PDIP
PG Dip Medical Humanities (Online)
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.
How to apply Apply via UCAS
Course details
Start date
Degree Type
PDIP
Program Code
Q3KF12
Course length
9 months full-time, 18 months part-time
Typical offer
Tuition Fees
- Home (Full-time): £9,200 per year
- Overseas (Full-time): £20,200 per year
Overview
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. 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 details
Start date
Degree Type
PDIP
Program Code
Q3KF12
Course length
9 months full-time, 18 months part-time
Typical offer
Tuition Fees
- Home (Full-time): £9,200 per year
- Overseas (Full-time): £20,200 per year
What you'll study
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.
Core modules
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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.
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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.
Optional modules
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In recent years optional modules have included: Illness as Narrative PracticeContemporary Issues in Medical LawNeurodiversity and the Humanities
Learning
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
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
Fees & Funding
Choose which fees you want to see:
Home / Island students
£9,200 per year
International / EU Students
£20,200 per year
Home / Island students
Part Time - £9,200 per year
International / EU Students
Part Time - £20,200 per year
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).
Find out moreDepartment Information
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From health and the human experience to responses to the environmental crisis, our flexible and accessible postgraduate qualifications are centred around areas that are highly relevant in the world today. These innovative qualifications in Environmental Humanities and Medical Humanities take a non-scientific approach to real-world challenges, considering them from a range of social, historical, ethical and anthropological perspectives. Our courses extend beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries, drawing on methods and insights from the arts, humanities, social sciences and the natural sciences to develop effective responses to climate and environmental crises and to health and wellbeing challenges. Students learn directly from many of the UK’s leading academic experts in these rapidly developing fields. Our team takes a collaborative approach that enables more effective communication across disciplines to address the intersecting nature of these problems. All of our courses, from postgraduate certificate through to MA, are designed to nurture thoughtful, critical and engaged graduates who are equipped with the academic knowledge and skills to make a meaningful contribution in a rapidly changing and complex world. For more information see our department pages.
Read moreFacilities
The interdisciplinary nature of our courses combined with the flexibility in modules gives our students access to a range of teaching and learning facilities across the wider University as well as the specialist archives and collections in arts and humanities. These facilities are located throughout Durham within easy access of the historic city centre with its castle and cathedral and beautiful riverside. We are home to a number of related research centres and institutes including the Centre for Culture and Ecology, a group of researchers who explore the effects of changing climate on the location, abundance, behaviour and physiology of populations and communities. The Institute of Medical Humanities is a pioneering research institute that explores the everyday experiences of health and illness from the emergence of symptoms to the cultural contexts and constructs of health.
Find out more -
