Key facts

Overview

The MSc in Surgical Science and Practice is a part-time, modular course to be completed in two to three years by surgical trainees.

Delivered in collaboration with the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences it is designed to prepare senior surgical trainees for life as independent specialists by providing key skills and knowledge essential for modern practice, which are not fully represented or are omitted from most postgraduate training curricula. The course is unique as its part-time nature is designed to allow students to fit their study around work.

The MSc in Surgical Science and Practice provides a foundation in some of the most important additional life long skills which the future leaders of the profession need to acquire. Surgeons in the future will work as part of multi-disciplinary teams in complex organisations, and will need to adapt and develop new skills and roles throughout their professional lives. Thus the syllabus covers management skills, quality improvement, leadership, teamwork and patient safety, as well as an introduction to the principles of medical education and clinical research methods. The knowledge gained during this course will stand students in good stead throughout their careers.

Follow @OxfordSSP on Twitter.

Programme details

The MSc in Surgical Science and Practice is a two to three year part-time course, organised around six compulsory modules, plus a work-based research project and dissertation. Students are full members of the University of Oxford and are matriculated as members of an Oxford college.

The course features a significant component of online and distance learning, as well as one week of intensive teaching in Oxford per module.

During the course there is an exceptional opportunity for an introduction, with hands-on experience, to leading edge modern surgical technology such as the Da Vinci robot. The programme also features lectures by staff from the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine based in the world-renowned Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.

Taught by global experts, the modules in this programme can also be taken as individual stand-alone courses.

Modules:

• Becoming a Medical Educator
• Human Factors, Teamwork and Communication
• Introduction to Surgical Management and Leadership
• Quality Improvement Science and Systems Analysis
• Surgical Technology and Robotics
• The Practice of Evidence-Based Health Care (Surgery)

Each module takes place once a year, giving students the opportunity to individualise their patterns of study.

Selection criteria

Staff

Mr Peter McCulloch

Role: Director & Tutor

Peter McCulloch is the Programme Director for the MSc in Surgical Science and Practice, and co-lead for the module on Scientific Methodology and...more Evidence. He is Reader in the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences at the University of Oxford and Honorary Consultant in Upper GI Surgery at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust.

He is Director of the Quality, Reliability, Safety and Teamwork Unit, a research group working on safety and quality in surgery, and co-ordinator of IDEAL, an international network dedicated to improving the scientific evaluation of surgery and interventional therapies.

Clinical Reader in Surgery, Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences
Director, Quality, Reliability, Safety and Teamwork Unit
Member of the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, University of Oxford

close

Professor Richard Canter

Role: Tutor

Associate Dean and Head of School of Surgery, Severn Deanery, NHS Education South West

Richard Canter is a surgeon at the Royal United...more Hospital, Bath in England and has been Associate Dean and Head of the Severn Deanery Postgraduate School of Surgery since 2007. As well as a spell as Programme Director in the South West, he was also Deputy Director of Surgical Education at the Royal College of Surgeons of England during development of the Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum. He has been visiting Professor of Surgical Education at the University of Oxford since 2007 and Chair of the Heads of Schools of Surgery for the UK since 2009.

close

Dr Ken Catchpole

Role: Tutor

Associate Director of Surgical Safety and Human Factors Research, Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles

Dr Ken Catchpole is a...more research psychologist and human factors practitioner who seeks to understand and improve human performance in complex systems. After leading a nationwide project developing human abilities in weapon detection at UK airports, he began research in healthcare in 2003, examining the mechanisms of teamwork and safety in surgery. He now works with clinicians to develop and scientifically evaluate interventions to improve safety, while taking a semi-ethnographic approach to understanding the complex nature of safety, quality and human error in healthcare. He has contributed to healthcare research and improvement in the UK, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and the USA; and assists the Clinical Human Factors Group, the Royal College of Anaesthetists, and the Royal College of Surgeons in the establishment of human factors principles in healthcare; and is an Associate Editor for BMJ Quality and Safety. Through popular and scientific articles, keynote addresses, and media coverage, he has sought to engage a worldwide audience in the evaluation and improvement of safety in healthcare from a human factors perspective.

close

Mr Tony Jefferis

Role: Tutor

Deputy Postgraduate Dean, Oxford Deanery, NHS South of England

Tony Jefferis MChir, MEd, FRCS, had his undergraduate training at...more Cambridge and St Thomas’s. After core surgical training in the army he started ENT training, having his higher specialist training at the Royal Free, St Mary’s Paddington and the Royal Marsden Hospital. During this time he undertook research into photodynamic therapy in head and neck cancer, being awarded his Cambridge Master of Surgery. Just prior to being appointed a consultant in East Berkshire he was a TWJ Research Fellow at the University of California, undertaking post doctoral research work in cochlear physiology.

