MSc Health Psychology: University of the West of England

Introduction

Health Psychology is an area of rapidly growing interest among psychologists and other professionals working in the health service and in occupational health.

Health psychologists can be involved in a range of activities within the NHS, ranging from providing psychological assessment and support in acute care situations to developments in the provision and management of psychological care and rehabilitation of people with chronic illnesses. Employment opportunities are available in the NHS and industry as well as in academic settings such as teaching and research.

The MSc provides Stage 1 training towards achieving Practitioner Health Psychology status. In addition to coverage of the BPS core curriculum, the UWE course has a particular emphasis on the acquisition of transferable practical and professional skills.

Entry requirements

You must have a minimum 2:1 honours degree in Psychology and must be eligible for Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR) for membership of the BPS. This is an absolute criterion and cannot be wavered in any instance: it is a pre-requisite for the professional accreditation of this course with the BPS.

They particularly welcome graduates with appropriate experience in health psychology, and those who have been employed as health psychologists for some time are welcome to apply. Previous successful applicants have had a wide range of health-related exeperience including working as nurses, health care assistants, admin in a health setting, health promotion, psychology assistant posts, research assistants, teaching.

If you have gained your degree abroad you may be eligible for GBR and you should contact the BPS to clarify this. In many cases this can be a time consuming process so it is advisable to complete these enquiries prior to applying for the MSc, and well in advance of the application deadline to ensure your application can be considered for September entry.