Postgraduate Applied Health 2026-2027

This course in Applied Statistics focuses on the application of statistical techniques in postgraduate research for health professionals, with a particular emphasis on the correct interpretation of statistical analyses results. The course will NOT focus on the statistical theory underlying the subject. An important component of the course is the use of a statistical package (IBM SPSS), which can be used to implement all the methods taught on this course. 

This course in applied epidemiology gives an introduction to disease measurement at a population level, basic epidemiological study design and analysis, and provides an understanding of key methodological issues needed to apply when designing – or critically appraising – an epidemiological study.

What can health professionals and health care promoters do to improve their own and others health and wellbeing? What influences people’s health behaviours? Why do people find it difficult to change their health behaviour? What are the most promising strategies for improving health and well-being?

Health behaviours cover a wide range of behaviours (e.g. smoking, physical activity, vaccination, diet, taking medication, and practicing safe sex) and have a major impact on peoples’ health, quality of life, and (healthy) life expectancy. Nevertheless, many people have an unhealthy diet, exercise too little, don’t take their medication as prescribed, smoke, drink excessive amounts of alcohol, and so forth.

In this course, we will address these challenges and students will learn key theories about health behaviour and behaviour change, including behaviour change techniques, in order to understand how health behaviours can be influenced by a variety of factors within an individual (e.g., conscious and unconscious thoughts, emotions, goals, and decisions), and also by factors in the environment (e.g., the behaviours and expectations of society; the quality of the communication by health care professionals; or availability and affordability of healthy options in the environment).

 Health psychologists and health professionals are expected to be able to develop, evaluate and implement intervention programs to promote healthier behaviour, through changing individuals and their environment.

Within this course you will develop your understanding of health behaviours, what influences them and how to change them. You will experience the role of health behaviours from both the participant’s and researcher view, by developing, participating in and analysing your own behavioural intervention.

This course will explore the challenges faced in women’s health and health care in a global setting. Students will gain knowledge of how gender differences, inequality, women’s family roles, community and society support, and approaches to healthcare systems all play a role in women’s health. It will also present how women’s health intersects with broader social and economic factors.

This course introduces you to health research methods, focusing on designing strong research proposals. You'll learn to formulate research questions, choose study designs, identify outcomes, and plan data collection.

We will explore key study designs, from experimental to observational, and master sampling and data collection for both qualitative and quantitative research. You'll also develop skills in critical appraisal and research ethics, equipping you to design rigorous and impactful research.

This course introduces students to key concepts in global health and develops skills to critically appraise organisations, actors, debates and data. Teaching material will cover: key definitions and terminology; institutions, practitioners and scholars in global health; and key drivers and challenges in the global health field. Students will learn about established and emerging topics, how these intersect with broader social, economic and political factors, and how research can make credible contributions in this context.

This course will focus on trials in the evaluation of real-world healthcare and public health settings. The course is run by staff from our world-leading Centre for Healthcare Randomised Trials (CHaRT) and the Aberdeen Centre for Evaluation - awarded the Queen's Anniversary Award for sustained excellence in health services research. Through studying this course, you will develop the knowledge and awareness of how to design a fair test, the appropriate use of trials and alternative trial designs, involving patients and the public, and sample size considerations.

Ever wondered why effective interventions aren’t used as often as they should be, or why ineffective ones persist? Effectiveness is only part of the equation—the other is implementability: the factors that help or hinder (de)implementation across contexts and over time. This course introduces the key concepts and methods of Implementation Science to help students understand and address these challenges across fields such as health, education, policy, and climate mitigation.

This course aims to explore the psychological side of illness, disability and dying. Students will learn how symptoms are interpreted and responded to, how risk is perceived, how individuals live with chronic conditions and about end of life and bereavement.

This course provides a sound introduction to qualitative health research. You will consider the relevance and value of qualitative methodologies which respond to current health agendas. The course introduces planning to conduct relevant research and a range of methods to generate, handle and analyse qualitative data. You will gain insight into issues of rigour, quality and ethics, and understand the importance of engaging with relevant audiences. 

This work-based placement elective offers a professional placement with a government/public, industrial, civic or voluntary health and/or development sector organisation. Your placement will involve a range of activities requiring the application of academic skills and will depend on the needs of your host.

You will undertake a ten-week placement with your host organisation, either within the organisation, remotely from Aberdeen, or using a combination of both. Placements are subject to availability and may be offered on a competitive basis.

Please note, however, although we try, it may not be possible to offer you a placement in your chosen specialisation. If you would like to undertake a placement meeting your specific criteria, it is suggested you explore self-sourcing a placement. Please contact the WBL Team for more information on host organisation requirements (wbl_iahs@abdn.ac.uk).

