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).

This is a blended course unit which means that most of the course content is delivered online with some face-to-face sessions. There will be 1 full day and some half-day face to face teaching sessions scheduled, with dates made available as soon as possible.

Students are expected to engage in weekly discussion boards with their peers and tutors.

The course content will introduce the role of culture and its impact on health. Cultural theory, models and frameworks will support the practical application of an intercultural approach within public health settings. The aim is to develop skills in cultural awareness, cultural sensitivity and intercultural communication, to help professionals work more effectively within diverse communities and alongside other professionals. The course unit will promote how to design, deliver, evaluate and commission interculturally appropriate interventions, programmes and policies in real-world settings, both locally and globally to improve health and well-being outcomes for all.

Promote the design, delivery, evaluation and commission of interculturally appropriate interventions, programmes and policies in real-world settings, both locally and globally to improve health and well-being outcomes for all.
Develop skills in cultural awareness, cultural sensitivity and intercultural communication, to help professionals work more effectively within diverse communities and alongside other professionals.
Support public health, primary care and other professionals interested in working in UK based or international, culturally diverse or ‘super-diverse’ settings.

This is a mandatory course unit for students studying on the on-campus MPH programme, or an optional course unit for students on the online MPH programme. There will be written materials by the tutors guiding students through the course, illustrated with photographs and figures to illustrate the rich topic areas. Much of the content will be presented through reading, including peer reviewed journals (accessible through the University library), and multimedia, including videos. Students will be directed to a variety of relevant literature each week, but also encouraged to research and explore and find their own sources.

There will be regular interaction with the tutors through scheduled seminars (which will be recorded for those on the web-based option) and online through the 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.

For on campus students - All face-to-face activities are mandatory for all students. Attendance is monitored and an escalation policy is in place for non-attendance. The tutor-led sessions will be recorded and made available for all students as part of good pedagogic practice for accessibility, revision and consolidation.

• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of culture and its impact on health and well-being outcomes in local and global contexts. 
• Demonstrate an understanding of the history and global impact of migration and apply concepts such as super-diversity, intersectionality and cultural sensitivity into practice using international examples.

• Critically analyse the role of culture and its underpinning theories, models and frameworks. 
• Apply cultural theories, models and frameworks into real-world practice. 
• Critically analyse and evaluate the potential intercultural competence of interventions, programmes and policies and the impact on health and social care. 
• Synthesise and apply the evidence base behind interculturally competent communities and public and patient involvement (PPI) in real-world settings. 
• Critically analyse the concepts of the art of medicine, the art of public health and medicine as culture, and the impact on population health and well-being both locally and globally. 
• Demonstrate an understanding of how to evaluate and apply intercultural research findings within health and social care settings, both locally and globally using international examples.

• Teamwork and presentation skills (group assignment)

• Interdisciplinary collaboration with peers (group presentation) 
• Cognitive flexibility, respectful curiosity and cultural awareness

Assessment task	Length	Weighting within unit
Group presentation includes an individual reflective component. Students are expected to draw on the online course content, wider reading and apply this learning to answer the assignment brief	20 minutes	75% shared group mark 25% individual mark

Students are expected to draw on the online course content, wider reading and apply this learning to answer the assignment brief. The assessment task is a group presentation lasting for 20 minutes. Students will be provided with personalised written feedback within 15 working days for their final summative assignment. 

• The Lancet Commission on Culture and Health (Napier et al. 2014) 
• Salway, Holman. “Transforming the Health System for the UK’s Multiethnic Population.” BMJ 368 (2020): m268–m268. Web. 
• Kapilashrami, Hankivsky. “Intersectionality and Why It Matters to Global Health.” The Lancet (British edition) 391.10140 (2018): 2589–2591. Web. 
• Galanti G-A. Cultural sensitivity: a pocket guide for health care professionals, 2nd edn. Joint Commission Resources, 2013.
• Intercultural competency in Public Health: A call for action to incorporate training into public health education, Fleckman et al. (2015)