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Medical Engineering Applications for Healthcare - MSc

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Medical engineers support improving healthcare delivery and medical practice by combining the design and problem-solving skills of engineering with medical and biological science to close the gap between engineering and medicine....

  • Level Postgraduate Taught
  • Study mode Full Time

This course is:

Open to International Students

Overview

Medical engineers support improving healthcare delivery and medical practice by combining the design and problem-solving skills of engineering with medical and biological science to close the gap between engineering and medicine.

This MSc Medical Engineering Applications for Healthcare course combines fundamental concepts and knowledge in engineering, biology, and medicine to develop innovative technologies, material, processes, and systems, with the aim of improving healthcare. The course will enable students from a diverse background such as from engineering, biomedical engineering, medical / surgical, or life sciences, to gain the knowledge and skills to launch or develop their career as medical engineers in this demanding sector of healthcare.

International students will be eligible for a Graduate Route visa, which allows them to stay in the UK for up to two years after they graduate from the course, with no restriction on the type of work they can do.

This course is open to International students.

What's covered in this course?

Medical Engineering is a discipline of engineering that interacts with the human body. The course will provide you with a thorough grounding across the whole field of medical engineering and to enable you to integrate and apply this knowledge to clinical problems. Industrial-led practical workshops and labs will help enhance your technical skills. This will enable you to relate ‘real-life’ commercial innovations to the underpinning academic theory learnt in the lectures.

Birmingham City University attracts a diverse range of students from across the world. Our state-of-the-art facilities will allow you to explore a variety of biomedical applications including: sensing and measuring on micro and nano scales, personal health tracking, remote diagnosis and monitoring, biomaterials to name a few. The knowledge acquired will then enable you to engage in exciting projects such as designing prostheses or devising new medical technology for physicians and medical professionals to be used in the prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Throughout the course you will complete your Professional Project – an independent piece of research on a topic within medical engineering that allows you to demonstrate your knowledge and skills in this exciting field of Medical Engineering Applications for healthcare.

Throughout the course you will gain a range of transferable skills allowing you to undertake a career in a number of sectors, alongside developing an in-depth understanding of your subject. We build employability into every aspect of our course. 

Where and how will I study?

You will learn within our recently extended City South Campus, located in Edgbaston just five minutes from Birmingham City Centre. Our campus has been recently re-developed and provides access to cutting-edge facilities that will enhance and support your learning during your time here.

You will experience a mixture of face-to-face and virtual teaching, self-directed study, practice-based lab activities.

Why Choose Us?

  • You will learn from and collaborate with world-renowned educators and researchers across many disciplines. The course combines mechanical, mechatronic, electronic, chemical and materials engineering, allowing you to specialise in the areas that best suit your interests and aspirations.
  • You will develop your expertise, communication and team-working skills as well as skills in fields of research whilst increasing your employability.
  • You will have the opportunity to work with others through partnership working with medical technology SME’s / NHS Trust partners.
  • You will gain the knowledge allowing you to contribute to innovative discoveries within fields such as biomedical technology, orthopaedic or tissue engineering, bioelectronics and the computational simulation of biomedical systems.
  • You will have numerous opportunities to undertake HELS go abroad opportunities, etc. with ongoing collaborations with partners around the globe.

OPEN DAY

Join us for an on-campus Open Day where you'll be able to learn about this course in detail, chat to students, explore our campus and tour accommodation.

Next Event: 24 November 2024

Book now

Entry Requirements

Essential requirements

UK students
Applications will be through UCAS or direct application to the University. Opportunities for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) will be identified during the admissions process and will be on an individual basis before enrolment.
Essential
Applicants need to hold at least a Second Class Honours degree or equivalent in an engineering, technical, life sciences, medicine or medical aligned qualification.
Applicants without standard entry qualifications if can demonstrate and provide evidence of the necessary knowledge and skills and experience (of minimum three years) to successfully complete the course will also be considered.
International students
Essential
Those who meet residency/academic requirements of UK learners but whose language is not English will need to hold IELTS with an overall score of at least 6.0 with no element below 5.5.
Other requirements
In addition, development of this new provision, will provide opportunities for:
BCU top-up degree (in Biomedical Engineering) students in Colombo, Sri Lanka - which is currently delivered by HELS and
BEng Biomedical Engineering – UG degree, students at BCU to progress to a standalone Masters provision with or without a gap year, etc.

BCU Biomedical Science or Diagnostic Radiography or Radiotherapy students to progress to a standalone Masters provision in Medical Engineering Applications for Healthcare.

BEng Mechanical / Electronics engineering – UG degree, students at BCU to progress to a standalone Masters provision with or without a gap year, etc.

If you have a qualification that is not listed, please contact us.

Fees & How to Apply

Please select your student status to view fees and apply
  • UK Student
  • International Student

UK students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.

Award: MSc

Starting: Jan 2025

  • Mode
  • Duration
  • Fees
  • Full Time
  • 15 months
  • £10,500 in 2024/25

International students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.

Award: MSc

Starting: Jan 2025

  • Mode
  • Duration
  • Fees
  • Full Time
  • 15 months
  • £17,710 in 2024/25

Access to computer equipment 

You will require use of a laptop, and most students do prefer to have their own. However, you can borrow a laptop from the university or use one of our shared computer rooms. 

Printing 

You will receive £5 print credit in each year of your course, available after enrolment. 

Field trips 

All essential field trips and associated travel costs will be included in your course fees. 

Access to Microsoft Office 365 

Every student at the University can download a free copy of Microsoft Office 365 to use whilst at university and for 18 months after graduation. 

