PGDip Cardiology and Stroke

About the course

The teaching team for the MSc Cardiology and Stroke programme has a medical lead for cardiology and a medical lead for stroke medicine. They both are senior doctors who practice within the National Health Service. The course provides students with the opportunity to study all aspects of clinical cardiology and stroke medicine. The focus is on clinical assessment and clinical decision-making. This includes the investigation, interpretation, intervention and management of a range of cardiac and stroke related conditions.

Is this for me?

We welcome interest from junior doctors with career intentions in stroke or cardiology, general practitioners with special interest as well as acute medicine or emergency medicine physicians who want to enhance their understanding of stroke or cardiology. We also welcome interest from clinical nurse specialists and other healthcare professionals working in cardiology and stroke or emergency or acute medicine.

The MSc Cardiology and Stroke programme has been developed in response to the local and national emergence of specialist ‘Stroke’ and ‘Heart Attack’ centres. The implementation of the national service frameworks and the development of national strategies and clinical guidelines for the diagnosis, initial management and rehabilitation of cardiovascular disease have advanced the quality of patient care. The technological and therapeutic advances in the treatment of cardiovascular illness places an increasing demand upon practitioners to develop knowledge, skills and clinical decision-making.

Simulation based medical education is increasingly popular and a highly sought after method in learning and teaching practice, throughout the NHS and private health care sector and internationally. The University of Hertfordshire has state of the art simulation facilities including cardiovascular specific simulators, supported by a track record and the expertise in simulation education. Simulation based education will be used to teach both technical and non-technical skills in two of the specialist taught modules.

The MSc Cardiology and Stroke aims to provide students with the requisite clinical assessment, decision-making skills and management for a range of cardiology conditions and stroke including pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapeutic interventions.