Critical Care (Online Learning)

The MSc Critical Care Programme is aimed at anyone driven by a desire to improve outcomes for critically ill adults. Our tutors and students reflect the multidisciplinary nature of critical care. The clinical, academic, and professional themes of the programme aim to develop healthcare professionals who question, lead, and motivate others to achieve the best care for their patients. The programme has been designed and developed in partnership between the University of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

Who is the programme for?

We have designed the MSc Critical Care (online) programme for healthcare professionals who encounter critically ill adults in their daily practice. These professionals may include:

• nurses
• doctors in training
• senior doctors from all specialties
• allied health professionals (for example, pharmacists, physiotherapists, paramedics and dietitians)

Prospective students will often be working full-time in professional roles and need a flexible approach to study. The programme is therefore designed as a part-time, fully online, MSc programme.

Study options

You have the option of graduating after one, two, or three years with a postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma, or MSc respectively.

Alternatively, you can choose to study single or multiple courses via the Postgraduate Professional Development (PPD) scheme.

• More information about the PPD scheme

Programme overview

You will study core clinical subjects in Years 1 and 2 of the programme, covering, but not limited to:

• Recognition of critical illness
• Initial treatment and stabilisation
• Advanced organ system support
• Daily assessment and management of the critically ill adult
• Sepsis

This will provide you with a practical, and evidence-based knowledge base which can be immediately applied in the clinical setting.

Integrated into the programme is a graduated exposure to academic research practice in the core 'Unlocking the Literature' teaching theme. This starts in the second teaching block and builds over Years 1 and 2.

You will gain skills which will allow you to:

• access and appraise the biomedical literature which we hope will fuel your curiosity
• actively participate in clinical discussions on the programme and at the bedside

You will develop as an independent and critical thinker. You will be able to appraise primary and secondary research (research synthesis), and incorporate its findings into:

• personal practice
• guidelines
• work improvement

Electives

You will be able to customise your learning by choosing from elective courses as you progress through the programme.

Those who complete the full MSc programme will choose between the following two assessment options in Year 3:

• a supervised dissertation (systematic review, primary research project, comprehensive clinical guideline, or quality improvement project)
• a small critical care related project and four elective options from a range of relevant courses from across the University of Edinburgh

You will experience detailed coverage of the essentials of the clinical management of critically unwell adults through the compulsory elements of the programme.

At the same time, you will develop expertise in accessing, interpreting, and integrating the findings of clinical research into clinical care.

You will study core clinical subjects including, but not limited to:

• recognition and resuscitation of the critically unwell adult
• daily management of the critical care patient
• advanced organ support
• trauma
• toxicology
• burns
• sepsis

You will have the opportunity to customise your experience by selecting from a wide range of elective courses based on “Edinburgh Strengths”. These currently include:

• Neurological Critical Care
• Maternal Critical Care
• Cardiac Critical Care (for emergency and elective patients)
• Perioperative Critical Care
• Cutting Edge Critical Care: Research and Clinical Practice in a changing world
• Core Clinical Practice in Emergency Medicine
• Transplant Critical Care
• Critical Care Recovery
• Leading Change in the Acute Healthcare Setting

The MSc in Critical Care is a part-time, online programme taught over 3 years.

You can exit the programme after year 1 with a postgraduate certificate, year 2 with a postgraduate diploma or year 3 with a Masters in Science.

Under the PPD scheme, you can study single or multiple courses in the same block as it would run for the PGCert, PGDip, or MSc route.

Schedule of courses for PPD students

Critical care clinicians and academics in NHS Lothian and the University of Edinburgh will primarily deliver the teaching to you. However, international experts from other institutions will also contribute to your on the programme.

Year 1 - Postgraduate Certificate

Students will take six core courses.

Year 1 compulsory courses:

• Fundamentals of Organ Failure
• Unlocking the Literature: Clinical Trials
• Core Clinical Practice in Critical Care
• Trauma, Toxicology and Temperature
• Sepsis and Infection
• Human Factors in Critical Care

Year 2 - Postgraduate Diploma

You will take two core courses and three elective courses.

Year 2 compulsory courses:

• Advanced Critical Care
• Unlocking the Literature: Evidence to Practice

Year 2 elective courses include:

• Neurological Critical Care
• Maternal Critical Care
• Cardiac Critical Care
• Transplant Critical Care
• Core Clinical Practice in Emergency Medicine
• Cutting Edge Critical Care: Research and Clinical Practice in a changing world
• Critical Care Recovery
• Leading Change in the Acute Healthcare Setting

Year 3 - MSc

In order to attain the MSc award, you will complete a Masters dissertation.

There are two options available for students:

1. Complete a supervised dissertation (systematic review, primary research project, comprehensive clinical guideline, or quality improvement project)

OR

1. Select up to four relevant elective courses and conduct a Critical Care related independent project.

Award options

For information on award options currently being offered, please see the links provided in the table below.

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

Award Title Duration Study mode MSc Critical Care 3 Years Part-time Programme structure 2024/25 PgCert Critical Care 1 Year Part-time Programme structure 2024/25 PgDip Critical Care 2 Years Part-time Programme structure 2024/25 PgProfDev Critical Care Up to 2 Years Part-time Intermittent Study Programme structure 2024/25