Postgraduate Professional Development

Postgraduate Professional Development

Our Postgraduate Professional Development (PPD) is aimed at healthcare professionals (e.g. doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, clinical pharmacists, physiotherapists, dieticians) who want to advance their knowledge and develop their professional skills in critical care.

Our Postgraduate Professional Development (PPD) Courses

The part-time, online nature of our PPD courses offers a flexible way to study while maintaining work and personal commitments.

Our courses are taught by experts and practitioners from the UK National Health Service (NHS) and the University of Edinburgh who will teach in their speciality areas. The PPD courses allow you to participate in the same classes as the Critical Care degree; PPD registration grants you student status for two years from the date of registration and allows you full access to the University library during that time.

Our PPD courses run for 6 or 12 weeks and cover a range of topics in critical care. You will have the opportunity to interact online with doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals from across the world, supported by an expert and enthusiastic faculty. You will enjoy a variety of teaching and assessment methods on the programme (e.g. weekly live tutorials, recorded lectures, discussion boards, live expert panel sessions, self-directed reading, and online quizzes).

Successful completion of a PPD course allows you to gain academic credit. Over the course of two years through our PPD scheme you can take up to a maximum of 50 credits. For example, if you successfully complete a 6-week course you will be awarded 10 credits at SCQF Level 11 and if you successfully complete a 12 week course you will be awarded 20 credits at SCQF Level 11. If you decide to extend your study, it is possible to transfer your academic credits gained from PPD and continue with the programme here to study towards a Postgraduate Certificate, Diploma, or Masters.

For More information on Our Courses

Please see the Degree Programme Table for more information about available courses in the current academic year.

Degree Programme Table

Note: Course availability will be subject to student demand.

Fees

Tuition fees for online part-time intermittent study: 2024/25

Extending Your Study

If you decide to extend your study, it is possible to transfer your academic credits gained from PPD and continue with the programme here to study towards a Postgraduate Certificate, Diploma, or Masters. If you have any questions about this, please talk to the programme team as early as possible (critical.care@ed.ac.uk).

Entry Requirements and Applying for our PPD Courses

It is recommended that you have a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in medicine (MBChB or equivalent), nursing, dietetics, physiotherapy, or any other allied health care profession involved in the management of critically ill patients. Our courses have a strong clinical element and experience of working with critically ill patients is essential. We may also consider your application if you have other relevant work experience; but please contact the programme team to discuss before you apply. There are other entry requirements that may be required such as proof of English – to find out more please view the application pages.

To start your application please select the option PG Professional Development Critical Care (Online Learning) (ICL) - 2 Years (Part-time Intermittent Study) from the application page.

Note: Applicants should include in their personal statement the course(s) on which they would like to enrol.

Apply for PPD