We reserve the right to remove a student from placement should either host or student report inappropriate behaviour or unacceptable work. In the event of removal from placement students will be supported to meet the requirements of their programme of study.

Public health is the art and science of improving health through the organised efforts of society. This course provides an introduction to a population-based perspective on health, illness and disease. The course illustrates the practical application of numerical ways of thinking about the health of a population. The course covers the three major public health domains of Health Improvement, Health Protection and Healthcare Public Health.

This course aims to support students in developing a critical understanding of the breadth of public health approaches to protecting, promoting, monitoring and improving health among a population as a whole.

This course offers students the opportunity to lead a substantial piece of data-driven, empirical work within their field of study, under the supervision of an experienced researcher. Topics available will be varied but within the domain of their field of study. Alongside supervisors, students will identify a suitable topic area, develop a research protocol, design and implement an empirical study.  Students will be involved alongside the supervisors in the process of defining the research question, and developing the research protocol, and where appropriate obtaining all regulatory approvals.

This course starts in January and ends in July/August.

We live in an era of Big Data, where the routine capture of digital health information offers unprecedented opportunities to improve population health. Health Informatics is the science of managing, linking, and analysing large datasets to generate insights. By the end of the course, students will understand how to translate complex health data into rigorous, ethically sound research designs, preparing for careers in health research, epidemiology, and public health, or further study in Health Informatics or Data Science.

Machine learning has the potential to revolutionise healthcare. The aim of this course is to introduce machine learning for health data science with examples of real-life healthcare applications, using the popular data science language R.

Resources available for the provision and payment for health care are limited. However, knowledge of economics helps ensure that available resources are used in the most effective way possible. Economics allows more informed decision making about a variety of issues: choosing between alternative treatments; setting priorities between patients; choosing between alternative new technologies; organising the provision of health care.

In this course students will acquire a knowledge and understanding of:

• Key themes of economic theory applied to health care
• Some of the main techniques of health care evaluation
• Main arguments concerning alternative systems for organising and financing health care

This course focuses on global disease burden patterns, associated risk factors, drivers and responses. Specific diseases and health issues will be discussed in the socio-economic, political, and environmental context, while considering the appropriateness and adequacy of global health responses. Topics include communicable and non-communicable diseases, injuries, and global health risk factors and drivers.

Students will be introduced to key concepts and methods for conducting systematic reviews of healthcare interventions. They will progress through each stage of the review process step by step, completing interactive and practical sessions designed to build the skills needed to conduct a systematic review of randomised controlled trials, including combining results of primary studies in a meta-analysis. In addition, students will be introduced to the knowledge-to-action framework, which introduces the steps required to ensure that review findings effectively inform and influence practice. The course is accessible to students from a wide range of disciplines; no clinical or policy-related background is required.

This work-based placement elective offers a professional placement with a civic, government, industrial, public, research or voluntary health and/or development sector organisation in the field of Health Data Science. You will undertake a ten-week placement with your host organisation, either within the organisation, remotely from Aberdeen, or using a combination of both. Placements are subject to availability and are offered on a best match basis.

This enhanced work-based placement course provides students with the opportunity to undertake a professional placement within a government, public, industrial, civic, or voluntary organisation in the health and/or development sector. During the placement, students will apply their academic knowledge and skills in a real-world workplace setting to contribute to the project goals of their host organisation.

Students will undertake a ten-week placement with a host organisation, either in person, remotely, or through a combination of both. Please note, although we try, it may not be possible to offer a placement in your chosen specialisation. University sourced placements are subject to availability and may be offered on a competitive basis. If you would like to undertake a placement meeting specific criteria, it is suggested you explore self-sourcing a placement. Please contact the Work-Based Learning Team for more information on host organisation requirements and support available (wbl_iahs@abdn.ac.uk).

This course will give you a detailed theoretical and practical understanding of the methods used to assess nutritional status, including dietary intake, assessment of body composition and energy expenditure applied in the context of energy balance. Theory will be put into practice through a series of practical workshop and laboratory sessions (virtual or on-campus) to give you ‘hands-on’ experience of using a range of assessment techniques using state-of-the-art equipment routinely employed by nutritional scientists.

This course provides essential foundation knowledge in human nutrition for progressing to more complex topics in disease prevention and management. It is suitable as a refresher for those with previous nutrition study or for students with a strong science background entering the nutrition field. Some material may discuss research involving animals.

This course will provide detailed knowledge of the relationships between diet, human development, health and disease. Topics covered include diet and nutrition across the life course, integration and adaptability of different metabolic pathways and the role of diet in disease development including cancer and cardiovascular disease.