In his early years as a consultant he was recruited into postgraduate education, successfully leading the fundraising for the postgraduate centre in East Berkshire, he was then appointed Regional Adviser in ENT for the Oxford Region and the first training programme director as well as being the Associate Clinical Tutor for East Berkshire. In 1996 he was appointed as Associate Postgraduate Dean for the Oxford Deanery, a post which he has held since then, as well as acting as Deputy from 1999-2003, and 2008- date. He is the inaugural head of the Oxford Postgraduate School of Surgery, appointed in 2008.

After a sabbatical in 2007 looking at surgical education in North America and Australasia he embarked on a Masters in Surgical Education, which he was awarded in 2010. He has more than thirty publications, mainly on head and neck cancer and postgraduate education.

close

Dr Steve New

Role: Tutor

Fellow and Tutor in Management Studies, Hertford College
Lecturer in Quality Improvement, Saïd Business School

Steve New is a...more Fellow at Hertford College, and teaches Operations Management at the Said Business School at the University of Oxford. His teaching and research interests focus on supply chain management and operations management.

He initially trained as an industrial physicist, gaining a First in Physics at Southampton University, combining his studies with a prize-winning undergraduate engineering apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce PLC. He worked in a number of areas within Rolls-Royce, culminating in a period as a Research Officer in the Advanced Research Laboratory, where he investigated the application of holographic tomography to the analysis of combustion and other image analysis methodologies. He then joined management consultants Collinson Grant, working on a wide range of commercial assignments in manufacturing, services and the public sector. His doctoral studies at Manchester Business School entailed working with the truck components division of Eaton Limited on the use of visual interactive modelling in manufacturing management. He then spent five years as a lecturer at UMIST's Manchester School of Management, where he won the Fellowship of the Operations Management Association (UK) in 1993-94 , and was director of the School's Doctoral Programme.

In 1996 he joined Oxford University's new business school and was responsible for establishing the Operations Management components on both the new MBA and the undergraduate programme. He subsequently became Director of Undergraduate Programmes at the School, and subsequently has served as Vice Dean. Steve has published widely in the field of operations management and process improvement, and has worked extensively in government, healthcare and the third sector.

close

Course aims

The overarching aim of the MSc in Surgical Science and Practice is to provide the next generation of surgeons with the tools to build and lead successful surgical units delivering safe, high quality, high reliability care.

By the end of the course candidates will be able to understand the following important principles:

• How to evaluate clinical research evidence critically and understand how it should be interpreted and applied to one’s own context and practice.
• How to design, conduct and evaluate teaching and training for postgraduate clinicians, and how to assess curricula and teaching programmes.
• Financial and quality management ideas, and methods for analysing and restructuring the systems in which surgeons work.
• A theoretical understanding of the use of modern surgical technology linked to baseline practical training in minimally invasive and robotic surgical techniques.
• The teamwork, leadership and communication skills required for effective and safe working in a modern surgical environment.

What will you gain from attending the programme?

At the end of the programme you will be able to:

• Critically appraise relevant clinical research and estimate its validity and relevance to your practice.
• Understand in principle how to design your own clinical research studies, and what expert support you need to be successful.
• Understand basic business and financial planning in the health care industry.
• Develop your own business plans and cases for your practice.
• Understand the principles of leading a team and how to foster an appropriate culture to promote good teamwork and communication.
• Analyse and improve systems of work within surgery using standard industrial quality improvement and human factors principles.
• Understand how to act as a mentor and trainer for postgraduate trainees, how to set up and run courses and curricula, and how to evaluate and improve trainee progress.
• Understand and have some experience of using up to the minute surgical technology which is likely to become important during your career.

