MSc Global Health

Degree Programmes

100% Online MSc Global Health

  • APPLY BY : 15 Apr 2024
  • NEXT START DATE : 29 Apr 2024
  • TOTAL FEES / PER MODULE FEES : £7,500 / £625
  • PROGRAMME DURATION : 24 Months

Why QMU

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Flexible online master’s programmes

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Study from anywhere, anytime

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Pay per module

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Six starts per year

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Top 20 in UK for Nursing*

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100% of research in Nursing and Allied Health Professions rated 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent'**

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Highest employment rate in Scotland (15 months after graduating, HESA 2021)

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Benefit from our links to vibrant city of Edinburgh

*Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, 2022

**REF, 2021

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About the programme

The online MSc programme in Global Health will provide you with a strong grounding in the theoretical and professional analysis of key issues in global health and development, as well as a critical understanding that achieving health and development are inextricably linked, achieving health and wellbeing is dependent on social determinants, and in addition to being evidence-based, sound interventions and strategies need to be grounded in local realities, drawing on multiple health systems’ actors from across a range of sectors, that address present needs alongside issues of longer-term sustainability.


Critical and reflexive debate on the positive and detrimental effects of development, public health, and health systems interventions on health access, equity, quality, and health outcomes for individuals and communities is central to the understanding of global and international health and addresses aspirations detailed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The freedom and flexibility to study from anywhere, anytime

The Master’s programmes are delivered entirely online and can be studied from anywhere in the world, with no need to ever attend campus. They have been carefully designed to fit around the busy schedules of working professionals, ensuring that work and family commitments need not be reasons to put your ambitions on hold. You can study whilst continuing in your current role and immediately apply what you learn to your professional context.

Next start and application due date

Apply by : 15 Apr 2024

Start on : 29 Apr 2024

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Programme Modules

Foundations of Global Health

This module will present an overview of the field of global health, including: the difference between global, international, and public health; the historical development of global health; the multilateral organisations involved in global health; and the field of humanitarian and health development aid and health diplomacy. Basic principles and policies of global health will be reviewed as well as exploration of One Health, Ecohealth, and Planetary Health.

Principles of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

A broad overview of epidemiology, known as the language of public health, and statistical methods for data analysis will be offered in this module. This module will provide an overview of how to classify and measure population health and disease transmission and how to analyse these measurements and other quantitative and health data. Case examples specific to public or global health will be employed for each programme.

Research Methods

This module will cover all the basics of quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research including: devising appropriate research questions; conducting a literature review; writing a research proposal; ethics and informed consent; designing data collection tools; collecting data; analysing data; controlling bias; and writing up the research. You will select a research project that you will work on throughout this module and in the Qualitative Research Methods module. 

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

This module will cover the foundations of health promotion and disease prevention with a special focus on health communication, health policy, and health education. This module will critically examine successful and unsuccessful health campaigns, and consider contemporary issues that challenge disease control such as those encountered with HIV, TB, and COVID-19 and diet and noncommunicable diseases. The impact of physical and social environments on disease prevention and occupational health will also be examined, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal approaches to healthcare interventions and how to decide which approach to use under given circumstances. A special emphasis will be directed toward identifying and controlling social stigma. Health policy formation and implementation will also be introduced. Finally, emergency preparedness and humanitarian response to population health disasters will be reviewed. 

Health Systems and Policy

This module will present an overview of healthcare systems, their functions, and modes of operation. The implications of different types of health systems in terms of access, financing, equity, and quality in health services will also be examined. Furthermore, we will problematise a solely top-down representation of healthcare and demonstrate the role of grass roots organisation and bottom-up healthcare initiatives, as well as the role of medical pluralism in determining how people actually use healthcare. We will also examine the different forms of primary healthcare and the successes and failures of decentralising the healthcare sector. Fundamental concepts of healthcare management and administration will also be reviewed.

Development Theory and Practice

This module will review the historical underpinnings of the development discourse, stemming from colonisation of the so-called global south by the global north, to the present day multilateral policies of sustainable development. The foundational theories of development from economic growth to dependency to sustainable development will be critically examined. 

Project Design and Management

This module prepares you to design, implement, and monitor and evaluate health programmes and projects. You will be equipped with the critical skills needed to assess and overcome obstacles and challenges in the application of project design approaches to health programming. The logical framework will be used as a model for project design, monitoring and evaluation. 

Gender and Sexual & Reproductive Health

This module will provide you with an overview of the historical and current issues and debates concerning gender, and sexual and reproductive health, through the examination of social, political and economic factors impacting sexual and reproductive health. An examination of gender inequity and exclusion is particularly relevant to health outcomes. Issues surrounding maternal and child health, family planning, body image and body dysphoria, and sexual orientation and gender identity will all be examined. Rights-based approaches will be employed and critiqued to support you in your critical analysis of gender, sexual, and reproductive policies, services and interventions.

Qualitative Research Methods

This module will focus solely on qualitative research methods. Special emphasis will be placed on theoretical frameworks for health; designing interview schedules; conducting structured, semi-structured, and unstructured interviews; conducting focus groups; conducting ethnography and participant observation; special anthropological techniques such as free lists and pile sorts; coding data and thematic analyses; analysing data with NVivo; and writing up qualitative research. 

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

This module will offer an overview of mental health concerns at global and more local levels. The diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses will be reviewed. Emphasis will be placed on the advocacy, conceptualisation, appraisal, planning, implementation, and evaluation of psychosocial programmes, particularly for vulnerable populations and populations in need of humanitarian response.

Research Project (Health)

The Research Project is the pinnacle of achievement in the master’s programme. It is equivalent to two taught modules in terms of credits (30) and is expected to involve 300 hours of student effort. The research project must reflect sufficient evidence of independent thought to justify the award at master’s level. It enables you to further develop subject area specialisms drawn from the taught modules of the programme, and to utilise research techniques outlined in the Research Methods for Management module.

Before starting your course you will need the following

Admission requirements
  • A recognised undergraduate or postgraduate degree (or equivalent qualification) from an accredited college, institution or university, equivalent to or higher than a UK Bachelor Honours degree qualification. This includes 3rd class honours degrees.

Or

  • We may also consider applicants who do not hold a recognised degree but who can demonstrate at least two years of relevant work experience - professional, managerial or supervisory role.


English Language Requirements


If English isn’t your first language, you will need to provide evidence of English language ability.

  • IELTS (Academic) at 6.0 overall with no individual component below 5.5
  • Pearson PTE (Academic) overall minimum 59 with 59 in all components
  • Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CCAE & CPE) with minimum scores of 162 in Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking
  • TOEFL iBT overall minimum 80 with 18 in Reading; 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing
  • Trinity Integrated Skills in English (ISE) II: Merit or Distinction
  • Duolingo minimum overall score of 100 with no individual component of literacy, comprehension, conversation and production below 90
  • IGCSE - ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE need minimum grade C
  • IGCSE - ENGLISH LANGUAGE minimum grade C
  • Degree - Taught and Assessed in English and completed within the last three years with transcript confirming language of study is English
  • O-Level English Language or GCSE English Language Grade C or above (UK Exam Board)
  • Malaysian SPM 1119 Grade C or above
  • If you are a national of a UKVI listed English speaking country, you are exempt from providing a language certificate

Get enrolled

Start the application process here. You have the option to either pay for your degree in full at the start, or pay per module.

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