Taught course

Medical Statistics

Institution
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine · Department of Epidemiology and Population Health
Qualifications
MSc

Entry requirements

In order to be admitted to an LSHTM master's degree programme, an applicant must:

  • hold either a first degree at Second Class Honours (2:2) standard in a relevant discipline, or a degree in medicine recognised by the UK General Medical Council (GMC) for the purposes of practising medicine in the UK, or another degree of equivalent standard awarded by an overseas institution recognised by UK ENIC or the GMC.

or

  • hold a professional qualification appropriate to the programme of study to be followed obtained by written examinations and judged by LSHTM to be equivalent to a Second Class Honours (2:2) degree or above.

or

  • have relevant professional experience or training which is judged by LSHTM to be equivalent to a Second Class Honours (2:2) degree or above.

If you have not previously studied in the UK, you can check our guide to international equivalent qualifications for our master's degrees.

For the MSc Medical Statistics it is preferred that students should normally have obtained a mathematically-based first degree which includes some statistics. Graduates from other fields who have quantitative skills and some familiarity with statistical ideas may also apply.

As part of the admissions process all suitable applicants will be invited to interview. Applicants who live overseas will be offered a video or telephone interview and those who live in the UK will be invited to LSHTM. We are also happy to interview UK applicants by video or telephone if preferred, due to work or study commitments.

We accept students from a variety of backgrounds, so a mathematics or statistics-related degree is not necessary in order to be accepted onto the MSc Medical Statistics. What is most important is a firm mathematical foundation. In particular, we require: a good working grasp of elementary calculus; familiarity with matrix algebra; and good working basic algebra, including logarithms and exponents. Some familiarity with elementary probability theory is also helpful.

Applicants who do not meet the minimum entry requirement, but who have relevant professional experience may still be eligible for admission. Qualifications and experience will be assessed from the application.

Intercalating students

You will need the equivalent of a bachelor's degree to undertake an MSc. This will usually require you to have a BSc degree or have completed the first three years of your medical degree. More information on intercalating an MSc at LSHTM.

Access and widening participation

At LSHTM we are committed to ensuring that students from all backgrounds feel encouraged to apply to study with us. To that end, we have introduced an innovative contextual admissions system that is designed to consider any barriers applicants may have faced and take account of the circumstances in which their grades have been achieved, rather than relying on results alone. More information on widening participation at LSHTM.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The programme trains students from a variety of academic backgrounds to work as statisticians in various sectors including higher education, research institutions, the pharmaceutical industry, central government and national health services. It provides training in the theory and practice of statistics with special reference to clinical trials, epidemiology and clinical or laboratory research.

Medical statisticians play a vital role in creating impact in global health and development. Their job involves the design of local, national, and global clinical studies, analysing data and interpreting results to identify the causes of a given disease, as well as measuring performance outcomes of hospitals and other organisations to gauge the health and wellbeing of populations on a large scale.

There is a shortage of well-trained medical statisticians and graduates from this programme are in high demand; employment opportunities are numerous and varied.

By the end of this programme students will be able to:

  • select appropriate study designs to address questions of medical relevance
  • select and apply appropriate statistical methods for analysing data typically encountered in medical applications, including binary, categorical, count, quantitative data; survival data; hierarchical data; data affected by measurement error and missingness
  • use a range of software packages to: organise and manage datasets; carry out statistical analysis; construct tables and figures; create programs to provide problem specific solutions
  • interpret correctly the results of statistical analyses and critically evaluate the use of statistics in the medical literature
  • communicate effectively with other statisticians and the wider medical community, including the ability to present results of statistical analyses through written and oral presentations
  • understand the principles behind statistical methods to allow future adoption and appreciation of new methodology, to develop problem specific solutions to new problems, and to provide a basis for the understanding of limitations and issues surrounding currently used methods

Information for international students

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, you will need to meet these requirements: Band B

Please see our English language requirements for more information.

Fees and funding

Information on all the scholarships we offer and how to apply to them can be found here. These pages are updated regularly as new scholarships become available. However, we recommend that students also look into alternative sources of funding.

Our fees can be found on the LSHTM website.

Qualification, course duration and attendance options

  • MSc
    part time
    24 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification
    full time
    12 months
    • Campus-based learningis available for this qualification

Course contact details

Name
Course Enquiries
Email
study@lshtm.ac.uk