Home

Paediatrics and Child Health: Global Child Health MSc

London, Bloomsbury

This comprehensive programme is based at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH). As a student, you will benefit from the unique position the institute occupies within UK paediatrics. We bring together strong links to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children with our setting within the powerful teaching and research environment of UCL.

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2024/25)
£15,100
£7,550
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Overseas tuition fees (2024/25)
£34,400
£17,200
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Duration
1 academic year
2 academic years
5 academic years
Programme starts
September 2024
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 16 Oct 2023 – 28 Jun 2024
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 16 Oct 2023 – 30 Aug 2024
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

Medically qualified applicants should have post-qualification experience in paediatrics or child health. Non-medically qualified applicants should have an upper second-class UK bachelor's degree or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard, and experience of working in hospitals, community child health or public health services for children and families.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 2

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

With its inaugural year in 1986, originally as the MSc in Community Paediatrics, this postgraduate programme is part of the longest-running paediatric health MSc in London. We continually aim to improve it based on student feedback and changing demands within the Health Service and Academic sectors. Teaching takes place at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (GOS ICH) in close collaboration with colleagues from Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust with lectures from national and international experts across most clinical and research areas.

Who this course is for

The programme is intended for professionals specialising in paediatrics and child health. The Paediatrics and Child Health: Global Child Health MSc aims to provide an opportunity for graduates from medicine and related fields, to study global issues in child health. You will build an awareness of current and future developments in paediatric medicine and global child health and gain the skills necessary to critically appraise practice and policy, and undertake independent research if the full MSc is taken.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

UCL GOS ICH pursues an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to enhance understanding, diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of childhood diseases. Our research and educational portfolio covers a broad range of paediatric issues, from molecular genetics to population health sciences, and our structure facilitates interdisciplinary work and allows flexibility for the development of new areas of investigation.

Our close relationship with the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children means that much of our research and teaching is carried out on a joint basis. You will benefit from excellent facilities in both laboratory and non-laboratory subjects. This programme focuses on child health in the global context and increasing understanding of health issues in the UK compared to other countries.
 

Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

You will gain an understanding of the principles of evidence-based paediatrics and child health. You will build an awareness of current and future developments in paediatric medicine and child health and gain the skills necessary to critically appraise practice and policy, and undertake independent Master’s-level research.

As a graduate of this programme, you will have valuable academic and clinical skills in global child health which you will be able to employ in the workplace. Graduates can continue in their career pathway in global child health internationally.

I am interested in children's health in general, as well as policy and decision-making processes related to creating a better world for children. This course focuses on pretty much every aspect of child health including the unique issues and needs of every stage of a child's life, the specific qualities of different socioeconomic conditions in which children are born and raised, while also touching on the legal, ethical, and policy-related aspects.

Loujain

Paediatrics and Child Health: Global Child Health MSc

Read more

Employability

This programme prepares students to be future leaders with high-level organisational and management skills together with the ability to incorporate research and evidence-based practice into health services for children.

The programme provides an ideal foundation for further professional development in paediatrics and child health and related specialities in a global context.  

Networking

The Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health offers seven MSc programmes as well as an MRes in Child Health encompassing a wide range of topics. Our students come from diverse academic and professional backgrounds, from the UK and overseas providing great networking opportunities within and across programmes. We hold social events throughout the year for the whole student cohort to enable networking between students. Students on the master's programmes have the opportunity to join GOS ICH events such as the Otto Woolf lectures hosted by the research and teaching departments. These cover a variety of topics and provide an opportunity to hear from national and international experts and to network at the social event that usually accompanies these events.  

Teaching and learning

Throughout this programme you will be taught subject-specific knowledge via a variety of methods including but not limited to lectures, discussion groups, and external reading.

Most modules are delivered as blocks of study, normally over four or five consecutive days. Face-to-face contact for each of these days is normally from 9-5 pm. You will assimilate practical and transferable skills via teaching, self-learning, and assessments through the various modules provided by this programme.

The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, and research project supervision. Assessment is through a combination of multiple-choice questions and short-answer question examinations, essays, posters, presentations, reflective portfolios, critical appraisal of literature. For the full MSc, a research project and dissertation is required.

Typical contact hours and hours of self-directed study for this programme (per module) are: reading hours (50 hours), engagement with online material (20 hours), relevant lectures, seminars and tutorials (30 hours), revision (30 hours) and preparation for the final assessment e.g. coursework, essay (20 hours). Total 150 hours per module.

Modules

The programme is taught mainly in one-week blocks dispersed throughout the year; you must complete all components of the programme within 5 years unless extenuating circumstances are approved by UCL.

You will take 180 credits, made up of eight taught modules and a dissertation.


 

This programme is available in a part-time mode of two years with eight taught modules plus the project to be taken in this period.

This programme is available in modular flexible mode of up to five years with eight taught modules plus the project to be taken during this period.

Compulsory modules






Optional modules



























Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Paediatrics and Child Health: Global Child Health. Upon successful completion of 120 credits, you will be awarded a PG Dip in Paediatrics and Child Health: Global Child Health.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble accessable.co.uk. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2024/25) £15,100 £7,550
Tuition fees (2024/25) £34,400 £17,200

Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

There are no additional costs for this programme.

For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to our estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs.

Funding your studies

The Peter and Loek Wheeler scholarship wishes to enable students from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to undertake the MSc in Paediatrics and Child Health (1 year) at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (GOS ICH). The scholarship is an individual award that will cover the tuition fees of one student per year.

The Michelle Zalkin Scholarship offers exceptional students with a proven career pathway in Child Protection £10,000 to study for a Master's in Paediatrics and Child Health.

Visit the funding and studentship pages of the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute for Child Health (GOS ICH) website for details of funding available to students, including the GOS ICH bursary.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications and £115 for paper applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study Paediatrics and Child Health: Global Child Health at graduate level
  • why you want to study Paediatrics and Child Health: Global Child Health at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to the chosen programme
  • how your academic and professional background meets the demands of this rigorous programme
  • how this degree will enhance your career

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2024-2025

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL GOS Institute of Child Health

ich.paediatrics@ucl.ac.uk

UCL is regulated by the Office for Students.