Postgraduate Diploma (flexible) in Genomic Medicine

The overall educational aims of the programme are to:

• provide professionally relevant teaching and learning informed by research in an integrated clinical and research environment;
• develop and create a cohort of doctors and other professionals allied to medicine able to pursue and develop their roles in the rapidly-changing and challenging environment of genomic medicine;
• prepare healthcare professionals for the adoption of genomic technologies and the increasing use of genomic information as part of the diagnostic and treatment pathway;
• develop researchers competent in the use of genomic technologies for biomedical research;
• develop a cohort of health care professionals with the ability and confidence to lead service improvement for safe and high-quality patient care;
• develop a cohort of health care professionals allied to medicine with an understanding of research methodologies and clinical opportunities relevant to genomic medicine;
• encourage a commitment to intellectual challenge and evidence-based clinical practice informed by the latest conceptual and theoretical knowledge of genomic medicine;
• develop students' intellectual, practical and transferable skills related to genomic medicine;
• encourage critical thinking related to genomic medicine;
• prepare students for undertaking research degrees (PhD) in genomic medicine-related research fields;
• provide students from the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other industries with an understanding of the relevance of advances in genomics for current and future health care.

Learning Outcomes

The over-arching learning outcomes are:

Knowledge and understanding

• To enhance the students’ knowledge and critical understanding of recent developments in genomic medicine relevant to their present and future roles.
• To develop students’ knowledge and understanding of genomic medicine informed by research in a rapidly-changing integrated clinical and research environment.
• To enable deployment of new knowledge in their clinical practice, and to have a positive personal impact on the work of others in their clinical team and wider service.
• To develop an understanding of genomic technologies and to be able to use genomic information as part of the diagnostic and treatment pathway.
• To develop students’ knowledge so that they have the confidence to lead service improvement for safe and high quality patient care.
• To update and extend students’ understanding of research methodologies and clinical opportunities.
• To demonstrate knowledge, abilities and skills to engage in focused, professionally-relevant, independent learning.

Skills and other attributes

• The skills necessary to locate, read, interpret and analyse primary and secondary sources of material enabling the development of a conceptual and theoretical understanding of recent developments in genomic medicine.
• Skills to evaluate current scholarship and research critically and to place this knowledge within the context of their own situation and practice as clinical leaders.

Learning support 

We welcome learners of all backgrounds and abilities at the Institute of Continuing Education (ICE), and for this reason we have robust learning support in place for any student who needs it.

The Accessibility & Disability Resource Centre (ADRC) provides advice, guidance, and resources to disabled students on ICE award-bearing undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

If you have a disability or medical condition including a mental health condition, then please indicate this on your application form so we can work with you on supporting your studies. If you would like to access support from the ADRC please complete their online Student Information Form as soon as possible. If you are able to, please upload your evidence (written in English) within the Student Information Form where prompted. The following links to guidance on medical evidence or diagnostic evidence will help to answer any questions you may have. 

If you have any questions concerning disability support then please contact the ADRC NMS team via adrc.nms@admin.cam.ac.uk or view their website via https://www.disability.admin.cam.ac.uk/non-matriculated-students

You can also disclose a disability at any time during your course by contacting either the ADRC NMS team, or ICE’s Student Support team via da@ice.cam.ac.uk

Student wellbeing is a key priority at ICE, and we have a dedicated Student Support team who can provide wellbeing support and guidance. Please contact the team via studentwelfare@ice.cam.ac.uk

This course is only open to those who have successfully completed and passed the Postgraduate Certificate in Genomic Medicine at ICE.

An Upper Second Class Honours Degree is the expected Academic standard.

The fee for 2025 entry will be £5,850 for Home students and for overseas students £15,237.

An application fee of £50 is payable for all applicants.

Funding may be available from Health Education England for NHS employees wishing to apply for this course. Please see the HEE website for further information and potential funding opportunities.

Applications will be considered in two batches; the first batch will consider applications received up until 31 January 2025 and the second (and final deadline) will consider any applications received from 1 February 2025 up until 30 April  2025

We reserve the right to carry over applications from one batch to the next where deemed appropriate.

Eligible candidates will be invited to interview shortly after the batch application deadline and informed of final decisions within 4-6 weeks.

Your application must include:

• Copies of relevant qualification certificates and transcripts
• Relevant professional qualifications or memberships with documentary evidence
• Language proficiency (if required)
• Contact details of two referees who will be contacted on your behalf
• Evidence of funding (if applicable)
• Employer Support Letter CV

Additional guidance on completing your application (including restrictions associated with the use of AI) can be found here

Admissions and questions about applications: For any queries or information about the admissions procedure, making an application or your application itself - please contact the Admissions team by clicking on the ‘Ask A Question’ link at the top right-hand side of this page.  

Below you will find answers to the most frequently asked question or FAQs, relating specifically to the Postgraduate Diploma in Genomic Medicine. Please read through these carefully and you should find the answers to most questions.

For all questions about the course or if you cannot find what you are looking in the FAQs below, then please click on, the ‘Ask a Question’ button at the top right of this page to send a message to the Course Team and we will respond as soon as possible.

When can I apply for the next PG Diploma course?

Applications for the MSt, PG Certificate and PG Diploma starting in the Michaelmas term (October) of any given year, open in the September/October of the previous year. So, for example, for an October 2025 start, applications open September 2024.   

When is the deadline for applications?

Applications for 2025/26 entry for the PG Diploma (flexible) in Genomic Medicine can be submitted online until 30 April 2025. Applications are considered in two batches;  the first batch will consider applications received up until 31 January 2025 and the second (and final deadline) will consider any applications received from 1 February 2025 up until 30 April  2025.

When will my application be considered? 

If you apply within the ‘batch one' window, your application will be considered shortly after the closing date of 31 January 2025. If you apply during ‘batch two’, you will be considered shortly after 30 April 2025. We reserve the right to carry applications received during batch one over to batch two. 

When can I expect to hear back on a decision?

Decisions on applications will be made approximately 6 weeks after the relevant batch one/final application deadline.

Final decisions will depend on the strength of applicants in any one year.

How will the course be delivered?

We plan to deliver our postgraduate and MSt qualifications using blended Learning methods through a combination of face to teaching sessions requiring in-person attendance in Cambridge, and self-directed learning, all supported through a Virtual Learning Environment [VLE].  

This is not an online course.  

Is this course available full-time?

No. This course has been designed for part-time delivery in order to permit students to work around their employment commitments.  It is not possible for it to be studied on a full-time basis. 

Who is the course aimed at?

Applications are invited from suitably qualified NHS healthcare professionals and science graduates with an interest in bio-medical science and the clinical application of genomics to prepare for the future adoption of genomic technologies in healthcare.

Am I suitable for the PG Diploma in Genomic Medicine?

The entry requirements for this course are outlined under the Entry Requirements tab of the course page.

English is not my first language - can I still apply?

All applicants are required to demonstrate competency in English at a high level before commencing the programme. Students whose first language is not English must be able to satisfy the necessary requirements, even if they have worked or studied in English previously.  Please refer to the ICE website here for further information, following any extra links there for further, added advice.