MSc (Preventive Cardiology)

Course Overview

Multidisciplinary approaches to cardiovascular health and lifestyle medicine are the cornerstone of preventive cardiology practice. This postgraduate programme equips students with the knowledge and skills required to make meaningful contributions to primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention both at an individual level as well as within populations. Whilst the main focus is cardiovascular and pulmonary disease prevention and rehabilitation, key learning outcomes achieved apply to non-communicable diseases and chronic disease management more widely. This course remains one of the only of its kind worldwide offering a strong component of translational science where gains in knowledge and research skills are applied to clinical practice.

Unique features of this programme include:

• Flexible learning: The course uses a dual delivery approach (with a fully online option available by incorporating scheduled tutorials and workshops coupled with the directed study. This enables students to simultaneously maintain professional roles in clinical practice or manage other commitments whilst completing their studies.
• Delivered in partnership with the National Institute for Prevention and Cardiovascular Health (NIPC: This partnership enables an exceptional opportunity for students to interact with leading experts as well as engage in cutting-edge research and further opportunities in preventive cardiology.
• Interdisciplinary expert teaching faculty: Students from a variety of backgrounds from all over the world interact with international leaders and clinical specialists from medicine, nursing, nutrition, exercise, psychology, and public health.

As reflected within the speciality of preventive cardiology, this course is interdisciplinary in nature and designed predominantly for health care practitioners. The course addresses the latest evidence-based development and practical use of cardiovascular disease risk estimation tools, implementation of best-practice guidelines and healthcare policy, behavioural change strategies, lifestyle approaches to risk factor modification, psychosocial health, and medical management of risk factors including hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and smoking. Outcome measures, health technology, and innovation in service design also feature strongly There is also a specialist pathway in cardiac rehabilitation available as an option for practitioners with a specific interest in secondary prevention.

This programme aims to provide medical doctors from all settings, nurses, physiotherapists, dietitians, psychologists, occupational therapists, podiatrists and other allied professions with knowledge and skills to provide high-quality patient care as well as an array of career opportunities in clinical service transformation, research, academia, and industry. Students are supervised in designing an original research project which addresses a specific research question in any aspect of preventive cardiology. Contributors are drawn from clinical departments at the University Hospital Galway, scientific and healthcare disciplines at the University of Galway, the Croí clinical team, and an array of established national and international partnerships.

Scholarships available
Find out about our Postgraduate Scholarships here.

Successful applicants will possess at least a Second Class Honours, Grade 1 degree (or equivalent) in a health care discipline or related subject area (e.g., medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, dietetics, sport and exercise science, clinical or health psychology, pharmacology, health scientist, health promotion, public health, etc). For those who do not hold a primary degree at the required level, a special case will be made if they have demonstrated an aptitude for the course material through at least three years of high-quality work experience in a relevant field of cardiovascular health.

Entry to the Master’s programme is conditional upon achieving at least 60% in the core compulsory modules of the Postgraduate Diploma that take place in Semester 1. Candidates coming to Ireland from abroad or who do not have a degree from Ireland, or the UK will be asked to provide evidence of an acceptable result in one of the recognised English language proficiency tests, e.g., IELTS total score of 6.5 (or equivalent). Prospective candidates may be interviewed as part of the selection process. This usually takes place remotely via telephone, Teams or Zoom.

Graduates of this course will be positioned as leaders in cardiovascular disease prevention and will find ample opportunities to apply their learning across a variety of clinical settings in both primary and secondary care. There will also be employment opportunities in public health, health promotion, healthcare management, academic and research settings, and the pharmaceutical industry. Clinician graduates will benefit from career advancement within their chosen disciplines. Master’s students completing the 5,000-word ready-for-publication dissertation will be supported in preparing their work for submission to a peer-reviewed journal, which will further augment their career prospects.

About you (i.e., the prospective student)

Are you interested in the risk factors which underlie cardiovascular disease? Are you motivated to prevent cardiovascular disease rather than merely treating its manifestations? Do you want to provide effective self-management support to individuals living with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other related long-term conditions? Do you want to influence national healthcare policy by demonstrating the patient and economic benefits of cardiovascular disease prevention? If so, then preventive cardiology may be the course for you!

Why choose the University of Galway?

At the University of Galway, we take pride in working closely with postgraduate students to develop their fullest potential. We understand the challenges of combining your personal and professional lives with a postgraduate programme and we work hard to support you in every way on this journey. The excellent course materials and innovative e-learning platform will enable you to make optimum use of your private study time. University of Galway’s unique collaboration with NIPC and Croí means that up-to-date, relevant information will always be close at hand, and you will get to appreciate the translation of evidence-based preventive cardiology into clinical practice.