Public Health Practice (SCPHN) (Health Visiting) MSc – 2023 entry

• Study a hands-on, clinical curriculum to develop the knowledge and clinical skills needed to work with children, young people and families as a specialist community public health nursing (SCPHN) health visitor, and lead on innovation and change within public heath
• Spend half of your training in clinical placements to practise your skills in healthcare settings, under the supervision of qualified practitioners
• Learn from a multidisciplinary team of lecturers, who are all healthcare professionals with experience of working in the NHS
• Register your qualification with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

You’ll develop the values that employers and the public need from modern healthcare professionals, such as compassion, advocacy, good communication, teamwork skills, and respect and understanding of patients.

You’ll critically examine and develop awareness of the key concepts of public health and health promotion. You’ll analyse data to identify health needs and develop health promotion interventions to address contemporary public health issues. We’ll teach you the fundamentals about safeguarding children, young people and adults, empowering you to play a pro-active role in their protection.

You’ll study topics, including community nurse practitioner prescribing (V100), early intervention work with families, leadership, mental health, public health, and safeguarding of children, young people and vulnerable adults. You’ll have the opportunity to complete a research dissertation in an area of personal interest, which we’ll match with the expertise of our academic staff, ensuring you get the best support.

This course can be taken either full-time or part-time. If you choose part-time, your teaching will take place across two academic years.

Course length

Full-time

This course can take a minimum of 1 year – 2 years to complete, depending on what qualification you wish to attain.

After 1 year, you’ll have gained a PGDip Public Health Practice (SCPHN) (Health Visiting) qualification and you’ll be eligible to register this with the NMC.

If you wish to progress to a full MSc qualification, you must complete an additional 1 year of part-time study, during which you’ll write a dissertation. You must submit this within four years of starting the course.

Part-time

This course can take a minimum of 2 years – 3 years, depending on what qualification you wish to attain.

After 2 years, you’ll have gained a PGDip Public Health Practice (SCPHN) (Health Visiting) qualification and you’ll be eligible to register this with the NMC.

If you wish to progress to a full MSc qualification, you must complete an additional 1 year of part-time study, during which you’ll write a dissertation. You must submit this within five years of starting the course.

Modules listed are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that modules may be subject to teaching availability, student demand and/or class size caps.

The University operates a credit framework for all taught programmes based on a 15-credit tariff. Modules can be either 15, 30, 45, 75 and 120 credits, and additionally for some masters dissertations, 90 credits.

The structure of our programmes follows clear educational aims that are tailored to each programme. These are all outlined in the programme specifications which include further details such as the learning outcomes:

Timetable

Course timetables are normally available one month before the start of the semester. Please note that while we make every effort to ensure that timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week (Monday – Friday). Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities. Part-time classes are normally scheduled on one or two days per week, details of which can be obtained from the Academic Hive. View our Code of practice for the scheduling of teaching and assessment (PDF).

Contact hours can vary across our modules. Full details of the contact hours for each module are available from the University of Surrey's module catalogue. See the modules section for more information.