Health Psychology

MSc

PostgraduatePsychology

Improve your work and study approach to health psychology – on a course that can help qualify you to progress to stage two of the British Psychological Society (BPS) qualification.

Everything you need to know…
  • What is the fee?

    International/EU: £17,205 for the course

  • How long will I study?

    1 Year

  • When do I start?

    2024.September

Course summary
Improve your work and study approach to health psychology – on a course that can help qualify you to progress to stage two of the British Psychological Society (BPS) qualification.
Meet the BPS Stage 1 requirements for progression to becoming a health psychologist.
Gain a wide range of knowledge, skills and values.
Use these to develop your career in a variety of health-related settings.
Complete the course with the skills to progress onto stage two training in health psychology - as long as you have eligibility for BPS' graduate basis for chartered membership (GBC). Stage two includes the BPS-accredited Doctoral Programme in Health Psychology - which once completed, provides eligibility to apply for registration as a practitioner health psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council.
How you learn

Work placements

If you aren’t currently working in a health-related setting, we have a careers workshop and a dedicated careers adviser who can help you find suitable employment or voluntary work. The course leadership team can also advise on what types of work will be suitable for your work-based reflection.

Live projects

This course aims to provide you with the ability to use your work or voluntary experience within a health-related setting to aid your learning and training. For example, work-based reflection is a core element of the introduction to clinical practitioner skills and competencies,and is designed to contribute to your continuing personal and professional development.

In the research project module, we’ll focus on developing the personal and academic skills you’ll need to carry out research – as well as to manage your research project. These include analytic skills, communication and time planning.

You’ll use a Personal Development Plan (PDP) to store evidence of your progress and development in all modules – and to reflect on your progress and plan actions to improve.

Networking opportunities

Specialist research seminars are delivered by members of the department and guest speakers. You’ll use these to deepen your knowledge and understanding of the course content.

All our courses are well supported by a comprehensive suite of career management services – including interview training and networking opportunities. 

We seek to encourage an atmosphere of supportiveness – where you’ll feel comfortable to ask for help, guidance or encouragement from tutors and your fellow students. We’re committed to providing an environment of 'togetherness' where students and staff benefit from mutual learning experiences.

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

The course content includes social determinants of health, research methods, understanding behaviour and clinical practitioner skills. You’ll study biopsychosocial determinants of acute illness, behaviour change interventions and adjust to long-term conditions and bereavement. You’ll then learn more advanced research methods and undertake a research project.

You learn through

  • online study
  • group work
  • problem solving
  • practitioner skills workshops
  • research conferences

Modules combine online learning with one day a week on campus. This provides flexible learning opportunities to enable a diverse range of students to study alongside employment and/or family commitments. 

Our course leaders are experts in clinical health practitioner work in private practice and in the NHS. You’ll be introduced to a range of applied skills that you’ll practise during on-campus study days

  • motivational interviewing techniques
  • conflict resolution skills relevant to working in multidisciplinary healthcare teams
  • consultation and collaborative treatment planning
  • solution-focused counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
  • the communication of bad news
  • critical self-reflection and ethical reasoning
Future career

This course prepares you for a career in

  • psychology practice
  • psychology academia
  • public health
  • research
  • education
  • industry
  • health promotion

Previous graduates of this course have gone on to work for

  • the NHS
  • the social care sector 
  • universities, in teaching and research 
  • drug and rehabilitation services
  • consultancy 
  • private practice
Equipment and facilities

On this course you work with our Blackboard online virtual learning environment.

We’ve invested over £100m in new facilities to help you study how and when you want. This means 24-hour libraries and study spaces designed by our students.

 

Entry requirements

Applicants need one of the following

• BSc or BA Psychology with a 2.1 or above

• BSc or BA in a closely related discipline (e.g., health, social, community care) with a 2.1 or above

Applications from students who have achieved a 2.2 degree will be considered by the course leadership team. Where there is evidence that at least two of the following criteria have been met the applicant may be offered a place on the course. You may also be able to claim credit points which can reduce the amount of time it takes to complete your qualification at Sheffield Hallam. Find out more

• applicants have work experience in a health-related setting

• applicants have an enthusiasm for health psychology

• applicants have demonstrated their ability to achieve a 2.1 within their undergraduate degree (for example, transcripts reveal a 2.1 in key undergraduate curriculum areas such as research methods).

All applicants are required to provide two satisfactory references (normally one of these will be an academic reference) and a personal statement.

Requirements in order to progress to Stage 2 Health Psychology training on completion of this course:

The British Psychological Society's (BPS) requirements and Stage 2 Health Psychology training are applicable only to students who have completed a BPS accredited Psychology undergraduate degree. This provides eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the BPS. If you do not currently have GBC with the BPS, then you will need to undertake a BPS accredited MSc conversion course in order to undertake the doctoral level qualification (stage 2) in Health Psychology following the completion of this MSc course. We also offer an MSc in Psychology that would give you eligibility for GBC, provided you achieve an overall mark of at least 50 per cent and pass your dissertation.

If English is not your first language you typically need an IELTS 6.5 score with a minimum of 6.0 in writing and 5.5 in all other skills or equivalent. If your English language skill is currently below IELTS 6.5 we recommend you consider a Sheffield Hallam University Pre-sessional English course which will enable you to achieve an equivalent English score.

Modules

Important notice:

 

The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.

Final Year
Compulsory modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Adjustment To Long Term Conditions And Bereavement

15

Coursework

Behaviour Change Interventions: Development And Evaluation

15

Coursework

Biopsychosocial Determinants Of Acute Illness

15

Coursework

Health Psychology Research Project

60

Coursework

Introduction To Clinical Practitioner Skills And Competencies

15

Coursework

Introduction To Research Methods

15

Coursework

Research Methods And Measurement Issues In Health Psychology

15

Coursework

Practical

Social Determinants Of Health

15

Coursework

Understanding Behaviour

15

Coursework