Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (Online Learning) MSc, PgDip (ICL), PgCert (ICL), PgCert, PgDip, PgProfDev

Narrated presentations from Edinburgh academics and clinicians, and excellent university e-resources support you and facilitate your learning.

How does online learning work?

Online programmes are delivered through the University's Virtual Learning Environment, LEARN, a fully interactive platform that enables you to communicate with our highly qualified teaching staff from the comfort of your own home or workplace. Online learning is of particular benefit to those wishing to study a postgraduate qualification alongside work or other commitments.

Our online students not only have access to the University of Edinburgh’s excellent resources, but also become part of a supportive online community, bringing together students and tutors from around the world.

After training and induction in generic skills for online learning, you will listen to and interact with talks by our team of University of Edinburgh academics and clinicians. You also have full access to all online library resources of the University of Edinburgh. This provides you with a fantastic framework to contribute to discussion boards and written assignments. On selected occasions you will have live discussions with our team.

What does each course involve?

Each course will run over a period of 5 weeks with participation in online discussions and completion of in-course assignments being a compulsory part of the process. Study materials are released on a weekly basis, providing an overview of the study topic, suggested reading materials and key questions that address the learning outcomes for the course.

You are expected to split your time between independent study and interacting with peers and course tutors on the discussion boards in order to fully explore the topic and your understanding of it.

Summative written and online assessment will test your knowledge and understanding of the learning outcomes, as well as your ability to communicate with others in a variety of ways. Our courses all have a strong emphasis on critical interpretation and analysis of primary literature.

You should expect to spend between 12 and 15 hours per week on reading course materials, engaging with peers and tutors on the discussion boards and preparing assessed work. It is up to you to decide how to organise your time from week to week, with course materials and discussion boards available for the duration of the course.

How will you learn?

Learning is delivered through:

• Weekly materials, written notes, recommended reading, organised discussions with other learners, tutors and course organisers. Recorded lectures or podcasts may also be available for you to watch or listen to in your own time.
• Problem-based learning through clinical case studies. These will be used to enhance your understanding of decision-making.
• Opportunities to connect regularly with your course organiser and programme team to address concerns and monitor progress.
• Individual assessments including essays, data presentations, research proposals and narrated presentations that will reinforce your learning.
• Online discussions with your peers that will expose you to different perspectives and new ways of thinking about a problem or topic.
• Independent study and reflection.

Student support and facilities

You will have access to online student services including:

• library resources
• well-being and student support services
• technical support
• study skills support

Courses are offered as five-week courses, each worth 10 credits.

Postgraduate Certificate (Part-time 1 year; intermittent study 2 years)

The courses currently on offer in Year 1 are compulsory and include the following.

Introduction to immunology

This course covers the immune response to infection and the role of innate and adaptive immunity.

Science and biology of bacteria

This course will develop your understanding of the basic biology of bacterial pathogens and how they cause disease in humans.

Science and biology of fungi, parasites and prions

This course focuses on major parasitic (protozoan and helminth), fungal and prion diseases of humans.

Science and biology of viruses

This course covers the basic biology of viral pathogens and how they cause disease in humans.

Laboratory practice in microbiology, virology and serology

This course aims to develop your understanding of the clinical laboratory in the investigation, management and prevention of infection.

Anti-infective therapy and resistance

This course will develop your understanding of antimicrobial agents and their rational use in clinical settings based on evidence and existing policies. You will also be encouraged to investigate the evidence that underpins antimicrobial stewardship.

Postgraduate Diploma (Part-time 2 years; intermittent study 4 years)

In Year 2 you will select six elective courses. Year 2 course offerings and availability are subject to annual academic review and demand.

Courses currently on offer during Year 2 comprise the following:

Clinical syndromes and infection

You will develop your understanding of the pathogenesis, laboratory diagnosis, clinical investigation and treatment of a broad range of complex infection syndromes as well as the relationship between co-morbidities and infection.

Community acquired infections and public health

You will develop your understanding of factors contributing to community-acquired infections, learn about diagnosis and review case studies. Furthermore, the course encourages you to investigate principles of public health, disease surveillance, epidemiology and importance of immunisation in preventing infectious diseases.

Emerging infectious diseases

You will develop an understanding of the emergence of infectious diseases, the risk factors of disease emergence and the implications for disease surveillance and control in public health.

HIV-infected and other immune-compromised patients

This course aims to provide you with the ability to understand the causes of, and risk factors leading to, immune deficiency, and the ability to recognise infection in immune-compromised patients. It will also cover management of specific therapies in both HIV-infected and non-HIV immune-compromised patients as well as relevant counselling to patients, carers and relatives.

