The Master of Studies in Clinical Medicine is the final year of a three year flexible study programme consisting of a suite of part-time courses designed to enhance the specialist skills of senior healthcare professionals in training and broaden their understanding in healthcare education, research, leadership and management. It is suited for doctors, dentists, nurses and allied health professionals.
The course is only open to learners who have successfully studied the Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Medicine at Cambridge and builds on the subjects studied during the Certificate and Diploma years: Clinical research, Education and Leadership in year one, Healthcare Law, Advanced Leadership and Healthcare Informatics in year two.
The programme has been developed by Cambridge University Health Partners in conjunction with the School of Clinical Medicine and University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education (PACE). It is taught part-time and is designed to be flexible and accessible to working healthcare professionals contributing towards research and professional development through reinforcement of Good Clinical Practice (GCP).
This final year of the programme focuses on providing the skills and training to deliver a high quality dissertation in an area of clinical knowledge and training studied earlier in the programme.
We plan to offer the following modules for standalone CPPD study (not for credit) in 2025-26:
- Clinical leadership
- Clinical research
- Clinical education
- Advanced clinical leadership
- Healthcare law
- Healthcare informatics
Course Dates
Course details
Tutors
Key Features
Educational Aims
All parts of the course - the Postgraduate Certificate, the Postgraduate Diploma, and the Master of Studies - are delivered with the following overarching educational aims:
- provide professionally relevant teaching and learning informed by research in an integrated clinical and teaching environment
- create an international cohort of consultants, GPs, dentists and other healthcare professionals able to pursue and develop their roles in a rapidly-changing and challenging environment of clinical medicine
- develop the confidence within this cohort to lead service improvement for safe and high quality patient care, with the required knowledge, skills and capability to have a positive personal impact on the work of others in their clinical team and wider service
- develop clinicians with an understanding of teaching, professional development and assessment in the field of clinical medicine
- develop clinicians with an understanding of research methodologies and ethical considerations relevant to clinical medicine
- encourage participants to develop as reflective practitioners with the emotional intelligence, resilience and astuteness required to be effective clinical leaders
- encourage a commitment to intellectual challenge and evidence-based clinical practice informed by the latest conceptual and theoretical knowledge of medical education, research methods, ethics and clinical leadership and governance
The combined programme will permit students to:
- develop the knowledge and critical understanding of recent developments in clinical medicine directly relevant to their future roles as tertiary centre consultants
- develop the knowledge and understanding of teaching and assessment strategies for complex concepts and themes informed by research in a rapidly changing integrated clinical and teaching environment
- enable deployment of new knowledge in their clinical practice and to have a positive personal impact on the work of others in their clinical team and wider service
- develop the knowledge of leadership models and their abilities and confidence as healthcare leaders of service improvement for safe and high quality patient care
- update and extend an understanding of research methodologies and ethical considerations
- ensure a systems based approach to the critical analysis and development of improvements in healthcare systems
- provide work-relevant learning around current problems, best-practice, challenges and potential solutions in clinical leadership and education
- critical engagement with and evaluation of the evidence base for effective clinical practice and measurement of outcomes
- develop extensive knowledge and deep understanding of a specialised field within clinical medicine (MSt via dissertation)
- demonstrate detailed understanding of contemporary and future trends and issues in clinical research, education, leadership and for PgDip/MSt students healthcare data and law, and their implications for clinical practice
- advanced awareness of self and identity as a clinical leader and the impact of culture, values and ethics on advanced clinical leadership (PgDip/MSt)
- advanced knowledge of research methodology (MSt)
Student Support
Depending upon your needs, a variety of support opportunities are available to you including wellbeing support sessions, short-term counselling, and study skills support sessions. Find out more in our student support webpages.
Applicants to the MSt in Clinical Medicine will be required to have completed and passed the Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Medicine before starting their studies.
Academic requirement
Applicants for this course are expected to have achieved a UK 2.i honours degree or equivalent.
If your degree is not from the UK, please check International Qualifications to find the equivalent in your country.
Language requirement
If English isn’t your first language, you will be required to submit evidence that you meet the University’s English language requirement before you are admitted.
Please see full details on the University Language Requirement webpage.
Language requirements for this course are below:
- IELTS Academic: Overall band score of 7.5 (with a minimum of 7.0 in each individual component)
- TOEFL Internet: Overall score of 110 (a minimum of 25 in each individual component)
- C1 Advanced: Grade A or B (with at least 193 in each individual element), plus a Language Centre assessment.
- C2 Proficiency: Grade A, B, or C (with at least 200, with no element lower than 185)
There are no exceptions to this requirement and, if you are offered a place on the course, it will be subject to you meeting this requirement.
Visa information
Students registered on a part-time Master of Studies (MSt) will be able to attend the short teaching sessions with a visitor status in the UK. Entry to the UK as a visitor has a number of expectations and restrictions which you should consider carefully.
Further information is provided on the International Students website and prospective students are advised to read this in full.
Students attending sessions taking place at intervals across the year with a visitor status are expected not to remain in the UK for extended periods. The majority of study must be undertaken outside the UK and generally students will be required to leave the UK at the end of each session and return for the next. As a visitor on a course of more than 6 months, it is not possible to make the UK your main study location or residence, or make frequent or successive visits to stay in the UK for extended periods.
Teaching
This is a part-time course designed to fit with the demands of full-time employment.
The programme is delivered through a mix of in person and self-directed learning. Learners will attend in person teaching at the beginning of each Term. This teaching will cover the skills and methodology required to effectively engage in independent learning and a dissertation in the chosen area of Clinical Medicine. This will include guidance on formulating a viable research question, choosing a topic and appropriate methodology, conducting a project, structuring and writing a dissertation.
A strong emphasis is placed on experiential and interactive learning using individual and group activities. The development of a cohesive peer-learning network will be supported. Additional materials will be provided through the course Virtual Learning Environment.
Teaching dates may be subject to change.
Teaching delivery:
- Thursday 16th October 2025 & Friday 17th October (2 teaching days) – developing a research question, academic practice and skills
- Thursday 15th January 2026 & Friday 16th January 2026 January 2026 (2 teaching days) – proposal review and refinement; progressing your dissertation; peer presentations
- Thursday 9th April 2026 & Friday 10th April 2026 (2 teaching days) – peer feedback; dedicated writing sessions; advice and guidance on draft completion
- final submission deadline 31 July 2026
Supervision
Each learner will be assigned a dissertation supervisor who will be experienced in the area and/or methodology being studied as part of the dissertation. They will meet at least five times with the supervisor, either in person or remotely. These meetings will support development of the research question and methodology, acquisition and analysis of data and feedback on a single draft of the dissertation.
Assessment
The MSt course will be assessed through the production of a dissertation in an area related to one, or more, of the areas covered by Units 1-6 studied during the Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma. This may focus on areas such as the completion of a research project, the design and implementation of an educational activity, quality improvement or leadership project.
The fees for 2024 entry will be £6,545.00 per annum for Home students and £13,089.00 per annum for overseas students. The combined graduate fee includes College membership.
The fee can be paid across the two years of the course, normally in eight equal instalments. All fees for Year 1 must be paid in full in order to progress to Year 2.
You will be expected to cover the application fee (£50 online) and any costs of travel, accommodation and subsistence during the course and residential sessions in Cambridge.
In order to apply for the MSt in Clinical Medicine course, you need to have successfully completed the PG Certificate in Clinical Research Education and Leadership at PACE, progressing to then successfully complete the PG Diploma in Clinical Medicine.
When completing your application, please note the University restrictions and risks of using AI tools.
