Course information

The MSc in Health Psychology is a one-year taught programme run in collaboration with NHS Fife and the School of Medicine and the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at St Andrews. Upon successful completion, you will be equipped with the necessary skills to embark on your Stage 2 training or to facilitate research at MPhil or PhD level.

The programme is intended for graduate psychologists who wish to apply theoretical knowledge from their initial degree into a qualification that can launch them into a career of health psychology working for a health care provider, or into health-related research.

Highlights

• Completion of the course provides a Stage 1 Professional Training for Chartered Health Psychologist status with the British Psychological Society.
• Students have the opportunity for placements in clinical settings, participating in at least 12 placement visits.
  
• Students can access numerous labs including the Prep and Consultation labs (used for behavioural health related research) and the Simulation Lab at the School of Medicine (used for running experimental studies and conducting face-to-face or telephone interviews). 

Teaching format

The programme consists of two full-time semesters of taught modules followed by an independent research period culminating in the submission of a 5,000-word dissertation. On average, the Health Psychology cohort makes up around 10 to 12 students per year.

Students will take six compulsory modules. Teaching is delivered through:

• tutorials
• seminars
• individual supervision
• computer exercises
• practical observation.

Assessment approaches include:

• thesis
• peer-assessment
• written assignments
• presentations.

Students will have access to a broad, well-qualified and experienced team of academic and health psychologists from both Schools of Medicine and Psychology. In addition, students will be assigned a supervisor who will provide advice and support on the research dissertation project.

Further particulars regarding curriculum development.

Modules

The modules in this programme have varying methods of delivery and assessment. For more details about each module, including weekly contact hours, teaching methods and assessment, please see the latest module catalogue, which is for the 2016–2017 academic year and therefore some elements may be subject to change for 2017 entry.

Compulsory modules

Semester 1 

• Theories of Health Psychology and Behaviour Change: covers the context and perspectives of health psychology including an historical overview and current theories and approaches in health psychology.
• Quality of Life, Communication and Chronic Illness: quality of life in health care settings, and the issues of caring for an increasing number of patients within modern health services with chronic conditions. 

Semester 2 

• Biological Systems and Development: introduces the importance of biological and developmental systems to the understanding of people's perceived and actual health status including methods of assessing health behaviour and intervening to change health behaviour.
• Health Information, Prevention and Decision Making: the issues of provision of information and surrounding the decisions made by the general public about thier health care.
• Methods of Data Analysis in Psychology: advanced training in common statistics, qualitative methods and statistical modeling.

Whole year

• Generic Research and Professional Skills in Psychology: introduces students to the various skills and issues that are of importance to academic psychologists irrespective of their particular area of research.

The modules listed ran in the academic year 2016–2017 and are indicative of this course. There is no guarantee that these modules will run for 2017 entry. Take a look at the most up-to-date modules in the module catalogue.

Research project and dissertation

Students will conduct and report a research project from a health psychology perspective. Projects may comprise field and/or laboratory-based studies. The research project will be planned during both academic semesters and conducted during the summer. It will involve two to three months data collection and will be written up as a 5000-word dissertation, in appropriate scientific journal style, to be submitted by a date specified in August. Students will be assigned a supervisor who will provide guidance during the planning, research and writing phases.

If students choose not to complete the dissertation requirement for the MSc, there is an exit award available that allows suitably qualified candidates to receive a Postgraduate Diploma. By choosing an exit award, you will finish your degree at the end of the second semester of study and receive a PGDip instead of an MSc.

Conferences and events

The School of Medicine has a busy programme of conferences, workshops and visiting speakers from universities in the UK and from abroad.

The School of Psychology and Neuroscience hosts a weekly seminar programme. These seminars include public lectures, open school discussions and papers presented by a variety of guest lecturers from the UK and abroad. Following the seminar, a wine reception is held in the staff common room.

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Admission to the University of St Andrews is governed by our Admissions policy.

Curriculum development

As a research intensive institution, the University ensures that its teaching references the research interests of its staff, which may change from time to time. As a result, programmes are regularly reviewed with the aim of enhancing students' learning experience. Our approach to course revision is described online. (PDF, 72 KB).

Tuition fees

The University will clarify compulsory fees and charges it requires any student to pay at the time of offer. The offer will also clarify conditions for any variation of fees. The University’s approach to fee setting is described online. (PDF, 84 KB).