Personal Professional Development (Public Health and Primary Care)

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• Modular (part-time distance learning)
  UK students (per annum): £1,200 per 15 credits
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £2,600 per 15 credits

Fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance. For general fees information please visit postgraduate fees .

The course fees include all the tuition, technical support and assessments required for the course, but you are likely to incur some additional costs:

• maximum of one core text book per unit (approximately £30 per book) where e-books are not available;
• communication costs for internet use and telephone;
• a statistical software package (approximately £20).

A copy of the statistical software for Practical Statistics for Population Health will be provided free for all international fee-paying students.

Costs may also be incurred for travel, subsistence and accommodation charges during the following optional events or units:

• the Arts and Public Health blended learning unit
• the Intercultural Public Health blended learning unit
• the Infection, Prevention & Control blended learning unit
• the Engaging the Hard to Reach for Health Gain blended learning unit

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

The need for health economic evidence is increasing as decision-makers are faced with a difficult choice: how best to spend their limited resources when presented with a range of different health interventions. Economic evaluation is the primary method used internationally to inform these choices. This unit will equip students with the essential knowledge and skills to navigate, appraise, and apply the findings from economic evaluations to inform resource allocation decision-making.

The unit will first introduce the key concepts and principles used by health economists to motivate the need for economic evaluations. Then the unit will explain how information from different types of sources can be used to complete an economic evaluation (including model-based economic evaluation methods and trial-based economic evaluation methods). Finally, the unit will demonstrate how to critically appraise the quality of published economic evaluations. 
 

PLEASE NOTE: This unit was formerly called Health Economics (POPH60091/2). Therefore students who have already completed Health Economics should not select this unit.

The unit aims to enable students to learn the key concepts and principles of health economics, critically appraise published economic evaluations, and understand how to apply findings from economic evaluations to guide decision-making. 

This is a very practical unit. Students work independently through each topic. At the end of most topics there are self-assessment exercises to check you have assimilated core aspects of that topic’s material. There is also regular online discussion with your fellow students which is e-moderated by the module leader and teaching assistants. Two non - compulsory webinars will be held if the demand is sufficient.

There will be regular interaction with the tutors through scheduled webinars (which will be recorded and made available) and through the online discussion boards. Students will be encouraged to use self-reflection to think about the ideas discussed, and take part in discussion board activities. Students should work through the unit in a logical sequence. The individual course unit timetables will guide what should be done and when. Participation in the discussion boards is greatly encouraged, and can help enhance your learning experience and prepare you for your assessment.
 

• Describe key health economic concepts 
• Appraise the need for and relevance of economic evaluation in healthcare 
• Explain the key principles, components and design choices of economic evaluation

• Apply guidelines to published economic evaluations and appraise the validity and relevance of that research 
• Interpret published economic evaluations and assess their role in decision-making, and barriers to their use 
   

• Perform calculation of key health economic measures
• Analyse cost and outcome data to complete a simple economic evaluation
• Complete a critical appraisal checklist for economic evaluations
   

• Time management and working to deadlines 
• Analytical skills 
• Critical appraisal skills
   

Drummond, M.F., Sculpher, M.J., Claxton, K., Stoddart, G.L. and Torrance, G.W., 2015. Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. Oxford university press.