Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education

Entry requirements

Undergraduate degree in Medicine, Dentistry or related health profession. Applicants must be able to access opportunities to teach/support learning.

If English is not your native or first language, you must evidence your ability to write Masters-Level academic assignments, regardless of your country of residence. This can be done by providing an IELTS certificate (Overall 7.0, with minimum 7 in reading and writing). You must ensure that your personal statement demonstrates your ability to produce an accurately-written explanation of your reasons for applying.

Months of entry

January, September

Course content

This part-time, fully online Master’s level programme is designed for UK and international healthcare professionals interested and involved in education and training. There are growing expectations that those with educational roles and responsibilities should engage in professional development to enable them to model and uphold the highest standards. Our flexible programme which offers you the chance to study at times which work for you, will provide you with the skills and knowledge you need to deliver outstanding health professions teaching, assessment, and course design.

This programme provides a sound educational foundation for professionals from across the health professions who support undergraduate students and/or postgraduate trainees’ learning in Higher and Professional Education settings, including the clinical workplace. Through our core and option modules, you will develop an understanding of the key principles of effective teaching, learning, and assessment as they relate to your own practice. Our option modules focus on clinical teaching, supervision, and work-based learning, lending a unique practical focus to the PGCME that should help you excel as a clinical educator. We cover several topics of contemporary interest within health professions education (such as technology enhanced learning, developments in simulation, mentoring and supporting learners in difficulty) not commonly included in generic programmes.

The programme has been designed in collaboration with clinicians and other healthcare professionals. As a result, the structure of the programme allows students flexibility over module choice and when they study, minimising the potential for service disruption and allowing students to develop areas of expertise relevant to their role responsibilities.

We aim to produce graduates who are able to:

• create welcoming, safe, and purposeful learning environments
• design and deliver engaging and effective teaching, learning, and assessment activities
• have purposeful, developmental conversations with learners that support their personal and professional career development
• have a sound grasp of key educational theories and concepts, drawing on these to develop and critique their own and others’ educational practice
• adopt a critically reflective and reflexive approach to medical education and training.

Course accreditation

The programme is accredited by the Academy of Medical Educators (AoME),, in recognition of the high quality of teaching and feedback provided on the programme. AoME is a multiprofessional organisation that sets standards for clinical teachers in the UK. As our course is accredited by AoME, upon successful completion of the PGCME, students can apply for membership of AoME, which entitles them to use the postnominals MAcadMEd, an achievement which demonstrates they have met AoME’s professional standards for clinical teachers in health professions education.

What students tell us

We receive consistently excellent feedback from our students across all modules.

“Overall, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how engaging and motivating an online course can be. I chose the course because I didn’t think I’d be able to make regular fixed times for teaching but wasn’t optimistic about how much I’d learn. There seems to be a really good balance between reading, activities and forum discussions. All of this is backed up by very engaged and responsive tutors which means that the course feels very much “live” despite being completed in our own time.”

“It has been a wonderful opportunity; I have been exposed to new information and key concepts in education. Having the course being held online has helped me better manage my time and has made it easier for me to complete the course, in comparison to the course being held in person. I appreciate how available both the tutors were throughout the course always being there for us.”

Modules

All our modules offer learners the chance to engage with educational content in a variety of ways. Learning activities across the below modules include: reviewing video and audio recordings; live and recorded online presentations; directed reading; live evening seminars; one-to-one tutorials; written reflections; engaging in our online discussion forum; a journal club activity; peer observation of teaching; and lesson planning. There is a mixture of asynchronous and synchronous content and activities to cater to a wide variety of learning needs and work around busy clinical schedules.

Core Module

• Medical Education: Principles and Practice

Option Modules

• Approaches to Clinical Teaching and Effective Supervision; or
• Learning in Clinical Teams: Simulation and Work-based Learning

Fees and funding

Assessment