Clinical Neuroscience Practice

Entry requirements for the programme

To be considered for this course, you will need to:

• meet the entry criteria
• write a personal statement
• provide 2 suitable references.

The programme has a modular structure. To graduate with an MSc, students must accrue 180 credits, and the necessary combination of modules varies slightly depending on your academic and career background. Advice on module choice is available from your allocated personal tutor.

In summary, the requirements for the full MSc programme are as follows:

All students will take the following Modules:

• Module 1 (Foundations in Clinical Neuroscience, 30 credits)
• Dissertation (60 credits)

One or both of the following must be completed depending on academic and clinical background:

• Module 2 (Clinical Neuropsychology, 30 credits)
• Module 3 (Health Services Delivery for the Neurosciences, 30 credits)

At least one research support course within Module 4 will be taken:

• Practical Data Analysis: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (15 credits),
• Research Methods (15 credits)
• Statistics (15 credits)
• Critical Appraisal (15 credits)

A clinical placement (15 credits) is compulsory for psychology track students, and optional for qualified clinicians.

Students may accrue their remaining credits from Module groups 5-7.

Module group 5: Modules from Global Health MSc (subject to availability)

• Culture and Mental Health (15 credits)
• Global Health and Comparative Health Systems (15 credits)

Module group 6: Modules from Genomic Medicine MSc (subject to availability)

• Fundamentals of Human Genetics and Genomics (15 credits)

Module group 7: Modules from Translational Medicine MSc (subject to availability)

• Clinical Trials (15 credits)
• Personalised Medicine (15 credits)
• Population Health Research (15 credits),
• Case Studies in Drug Discovery & Development (15 credits)

To graduate with a PGCert, you must complete module 1 plus either module 2 or 3.

Our approach to teaching and learning 

Our approach to assessment

Assessment on the programme is both formative and summative.

Formative assessments will be included throughout the course, delivered by supervisors, personal tutors and peers. Regular contact with supervisors and personal tutors is provided, allowing a relationship of trust to develop, and facilitating assessment that goes beyond the mainly academic considerations in summative assessment.

Summative assessments include written exams, a dissertation proposal and final report, essays, presentations, reflective accounts, and clinical placement performance. Where written outputs are required, we offer a range of topics that will enable students to make study choices appropriate to their learning needs and aims. Summative assessments are distributed rather than clustered, as far as possible, to facilitate the student learning experience and enable timely marking and delivery of feedback.

We know that our graduates will shape the future of clinical neurosciences healthcare delivery, but the trajectories by which they do this vary depending on their clinical and academic backgrounds.

• If you are a psychology graduate, the programme will enhance your employability in competitive early career roles including those as assistant psychologists and particularly within neurosciences settings. It will also enhance your profile as an applicant for clinical psychology training, or other practitioner psychology training pathways.
• If you are a junior doctor, the programme will increase the likelihood of progression from core to higher specialist training or from higher specialist training to a consultant post.
• If you are a nurse or allied health professional, the programme will increase the likelihood of promotion within the AfC pay structure or being appointed to a leadership role.

For all students, the programme will increase the likelihood of being accepted onto a doctoral (PhD or MD-Res) programme should you choose to continue your studies.

Facilities

St George’s is the only UK university based on a hospital site, St George’s Hospital, which is where the Channel 4 television series 24 hours in A&E is filmed. We offer a unique opportunity to study and work alongside the full range of clinical professionals and their patients. Based in the thriving multi-cultural hub of Tooting in South West London, our location has the added advantage of being just a short tube ride from Central London and all the city lifestyle has to offer.

We also have a range of specialist health and academic facilities to support your learning, listed below.

Laboratories

Our teaching laboratories are fully fitted with equipment for biological, chemistry, biomedical, molecular biology and pharmacy practicals. This includes microscopes, spectrophotometers, DMA amplifiers, organ baths and specialist glassware. We also have audio visual equipment installed, so that microscope images can be projected on to large screens.

Image Resource Facility (IRF)

First established in 1979, the IRF has developed to encompass Light Microscopy, Electron Microscopy, and sample preparation for both, all housed in a single department providing a range of imaging analysis options and the expertise to compliment them. Users of the IRF have the ability to image histology samples, cells and molecules of all varieties, and model organisms such as zebrafish using any of the light microscope, slide scanning, or electron microscope systems we maintain, supported by experienced staff at all stages of analysis.

Pathology museum

Our on-site museum houses a collection of over 2,000 pathological specimens, including a number of original specimens donated by Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie in 1843. This space is used for small group tutorials by students across all of our courses as an educational tool to help you understand the mechanisms of disease.

Library and learning technology

Our modern health sciences library offers a wide range of books, e-books, academic journals and other resources to support you. You will also have access to online resources, such as the Canvas virtual learning environment

and our Hunter discovery service to help you find the information you need. The library is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and comprises silent, quiet and group learning areas, as well as four group discussion rooms.