Infection prevention and control

You will examine the principles of infection prevention and control in order to reduce the risk of acquiring infections and to control their spread.

Molecular diagnostics of infection

This course aims to develop your knowledge of modern and emerging diagnostic technologies for infectious diseases. Our focus will be on rapid pathogen detection, antibiotic resistance determination, point-of-care testing, and high-throughput technologies such as next-generation sequencing and mass spectrometry.

Scientific analysis, review and presentation: Infectious diseases

This course is designed to develop your ability to critically review biomedical publications, to analyse and interpret data and to apply your skills to the design of research studies. Furthermore, you will be encouraged to critically assess the methodologies used in systematic reviews and meta-analysis.

Travel medicine and infectious diseases

This course aims to introduce the challenges of travel medicine, considering the recreational short-term traveller as well as long-term population movement.

Masters (Part-time 3 years; intermittent study 6 years)

In Year 3 you will carry out a dissertation project on a topic of your choice to complete your Masters degree.

Part-time

You can study this programme on a part-time basis. On successful completion of the courses and assessments you can graduate:

• with a postgraduate certificate (after one year; this is worth 60 credits)
• with a postgraduate diploma (after two years; this is worth 120 credits)
• with a Masters (after three years; this is worth 180 credits)

Intermittent study

Intermittent study allows more flexibility in how you choose to study. With this option, you will have up to 2 years to complete the certificate, up to 4 years to complete the diploma, and up to 6 years to complete the MSc.

The standard programme structure is still maintained in terms of the progression requirement for entry into the dissertation year. However, you can tailor your education to fit more closely with commitments in both your private and professional life.

Postgraduate Professional Development

Postgraduate Professional Development (PPD) is aimed at working professionals who want to advance their knowledge through a postgraduate-level course, without the time or financial commitment of a Postgraduate Certificate or Diploma. You may take a maximum of 50 credits worth of courses over two years through our PPD scheme. These lead to a University of Edinburgh postgraduate award of academic credit. Alternatively, after one year of taking courses, you can choose to transfer your credits and continue on to studying towards a higher award on a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma programme.

Although PPD courses have various start dates throughout the year, you may only start a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma programme at the start of the academic year in September. Any time spent studying PPD will be deducted from the amount of time you will have left to complete a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma programme.

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

The programme will provide a fundamental understanding of the science, biology and detection of pathogens as well as our immune response to them, anti-infective therapy, and infection control among other topics. However, beyond this you will:

• Develop an increased understanding and awareness of the scientific and medical background of infectious diseases.
• Achieve a command of existing knowledge in your field of research, through a critical and comprehensive review of relevant literature.
• Understand the principles of data analysis, dissemination of results and implementation of key findings, thus making informed judgements on new and emerging treatments.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how specialist knowledge in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases is applied to treatment and management of infectious diseases.
• Successfully communicate scientific results.
• Ensure an understanding of infectious diseases to enable the undertaking of independent research.

We designed the Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases MSc programme with your training and your professional development aspirations in mind. It is an excellent opportunity to advance knowledge and skills for many professionals such as biomedical scientists, researchers, educators and health care professionals. Our curriculum draws on the British medical syllabus for Combined Infection Training and Higher Specialty Training in Infectious Diseases of the Royal College of Pathologists and Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board. Our programme is ideal for junior doctors who wish to specialise in infectious diseases or clinical microbiology and can support trainees/specialists in preparation for FRCPath Part 1/CICE.

This degree will also be attractive to those who have completed their training but wish to fulfil continuing medical education requirements, or those who wish to obtain a formal qualification in Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Some of our students have taken our MSc degree in preparation for a doctoral research degree. The programme also provides a good foundation for healthcare professionals wishing to conduct research studies within the infectious disease field.

Amal Khattab

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a biomedical, medical, public health or relevant bio-science topic.

We may also consider your application if you have relevant work experience; please contact the programme team to check before you apply. You may be admitted to certificate level only in the first instance.

Students from China

This degree is Band D.

• Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 92 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 176 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE II with distinctions in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 65 with at least 59 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 7 overall with at least 6 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Deposit

You will need to pay this non-refundable deposit before an unconditional offer can be made.

• £500 (this contributes towards your tuition fees)

Find out more about tuition fee deposits:

• Tuition fee deposits

Tuition fee deposits can be paid here using the University's online payment facility, ePay:

• Pay a tuition fee deposit

Tuition fees

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

• borrowing money

  • taking out a loan

  • family support

• personal savings

• income from work

• employer sponsorship

• scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

Featured funding

• Online Learning Scholarships

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

• your programme
• the duration of your studies
• your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

• UK government and other external funding

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding