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Engineers and clinicians in digital interchange to master future healthcare

With an ageing population there is a pressing need to shift the focus from the treatment of long-term conditions to the prevention of illnesses and maintenance of healthy lifestyles, as well as increased self-management of conditions within the home. The rapid expansion of digital healthcare technologies and social media provide a means to tackle these challenges and offer new channels for many more people to receive the latest treatments and from the very best professionals. Global health systems and industries have a need to attract and train a cadre of bright, well-educated and flexible digital healthcare professionals capable of harnessing technological advancements, who might otherwise be lost to other digital sectors.

Christopher James

The Institute of Digital Healthcare in WMG, University of Warwick is therefore launching a new flexible Masters in Digital Healthcare to help the brightest minds learn about, develop and implement digital healthcare innovations in the challenges facing modern healthcare.

Professor Christopher James of WMG’s Institute of Digital Healthcare (pictured) said:

“There is a pressing need across healthcare systems worldwide for a well-educated and flexible workforce capable of designing, evaluating and using digital technologies, with a thorough understanding of the clinical, engineering, ethical and social constraints surrounding them. To meet this need we have developed an innovative Masters course that gives students the knowledge, skills and experience to drive, manage and evaluate the advances in technology and techniques that underpin digital healthcare.”

 A unique feature of this new Masters programme is that students from different backgrounds will work in supervised multi-disciplinary teams to solve complex real-world problems. The course will be taught using a flexible framework, and offered as an MSc with special focus – i.e. MSc in Digital Healthcare (engineering) or MSc in Digital Healthcare (clinical), allowing modules to be chosen from one of two specialisms (engineering or clinical) to suit the students’ background and best meet their professional development needs.

However, by working on core modules in multi-disciplinary teams across the clinical and engineering specialisms, all students will gain an in-depth understanding of design constraints seen from both clinical and engineering perspectives. This strategy provides unique learning and generic skills development opportunities, we believe not offered in any other course worldwide.

The MSc is ideal for: Graduates with a numerate background (eg. engineering, physics, computing or informatics); biomedical or clinical engineers and medical physicists who wish to develop an innovative career pathway, or Clinicians (e.g. doctors, nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals or healthcare technologists) intending to help develop, commission, implement or manage new clinical pathways based on digital technologies.

The new Masters will commence in October 2012 and will be offered on a full-time or part-time basis. More details are available on the WMG webpage: Digital Healthcare (Engineering or Clinical route)

For further information please contact:

Lisa Barwick, Communications Manager,
The University of Warwick
Direct line: 024 76 524721

Peter Dunn, Head of Communications
Communications Office, University House,
University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 8UW, United Kingdom
email: p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk 
Tel: +44 (0)24 76 523708 Mobile/Cell: +44 (0)7767 655860

PR80 10th May 2012