 Organisational Management
• PHM213 Principles and Practice of Health Promotion
• PHM215 History and Health
• IDM201 Bacterial Infections
• IDM202 Nutrition and Infection
• IDM203 Parasitology
• IDM205 Hospital Infection
• IDM210 Water and Sanitation
• IDM213 Immunology of Infection and Vaccines
• IDM301 Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases in Developing Countries
• IDM501 HIV/AIDS
• IDM502 Tuberculosis
• IDM503 Malaria.

After successful completion of the PHM1 modules, Postgraduate Diploma and MSc students may also be eligible for the 'blended learning' option, which allows for the study of up to two of the elective modules above at LSHTM in London during the Spring or Summer terms, in place of distance learning modules, if these modules are available for 'face to face' teaching.

Project Report

All MSc students have the option to apply to undertake a project report specific to their chosen stream, which is equivalent to 3 module credits.

Entrance Requirements

All applicants are required to have a second-class honours degree or equivalent in a subject appropriate to the course from a university or other institution acceptable to the University of London and a minimum of one year's relevant work experience.

Students who do not satisfy the above requirements may still be admitted at the discretion of the School on the basis of their academic qualifications, application essay, work experience and references.

For all applicants, an advanced ability to study and write clearly in English is required. Applicants may be required to pass, or to have passed within the last five years, a test of proficiency in English at a level acceptable to the University. Further information on the English language tests and scores accepted by the School are available on the Entrance Requirements section of the University of London International Programmes website.

Application for Study by Distance Learning

Application for MSc by distance learning courses should be made using the University of London’s application form which can be obtained from the University at the addresses given below. Application forms should be submitted by post to the University by 30 June together with the accompanying documentation detailed on the application form. Faxed or e-mailed applications will not be accepted.

The application form is available at: www.londoninternational.ac.uk/

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7862 8360/8361/8362 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7862 8358 E-mail: enquiries@london.ac.uk

Applications and requests for further information for distance learning courses should be addressed to: The Information Centre, The University of London International Programmes, Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, United Kingdom.