PgDip Clinical Research

Do you want to lead breakthroughs in medical science? Perhaps you want to improve health outcomes and quality of life. Lancaster’s Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) in Clinical Research provides specialist training to advance your career. The knowledge and skills you gain during the programme will support you to progress your career in a research-intensive clinical environment.

Why Lancaster?

• Benefit from a unique programme of study that puts science and research at the heart of medicine and healthcare.
• Discover how to translate research into healthcare policy and practice.
• Prepare for strategic and leadership roles, learning how to promote evidence-based healthcare using cutting-edge science.
• Make your mark in the field by learning the most effective ways to communicate research to doctors, healthcare professionals, policy makers, patients and the wider public.
• Invest in high-quality training and an advanced degree to help you achieve your professional goals.
• Combine study with work commitments with our flexible study options.

Why should I study clinical research?

Advances in treatments, therapies and healthcare are only possible with clinical research.

Research is the gateway to possibility: transforming hypotheses and ideas into robust, tried and tested treatments that can be rolled out to communities with confidence.

Clinical research helps us understand what works and what doesn’t, identifying more effective and efficient treatments while highlighting important side effects and safety considerations.

This postgraduate diploma is part of our suite of clinical research courses. We also offer the following:

• Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) in Clinical Research – part-time, 12 months
• Master’s degree (MSc) in Clinical Research – 1 year part-time or two years full-time

Is clinical research for me?

If you want to be part of the team behind breakthroughs in medical science, drive progress and ultimately improve health outcomes and quality of life, boosting your clinical research skills is the right place to start.

We welcome applications from:

• Doctors undertaking Specialty Training programmes in NHS Trusts.
• Doctors undertaking academic attachments in local NHS Trusts as part of their F1/F2 training.
• Consultants and General Practitioners who wish to develop their career as a research leader within their own organisation or elsewhere.
• Nurses, allied health professionals and NHS support staff wishing to move into research-based roles.
• Professionals with a biological or psychological background who wish to move into healthcare research.
• Undergraduate students wishing to move into this field or take a path leading to PhD study in health.

What will I learn?

The programme provides a solid introduction to clinical research methodology, setting you up to conduct research thoroughly, reliably and ethically. You’ll learn how to interpret research findings and build important communication and presentation skills so you can share your findings.

With a focus on real-life application, you’ll look at how research can support healthcare policy and practice and contribute to healthcare innovation.

You will study themes including:

• Lifecycle of Healthcare Research
• Methodological Foundations in Healthcare Research
• Policy and Practice Knowledge Translation in Healthcare Research
• Professional Development for a Healthcare Research Career

With high-level training in advanced methodology, you will learn how to conduct research thoroughly, reliably and ethically. You will be able to interpret research findings and will develop important communication and presentation skills. You will learn to clearly articulate research outcomes, recommendations and implications and deliver recognisable impact.

How will I study?

Designed to fit around your working life, our Clinical Research PgDip is a part-time course that takes 12 months to complete.

As well as whole day face-to-face teaching sessions, you’ll benefit from the flexibility of online learning, supported by online resources, discussions and collaborations using our virtual learning environment.

What’s next?

With your research skills recharged, you’ll graduate from your PgDip ready to bring your new learning to your role and demonstrate the power of clinical research to support decision making and improve services. You may wish to take your career in a new direction and make the move into a more research-focused clinical or lab-based role.

After successful completion of the PGDip, you could take the next step and enrol on our Clinical Research MSc to complete a practice-based research project and receive a higher-level qualification.