Postgraduate Prospectus

www.essex.ac.uk/hhs | Health and Human Sciences
or social care context. It would be most
useful if you are part of the broader public
health workforce but do not have a clinical
background.
Entry requirements are:
n Good undergraduate degree or
equivalent;
n IELTS 6.5 or equivalent.
Postgraduate Certificate in Psychological
Wellbeing Practitioner (Improving Access
to Psychological Therapies, Low-Intensity
Therapy)•
This course enables you to address
common mental health problems
(anxiety and depression) and the use of
evidence-based practices for such issues.
You are provided with training aimed
at the implementation of packages of
cognitive-behaviour therapy (eg supported
self-help) and an understanding of common
pharmacological approaches to care. The
primary aim of this role is to assist in clinical
improvement and social inclusion, such as
people returning to work. Our course will
lead to you being able to register as a
psychological wellbeing practitioner with
the British Association for Behavioural and
Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP).
Entry requirements are:
n Relevant undergraduate degree or
equivalent;
n Relevant professional qualification
(nursing, clinical psychology, social work,
occupational therapy or counselling);
n Acceptance on an IAPT trainee position
through your local primary care trust.
Professional doctorates
Professional doctorates are specialist
qualifications appropriate if you are
in, or aspiring to, senior professional
appointments in practice, education or
management. Completion requires you to
demonstrate unification, at the highest level,
of theory and practice within a professional
context. Such a qualification assesses your
ability to perform at the level of ‘expert’
within a chosen field.
Our programmes can be studied flexibly
between four and seven years. Decisions
about the duration of the study period are
based on your individual need and funded
support. Each programme comprises
three elements:
Taught modules – you complete a research
methods module to underpin subsequent
research work. You are guided in selecting
further module(s) to meet identified deficits
within your knowledge base.
Work-based learning – you create
portfolios of learning chronicling the
development of expert practice. These are
constructed from the specialist application
of generic outcomes in areas such as risk
and diagnostic reasoning.
Original research through a doctoral-level
dissertation – you undertake a dissertation
of 40,000 words on a subject relevant to
your area of practice.
Professional doctorates in Health
and Social Care•
Professional doctorates are awarded in
named areas of health and social care.
Within our School, these include:
n Clinical Psychology*•
n Counselling Psychology*•
n Health and Social Care Education•
n Health Service Management•
n Occupational Therapy•
n Physiotherapy•
n Public Health•
n Social Care Practice Management•
n Social Services Management•
n Speech and Language Therapy*•
Entry requirements are:
n Current registration with a professional
regulatory body, where appropriate;
n Current employment in a senior
position as a manager or practitioner
within a health or social care
organisation, as appropriate;
n Masters qualification (or equivalent).
Research study
We have research interest groups in
‘Developing Professional Practice’ and
‘Applied Health Research’. Examples
of current research projects are those
addressing social exclusion and health
inequality from both a micro perspective,
focused on vulnerable residents living in
bedsits, to analyses of national databases
to identify causes of health inequality.
We have a number of studies that focus
on mental health and optimal treatment
pathways or therapies, while patient benefit
is the aim of much of our research, through
better understanding and dissemination
of the patient experience.
About our research degrees
We offer supervision for the degree of
MSc by dissertation• and for the degrees
of MPhil• and PhD•, including Health
Studies, Public Health, Nursing Studies,
Occupational Health or Social Policy.
We offer interdisciplinary PhD programmes
which form part of an accredited Doctoral
Training Centre of the ESRC at Essex.
Research areas
Research supervision is available in the
following fields:
n Analysis of large scale surveys
n Approaches to pain management
n Child and adolescent mental health
n Children with special educational needs
n Clinical decision making
n Clinical psychology
n Cognitive behavioural therapy
n Consumerism and consumption in
health care
n Cross-cultural mental health
n Educational psychology
n Evaluation of psychological treatments
n Health-related social movements
n Health-related stigma
n Health services research
n Housing and health
n How life events and conditions
influence health
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