Health Psychology University of Stirling

Overview

The Health Psychology Masters MSc course from University of Stirling has an experiential focus and emphasises the application of health psychology to real world settings. The course includes contributions from health psychology trainees and healthcare practitioners. You will carry out a brief observational placement in a health related setting, which can include third sector (charities) or industry, and the NHS (virtual or in person). You’ll usually arrange this placement yourself with support from the course team.

Key facts

• Health Psychologists promote healthier lifestyles. They try to find ways to encourage people to improve their health and also to improve the healthcare system as a whole. For example, helping people to lose weight or stop smoking, or advising doctors on better ways to communicate with their patients.
• You’ll learn to use your knowledge of psychology to promote general wellbeing and understand physical illness. We will teach you the skills needed to help people deal with the psychological and emotional aspects of health and illness, and to support people who have long-term conditions.
• Career opportunities:
• Health Psychology is one of the fastest growing areas of applied psychology and our Masters provides you with the first stage of professional training towards becoming a health psychologist. Students intending to go on to become registered Health Psychologists can achieve this by working in healthcare or in academic posts. Scotland is unique in offering a two-year NHS-funded training course for Stage Two health psychology trainees. A Professional Doctorate Health Psychology (Stage 2; 3 years full time) is also now offered at the University of Stirling.Health Psychologists are employed in various settings:

• health assessments and management strategies for people with long-term conditions, for example, those with cancer or chronic pain
• rehabilitation programmes, e.g. for patients with coronary heart disease
• working with patients and carers in palliative care
• working with primary health care teams in the community
• health education and health promotion in educational or industrial settings

Accreditation

This programme is accredited by the British Psychological Society.