Key software 

You will be able to download SPSS and Nvivo to your home computer to support with your studies and research. 

Key subscriptions 

Subscriptions to key journals and websites are available through our library. 

Excess printing (optional) 

Once you have spent your £5 credit, additional printing on campus costs from 5p per sheet. 

Personal stationery and study materials (optional) 

Based on the past experience of our students, you might find it helpful to set aside about £30 for each year of your studies for your personal stationery and study materials. 

Placement expenses (optional) 

If you choose to undertake a placement, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst living or working away from home. 

Books (optional) 

All module key texts will be in the University library, but in limited numbers. You may choose to purchase a copy. We suggest budgeting approximately £150 for this. 

Memberships (optional) 

You may wish to join one of the following memberships related to this course:

  • Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) - £35
  • Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) - £30
  • IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE- EMBS) - $1
  • IEEE Women in Engineering - Free

Subscriptions (optional) 

You may wish to purchase subscriptions to additional journals and websites, such as an IET subscription, costing £35.  

Accommodation and living costs (optional)

The cost of accommodation and other living costs are not included within your course fees. More information on the cost of accommodation can be found in our accommodation pages.

Personal statement

You’ll need to submit a personal statement as part of your application for this course. This will need to highlight your passion for postgraduate study – and your chosen course – as well as your personal skills and experience, academic success, and any other factors that will support your application for further study.

If you are applying for a stand alone module, please include the title of the module you want to study in your Personal Statement.

Not sure what to include? We’re here to help – take a look at our top tips for writing personal statements and download our free postgraduate personal statement guide for further advice and examples from real students.

Course in Depth

Core Modules

In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 180 credits):

Optional Modules

20 credits of optional modules are required to ensure 180 credits are achieved to gain the MSc.

Download course specification

Download now

How you'll learn

An extensive range of assessments are utilised within this programme, which include podcasts, webinars, video conferencing presentations and debates, article preparation for publication, case reviews, critical incidence analysis and service development opportunities.

* STEMM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine.

Employability

Employability

There are excellent employment opportunities in the healthcare sector. The mix of professional engineering and healthcare related skills acquired through the course will enable you to pursue a wide range of careers in this dynamic and growing sector.

You could choose to work as a clinical engineer in hospitals to collaborate with clinicians in offering non-clinical services, or a medical engineer in companies working in the design, development and manufacture of medical devices. You could also go on to work in research institutes or academia; in governmental regulatory agencies; or as a technical consultant within marketing departments.

In addition, you’ll have a full complement of transferable skills – such as critical thinking, data analysis, report writing and communication – which are valued by employers.

Placements

You may have the chance to undertake valuable work placements, either in the UK or internationally. This could be done in a local hospital, a manufacturing company or in another relevant sector.

International

Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.

The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.

Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:

Facilities & Staff

We have invested over £400 million in our facilities, including an upgrade to our Skills and Simulation facilities at City South Campus. We boast up-to-date, innovative facilities that simulate the real situations that you may come across in the workplace. These resources are essential in offering you a hands-on introduction to health and social care practice.

Biomechanics Laboratory 

Our biomechanics laboratory is a long room with cameras mounted on the sides, and sensors in the floor. It’s used to record motion, evaluate people's movements and analyse gait. It’s generally used by Sports courses and Biomedical Engineering.

Nutrition Science Kitchen

Our kitchen has several workstations to allow you to wash, prepare and cook food. There are multi-coloured chopping boards (following food hygiene standard regulations) and a range of utensils and appliances. This space is used by a range of courses including Dietetics, Secondary Design and Technology and Sport. You may use this room to prepare certain meals for teaching basic cooking or baking skills to school children and exploring nutritional education, or protein high recipes for athletes to support their training and fitness regime.

Microbiology Laboratory

The lab is equipped with modern equipment for teaching the molecular biology techniques that underpin modern clinical and research labs such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines and a variety of cell-analysis and cell-culture tools. The department also has DNA sequencing equipment.

Bioscience Laboratory

These Zeiss PrimoStar microscopes have a camera head and are connected to our IT network, meaning everything that students can see in their microscope can also be accessed via an app on our iPads and large screens, giving our lecturers and students a totally new way to share and discuss microscopy images.

Nutrition Science Research Laboratory

This laboratory is used by staff or students doing specific projects such as analysing the chemistry of food in the later stages of their degree.

Skills Classroom

This room can be used to practise a variety of skills but is primarily home to our Anatomage tables. An Anatomage table allows you to investigate anatomy digitally, from organs and muscles to skeletal forms and blood flow, the software includes real-life MRI scan data to help you develop your understanding of anatomy.

Our staff

Dr George Oguntala

Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering - Course Leader in MSc in Medical Engineering, Applications for Healthcare and MSc in Medical Imaging Technology

George is a Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering with specialism in Smart Homes and Infrastructures, Internet of Things, Sensors and Wearable Electronics at the Department of Life Sciences, Birmingham City University. He is the Programme Leader of the MSc in Medical Engineering Applications for Healthcare and MSc in Medical Imaging Technology...

More about George

Dr Vivek Indramohan

Associate Professor and Course Lead - Biomedical Engineering

With an overseas research student award (ORSAS) and University of Strathclyde scholarship, Vivek completed his Ph.D. (in Bioengineering) in 2009. Following the completion of his research degree, he commenced his work as a Research Assistant at University College of London (UCL) for 6 months, during which he was successful in obtaining a...

More about Vivek