Assessment methods

To complete the MSc, students will need to:

• Attend the six compulsory modules in Oxford, and undertake assessed written assignments for each module.
• Complete a dissertation on a topic selected by the candidate in consultation with the supervisor and approved by the Standing Committee.

Dissertation
The dissertation will be founded on a work-based research project that will build on the material studied in the taught modules. The dissertation should normally not exceed 15,000 words.

The project will normally be supervised by an academic supervisor from the University of Oxford, and an employer-based mentor.

Teaching methods

The class-based modules include a period of preparatory study, a week of intensive face-to-face lectures and tutorials, followed by a period for assignment work. Attendance at modules is a requirement for study. Some non-classroom activities are provided at facilities elsewhere in the University, including surgical simulators and operating theatres on the University's hospital sites. The course includes taught material on research skills.

The taught modules include group work, discussions, guest lectures, and interaction and feedback with tutors and lecturers. Practical work develops the student's knowledge and understanding of the subject. This includes supervised access to surgical simulators and robots as part of the Surgical Technology and Robotics module.

A virtual learning environment (VLE) provides extensive support between modules.

Resources available:

University of Oxford libraries, including:

• Radcliffe Science Library
• Rewley House Continuing Education Library
• The Cairns Library at the John Radcliffe Hospital
• Bodleian Libraries e-Resources

Plus facilities from the Department of Continuing Education, including:

• The Graduate School
• WebLearn virtual learning environment

Accommodation

Accommodation is available at the Rewley House Residential Centre, within the Department for Continuing Education, in central Oxford. The comfortable, en-suite, study-bedrooms are rated 4-star, and come with free high-speed internet access and TV. Guests can take advantage of the excellent dining facilities and common room bar, where they may relax and network with others on the programme.

Payment

Fee rates

You will be required to pay an annual award fee for every academic year (or part-year) that you attend the course, and to pay module or dissertation fees as they become due. Fees must be paid in accordance with the Terms and Conditions [see below] for this programme. All amounts are in pounds sterling.

Fee rates for the academic year 2013-14 [1]

MSc programme fee rates [4]

Annual award fee:

• £1,260 for Home/EU students or
• £5,960 for Overseas students (see note 1)

Module fee: £1,575 (per taught module)
Dissertation fee: £4,725 (equivalent to 3 module fees)

Illustration [3] for MSc programme (assumes completion within two years)

Home/EU [2]

• 2 x annual award fee = £2,520
• 6 x module fee (6 taught modules) = £9,450
• 1 x dissertation fee = £4,725
• Total: £16,695
  
  

Overseas [2]

• 2 x annual award fee = £11,920
• 6 x module fee (6 taught modules) = £9,450
• 1 x dissertation fee = £4,725
• Total: £26,095

Notes

1. The fee rates listed are for the academic year shown, and you should be aware that these rates will increase annually.

2. See the University of Oxford website for Home/EU and Overseas classification of students for fees purposes.

3. The Illustration is based on the fee rates for the academic year shown; however, fee rates for attendance in future years will increase, so students attending for more than one year should expect the total to be higher than is shown in the Illustration. The exact amount will depend on the fee rates set annually, and upon the years you are in attendance; these are normally published well before the start of each academic year, but for your own budgetary purposes you may wish to estimate a 5% annual increase on fee rates.

4. MSc students are matriculated and are full members of the Collegiate University; college fees are included within the MSc programme fees and are paid to the colleges on a student’s behalf.

Scholarships

Clarendon Fund Scholarship

Applications completed before 18 January 2013 will automatically be considered for a Clarendon Fund Scholarship.

Other sources of funding

Details of funding opportunities, including grants, bursaries, loans, scholarships and benefit information are available on our financial assistance page.

Modules in this programme

The following modules can be studied as part of this programme:

• Health Sciences (5)
• Becoming a Medical Educator
• Human Factors, Teamwork and Communication
• Introduction to Surgical Management and Leadership
• Quality Improvement Science and Systems Analysis
• The Practice of Evidence-Based Health Care (Surgery)

Apply for this course