Clinical Microbiology MSc

Specifically designed for those who have a medical background, this Clinical Microbiology MSc will give you the cross-disciplinary skills and knowledge you need to describe, understand and practice advanced-level research. This course delivers a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of medical microbiology and professional practice.

You’ll be taught by world-leading experts, internationally recognised for their cutting-edge research in microbiology. Many of the lectures are given by guest speakers who are acknowledged experts in their field from within the NHS and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). This ensures the course remains up to date and relevant to your future career and also enables you to develop a strong network of contacts. You will learn alongside Clinical and Biomedical scientists enabling you to learn in a fully interdisciplinary environment.

The course covers a wide range of fascinating topics such as molecular biology, advanced clinical microbiology, pathogenesis and communicable disease, while honing in on laboratory management skills as well as current policy, theory and practice.

We place particular emphasis on real-world application, and you will be based at the Whitechapel campus of the medical and dental faculty. Practical classes are taught in the purpose-built teaching laboratory, which is based on a routine clinical microbiology laboratory and has received an award for sustainability. Here, you will gain a practical understanding of techniques applicable to your own research or advanced scholarship. You will also acquire the ability to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.

Graduation from this course allows you to apply your knowledge directly to the field. It sets you up to work in research-focused positions such as consultant clinical microbiologists.

For example, a graduate of this course has gone on to become the Head of the Microbiology Unit in the Pathology and Microbiology Department, at the University Teaching Hospital, Zambia.

Students of our biomedical science courses have also gone on to work at the NHS, Health Services Laboratories, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Medical Health Care Regulatory Agency, and Singapore General Hospital.

The programme is also a stepping-stone for those who wish to apply for Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath).