This online Postgraduate Diploma adopts the perspectives of the humanities and social sciences to gain a deeper understanding of the human experience as it relates to health and illness.
This exciting and challenging online course applies the knowledge and insight of the humanities and social sciences to gain a deeper understanding of what is meant by health and illness outside of a medical context and, in particular, to analyse how our thoughts and physical experiences become recognised as symptoms.
The course provides Masters-level education across four modules and leads to a postgraduate qualification in nine months full-time or 18 months part-time. It is suitable if you studied subjects such as Anthropology, English, Geography, Law, Modern Languages and Cultures, Philosophy, Sociology, and related disciplines at undergraduate level. You may also benefit if you have a background in health and social care and are looking to bring humanities and social sciences perspectives to bear in your professional practice.
You will study two core modules from the Medical Humanities MA: Concepts and Frameworks in the Critical Medical Humanities, and Reimagining Health Research, with the remaining modules chosen from a number of options.
As you progress through the course you will learn about key health challenges, focusing on debates about the wider social, political and economic environments in which health, illness and medicine are situated. You will also develop advanced skills in interpreting and using different kinds of data, from textual and material sources to data gathered through qualitative methods.
The course is led by the University’s Institute for Medical Humanities and the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and you will be taught by specialists from across the University. The interdisciplinary nature of the course provides a fascinating and comprehensive introduction to the wide range of approaches to health taken by different academic disciplines.
Upon completion, you may have the option of applying to the MA, where you will research and write a dissertation.
When you enrol on this course, you will become a member of the Postgraduate and Early Career Researchers (PGECR) network in Medical Humanities, which organises regular seminars, conferences and social events.
Course structure
Core modules:
Concepts and Frameworks in the Critical Medical Humanities provides advanced training in the interdisciplinary field of critical medical humanities and strengthens your understanding of both its development from the less complex context of initial medical humanities study and its distinct contribution to health research and current challenges. This module will also build your knowledge of concepts, theories and approaches essential to research in the critical medical humanities.
Reimagining Health Research: Methodologies in the Critical Medical Humanities equips you with the advanced knowledge and skills needed to critically appraise key health research methodologies used in the critical medical humanities. This module will enhance your ability to assess ideas and evidence from a variety of sources and then choose, justify, or critique work done across key disciplines. It will also encourage you to be reflective and review your own existing competences as well as nurture your ability to work across disciplines.
Teaching is delivered entirely online through lectures, workshops and scaffolded learning assignments – the latter format being where large-scale topics are broken down into smaller units which are delivered online with subject experts and discussed collaboratively with peers.
For some modules you will also form online study groups with other students to work on group projects. You will also be supported through a number of in-person meetings with your tutor.
Assessment of the Postgraduate Diploma comes in a variety of formats and is designed to challenge you. You will be expected to produce essays, annotated bibliography entries, critical commentaries, a project proposal and Student Devised Assessments (SDA) when you will deliver your study findings using creative and context-appropriate methods.
It also includes assessed group work. The module in research methods includes a presentation followed by written peer reviews evaluating your own and other project proposals.
Entry requirements
At least one of the following:
A 2:1 undergraduate degree
Active enrolment on an intercalated UG/PG medical degree programme
At least three years work in a professional environment with relevance to health and/or medicine (e.g. clinical, NGO, policy, care work, etc)
A 500-word personal statement which should include the following:
An outline of your interest in a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Humanities
What skills and knowledge you would bring to the course
What skills and knowledge you would hope to acquire
Two professional and/or academic references from people who are familiar with your work, commenting on your suitability for the programme.
The tuition fees for 2025/26 academic year have not yet been finalised, they will be displayed here once approved.
The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and remain the same throughout the duration of the programme for that cohort (unless otherwise stated).
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