This course aims to bridge the disciplines of epidemiology, laboratory sciences and public health and policy for training and retraining of students who wish to work directly on a multidisciplinary practical approach to the control of infectious diseases, and to equip students with specialised skills that will facilitate a career in the control of infectious diseases as staff of health ministries, health departments, national or international disease control agencies, aid organisations or universities.
Available Funding
Course Duration
Full-time for one year or split study over two years. Students taking the course by split study over two years attend full-time for part of Year 1, and then undertake the remainder of the course in Year 2. The split can occur anytime between the Christmas break and the end of the formal teaching in May, by prior arrangement with the Course Director. Paper 1 may be taken at the end of Year 1 or at the end of Year 2. Paper 2 must be taken at the end of Year 2. Interested applicants should indicate their choice on the application form.
* Split study fees are calculated pro rata for the periods of attendance only. For example, students who've chosen a Term 1 split date will be charged approximately 12 weeks fees (at the Year 1 fee rate) for their first year of study, and approximately 38 weeks fees (at the Year 2 full-time fee rate) for their second year of studies.
" I feel the quality of tuition and level of support available are far beyond anything I have experienced in my previous education. Hamish Innes from Scotland studied the MSc in Control of Infectious Diseases. - Full profile
Objectives
At the end of this course students should be able to:
- investigate the transmission of endemic and epidemic infections
- select appropriate methods of control
- design, implement and evaluate co-ordinated control methods
- assess constraints of local public health delivery systems
- manage available resources in the context of the control of infectious diseases
- focus their efforts on particular geographical regions or specific diseases
Programme specifications: A comprehensive summary of the key elements of the degree, including educational aims and intended learning outcomes, plus details on programme structure, assessment requirements, student support and more.
Term 1
After orientation, students attend a core module which focuses on: (i) the life cycle and characteristics of infectious disease agents according to their principal transmission routes; (ii) the principal intervention strategies used to combat infectious diseases; (iii) examples of successes, partial successes and failures in intervention programmes against infectious diseases. This module is integrated with a compulsory module on basic statistics, and either with a) study modules on basic epidemiology; health economics, and health policy, process and power, or with b) study modules on extended epidemiology and health economics or health policy, process and power. An interdisciplinary approach is emphasised which takes account of the social, political and economic context in which health systems operate.
Terms 2 and 3
Students take a total of five study modules, one from each timetable slot (C1, C2 etc.).
C1 slot: Designing Disease Control Programmes in Developing Countries; Economic Analysis for Health Policy; Epidemiology & Control of Malaria; Health Care Evaluation; Basic Parasitology; Childhood Eye Diseases & Ocular Infections; Clinical Infectious Diseases 1; Health Promotion Approaches and Methods; Maternal & Child Nutrition; Research Design & Analysis; Study Design: Writing a Study Proposal
C2 slot: Clinical Bacteriology 1; Conflict & Health; Design & Analysis of Epidemiological Studies; Population, Poverty and Environment; Statistical Methods in Epidemiology; Advanced Diagnostic Parasitology; Analytical Models for Decision Making; Clinical Infectious Diseases 2; Health Systems; History & Health; Qualitative Methodologies
D1 slot: Communicable Disease Control in Developed & Middle Income Countries; Current Issues in Safe Motherhood and Perinatal Health; Medical Anthropology in Public Health; Spatial Epidemiology in Public Health; Tropical Environmental Health; Vector Sampling, Identification & Incrimination; Analysis of Hierarchical & Other Dependent Data; Clinical Infectious Diseases 3; Clinical Virology; Economic Evaluation; Modelling & the Dynamics of Infectious Diseases; Nutrition in Emergencies; Social Epidemiology; Sociological Approaches to Health
D2 slot: Clinical Bacteriology 2; Epidemiology & Control of Communicable Diseases; Clinical Infectious Diseases 4; Environmental Epidemiology; Ethics, Public Health & Human Rights; Globalisation & Health; Organisational Management; Sexual Health; Vector Biology & Vector Parasite Interaction
E slot: AIDS; Applying Public Health Principles in Developing Countries; Control of Reproductive Tract Infections: Sexually Transmitted Infections; Integrated Vector Management; Advanced Statistical Methods in Epidemiology; Analysing Survey & Population Data; Antimicrobial Chemotherapy; Environmental Health Policy; Integrating Module: Health Promotion; Integrating Module: Health Services Management; Mycology; Nutrition Programme Planning; Principles and Practice of Public Health
Further details for the course modules can be found here.
Project Report
Students complete a research project studying aspects of an intervention programme. If appropriate, this may take the form of an optional period in a relevant overseas location. Most students on this course undertake projects overseas. Students undertaking projects overseas will require additional funding of up to £1,500 to cover costs involved.
Titles of some of the recent summer projects completed by students on this MSc.
Entrance Requirements
A student must normally satisfy the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine general entrance requirements and the additional programme specific entrance requirements as follows:
The normal minimum entrance qualification for registration at the School on a Masters programme is at least one of the following:
• a second-class honours degree of a UK university, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard, in a subject appropriate to that of the course of study to be followed: applicants with a strong academic background in ancillary subjects will also be considered
• a registerable qualification appropriate to the course of study to be followed, in medicine, dentistry or veterinary studies
Additional preferred requirements for the MSc Control of Infectious Diseases are:
• an appropriate technical qualification, or equivalent qualification and experience from overseas may also be considered
• some prior public health/overseas experience is advantageous and will be considered but is not necessarily a prerequisite for entry to this course
Any student who does not meet the minimum entry requirement of a second-class honours degree or equivalent qualification but who has relevant professional experience may still be eligible for admission. They should contact the Registry who can assess their eligibility to apply.
Application for London-based Study
Applications can be made online by using the following links:
- MSc Control of Infectious Diseases 2013/4 (Full time)
- MSc Control of Infectious Diseases 2013/4 (Split study)
Alternatively, applications can be downloaded here:
Paper applications should be sent either by post to The Registry, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom or by email to registry@lshtm.ac.uk
Instructions on how to complete these forms and an outline of the application process are available with the relevant Application Forms or by viewing the Online Application Guidelines.
Please note: You must send a copy of the personal details and photograph page of your passport with your application form.
Your application will not be considered until you have provided the above documents.
Masters Courses
Applicants wishing to be considered for School scholarships are advised to apply by 1 March 2013. Please note that this is not a closing date. Although we accept applications all year round, other applicants are also advised to apply before this date as courses can become full rapidly. While early application is encouraged, late applications are always considered until all places on the course have been filled. All applicants should be able to start the course on the first day of the academic year, 30 September 2013.
All Masters courses are offered on a part-time basis over two years. Students interested in part-time study should contact the appropriate Course Organiser, via the Registry, to discuss course requirements and likely timetables, and should read the Masters degree information.
There are two ways of undertaking part-time study:
1) attending part-time throughout the two years: Students need to be available for up to four or five half days every week for 27 weeks per year. Evidence may be required to prove that applicants are able to commit this minimum period of time to their study
2) attending full-time for modules in the first two terms in Year 1 (September-March), and undertaking third term modules, exams and project in Year 2 (April - September). Such an option may be attractive to applicants who are unable to be released from employment for a continuous twelve-month period. This option is called split study.
All courses commence on 30 September 2013 and last one year for full-time study or two years for part-time study.
