Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education

Who is the course designed for?

The Postgraduate Diploma is aimed at doctors and other professionals allied to medicine who have a teaching role and/or a role in training and appraising healthcare professionals. This includes doctors working in: primary care; secondary care at all levels from foundation year 2 to consultant grades; and other professionals allied to medicine that have a role in teaching both undergraduates and postgraduates. The programme is open to those who have successfully completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education (or recognised equivalent). 

This means they are medical, dental or healthcare professionals who are engaged in education and training activities commensurate with their level of experience and as is relevant to their professional roles and responsibilities. It is
suitable for ‘early career’ educators as well as those with more experience.

Aims of the programme

The programme aims to develop individuals able to adopt an informed and critically reflective stance to their own and others practice as medical educators and leaders.

This will include:

• consideration of strategies to create and sustain safe working and learning environments,including supporting and developing faculty to deliver high quality education and training
• the features of high quality formative and summative assessment practices and how these are used to assess performance and support the development of students and trainees (including differentiation of performance and supporting trainees who are failing to progress)
• a focus on curriculum and course design at two levels i.e. firstly, to enable an informed critique of adopted curriculum, their limits and potentials and secondly to familiarise participants with core curriculum design skills

Teaching and learning

Course structure and content

The Postgraduate Diploma comprises three modules and combines face-to-face study days with on-line activity, study and assignments. There are 8 contact days in total, one of these is chosen from three available masterclass options.  Students may register for additional masterclasses if they wish to deepen their knowledge across a range of areas:  The three modules are:

Module 1: Curriculum and assessment: design and development

• 28 September 2018
• 23 November 2018

Module 2: Supporting workbased learning

• 25 January 2019
• 8 February 2019
• 15 March 2019

Module 3: Developing practice and leading learning

• 12 April 2019
• 10 May 2019

Masterclasses: AVAILABLE AS STAND-ALONE

• 2nd November 2018 - Curriculum (see syllabus below)
• 11 January 2019 - Assessment
• 22 February 2019 - Trainees in difficulty (see syllabus below)

The Postgraduate Diploma is not a distance learning course and attendance in Cambridge for the teaching sessions is compulsory. It is therefore essential that all applicants are available to attend all the teaching events.

All teaching will take place at Madingley Hall from 9am to 6pm and accommodation can be booked subject to availability.

A virtual learning environment will support students’ learning throughout the programme.

The programme is open to those who have successfully completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education. This means they are medical, dental or healthcare professionals who are engaged in education and training activities commensurate with their level of experience and as is relevant to their professional roles and responsibilities. It is suitable for ‘early career’ educators as well as those with more experience.

Eligible candidates will be required to participate in a selection interview.

The fee for 2018 will be £4,000 per annum.

Students will be expected to cover the application fee (£50 online) and any costs of travel, accommodation and subsistence incurred during teaching sessions in Cambridge.

Bursaries may be available for qualifications in medical education, some deaneries, for example the Health Education East of England, may offer bursaries for qualifications in medical education, and enquiries should be directed to the relevant Postgraduate Centre in your region.  It is also worth investigating what funding is available from your employer if you teach regularly.

Applications are now open and will be accepted until 30 May 2018.

The programme is likely to be oversubscribed with suitably qualified applicants and, within a context of a balanced cohort, preference will be given to those who meet the academic criteria and those able to demonstrate a clear commitment to the programme of study. Candidates must be available to attend all of the teaching sessions and meet assessment deadlines. All eligible candidates will be considered for interview and provisional dates are 18 and 25 June 2018. Candidates will be informed of final decisions towards the end of August.

Graduate work in Cambridge is intense and very intellectually demanding and so the University has high academic entry requirements. You are normally expected to hold:

• At least a 2i honours degree from a UK university or an equivalent standard from an overseas university; and
• Completion of, or release from, any current training or education course.

Enquiries

If you have any academic questions, please contact Dr Clare Morris 

If you have any questions about the application process, contact our Admissions team: pgadmissions@ice.cam.ac.uk

For all other enquiries, please contact the Academic Programme Manager, Sue Brignell: sab67@cam.ac.uk