Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education

This part-time, Master’s level programme is designed for healthcare professionals involved in medical education and training. There are growing expectations that those with educational roles and responsibilities should engage in professional development activity to enable them to model and uphold the highest standards.

This programme provides a sound foundation for clinicians and clinical academics who support undergraduate medical students and/or postgraduate trainees’ learning in Higher and Professional Education settings, including the clinical workplace.

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

This programme aims to produce graduates who:

• 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

Modules

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

How To Apply

If you’re considering applying to the University we’d encourage you to visit us if you can, either before or after making your application.

We welcome applications directly via our online application form which can be accessed from the Apply button at the top of this page. Apply by 14 August 2020 for September 2020 start.

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

International students

If English is not a student’s native language, they are expected to have passed a recognised test in English to the level of IELTS 7.0 or equivalent (with not less than 7.0 in each component).

Delivered through a blended learning approach, students will attend contact days to be introduced to topics and key concepts, then utilise Moodle, our Virtual Learning Environment, to consolidate and extend their thinking.

All modules contain a literature-based assessment activity and students are expected to read widely and critically throughout the programme. All modules require written reflections as self-directed task-based activity; there are a number of self-directed tasks which require students to design, implement and evaluate authentic clinical teaching/supervision activities with one or more learners in a range of contexts.

In addition, each of the three modules has an assessment task which requires students to review their own practice and suggest changes with a rationale. In the core module this is based on tutor observation of teaching, while in the optional units, this is based on recorded sessions that students self-critique, as well as further teaching observations. We see feedback as a central part of the learning process.

Contact Days

• Core Module: 3 full days and 3 3-hour evening seminars
• Optional Modules: four contact days each

This structure ensures that students can personalise their programme to align with their professional interests and development needs, whilst still meeting the professional standards of two accrediting bodies, AdvanceHE and the Academy of Medical Educators, and those of the GMC.

2020 September intake dates for core modules:

• Thursday 3 September – 8.30 am – 5.00 pm
• Friday 4 September – 8.30 am – 5.00 pm
• Saturday 5 September – 8.30 am – 5.00 pm
• Monday 21 September – 6.00 pm – 9.00 pm
• Tuesday 29 September – 6.00 pm – 9.00 pm
• Wednesday 14 October – 6.00 pm – 9.00 pm

Dates for Option modules to be confirmed.

Upon successful completion of the programme you will be eligible for membership of the Academy of Medical Educators (AoME) and for Fellowship status of Advanced HE.

This fee is payable in full in advance. The University accepts letters of support from sponsors.

Apply directly

You can apply directly using our online application form – all you need to do is click the ‘apply’ button at the top of this page.

Help and support

If you need any help making your application or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch by email, or by phone on +44 (0)1280 820227. We are available between 09:00 and 17:00, Monday to Friday.

You may find it useful to download these great tips from Which University? on writing your personal statement.

Current applicants

If you would like to make any changes to your current application, please contact admissions@buckingham.ac.uk (and make sure you have your application number ready!).