IT facilities

We have five computer suites housing 260 workstations. Three of these suites are accessible 24 hours a day. It’s easy to find a free space with our handy real-time computer locator. We also have 75 self-service laptops available. Free Wi-Fi covers the whole campus, including all accommodation. You can use these resources to access your course materials, discussion boards and feedback through Canvas.

Student support

Whether you are an existing healthcare professional or global health policy maker, returning to education after a break or joining us after graduating from an undergraduate degree, we want to ensure your experience is positive from the outset. At St George’s, you’ll be welcomed by a multicultural student and staff body of different ages, ethnicities, nationalities and backgrounds, all with one thing in common – an interest in healthcare, science and medicine.

Students frequently tell us they greatly appreciate the diversity of our student and staff body, as well as the patients who access healthcare services in the borough of Tooting.

We offer a full range of academic support and student services across all institutes, departments and faculties, some of which are listed below. We take pride in offering a transformative educational experience underpinned by cooperation and collaboration between staff and students.

• Induction programme
• Personal tutor allocated prior to commencing your studies and available to help you navigate your path through the programme.
• Clinical placement supervisor allocated early in the programme to support your development if you are taking the clinical placement module.
• Dissertation supervisor allocated to support development of your research, quality improvement or audit project and skills related to this.
• Disability champion to provide advice, support and advocacy and champion an inclusive learning experience.

How to apply

Before beginning your application please check the entry criteria of the course you wish to study to ensure you meet the required standards.

Applications must be submitted through our online application system, which you can access below. 

The deadline for applications is Monday 4 July 2023.

The deadline for scholarship applications is Monday 1 May 2023.

If you have any further questions about the course, you can get in touch via MscClinNeuroPrac@sgul.ac.uk.

In this tab you will find the financial information for this programme of study, including available financial support and scholarships.

Clinical Neuroscience Practice (MSc) scholarships

How to apply for this scholarship

There is no separate application process to postgraduate scholarships. In order to be considered for a postgraduate scholarship, you must submit an application for an eligible programme. Your submission will then be reviewed against the scholarship eligibility criteria.

The deadline for scholarship applications is Monday 1 May 2023.

You must ensure that your application is complete and submitted by this date in order to be considered for funding. To be deemed complete, it must contain all the relevant supporting documentation required by the programme applied to, such as references, transcripts and English language scores.

The following sections set out the eligibility for our scholarships, as well as how applicants will be assessed.

Find out more about our outstanding faculty of academics and clinicians.

Dr Catherine Doogan

Programme co-director; module lead for Clinical Neuropsychology, dissertation and clinical placement

Dr Catherine Doogan is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who has worked with people with neurological conditions for over 20 years. Catherine has led and developed various services including Neurorehabilitation OnLine (N-ROL). She also co-developed a Vocational Rehabilitation Service and has experience delivering neuropsychological interventions to people with aphasia and their carers.

From a research perspective Catherine has led NIHR-funded clinical trial teams in creating digital neurological intervention apps for people with aphasia after stroke and dementia. She also developed and delivered a Virtual Reality intervention for people with Visual Inattention.

Catherine has a teaching degree as well as her Clinical Psychology doctorate and PGDip in Neuropsychology. She is passionate about delivering innovative ways for a diverse groups to learn. She is the research lead for the Clinical Health and Neuropsychology Department where she is developing placements and research projects regarding evidence-based interventions in neuropsychological rehabilitation.

Dr Jeremy Isaacs

Programme co-director 

Dr Jeremy Isaacs is a consultant neurologist at St George’s and Kingston Hospitals and Honorary Senior Lecturer at St George’s, University of London. He has a specialist interest in cognitive neurology and dementia and is Clinical Director of the NHS London Dementia Clinical Network, where he led the first London and national memory service audits. He was a member of the NICE 2018 dementia guideline committee, chaired the NICE 2022 self-harm guideline committee and chairs the NICE lower urinary tract symptoms in men, trans and non-binary people with a prostate guideline committee.

Jeremy is Neurology Clinical Lead at Kingston Hospital, Neurosciences Clinical Academic Group Director at St George’s Hospital/University and Specialty Research Lead for Neurological Disorders and DeNDRoN for South London Clinical Research Network. He runs a multi-disciplinary cognitive neurology service at St George’s Hospital where he has developed a support group for young people living with dementia funded by the Hospital Charity.

Jeremy studied medicine at Cambridge University and University College London. He subsequently held junior research posts at KCL Institute of Psychiatry and UCL Institute of Neurology. His PhD was on the immunology of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

Dr Ania Crawshaw

Clinical teaching fellow

Dr Ania Crawshaw is the clinical teaching fellow on the MSc in Clinical Neuroscience Practice and a senior neurology registrar at St George’s Hospital, London. She has a special interest in neurology education, having previously worked as a neurology teaching fellow, lecturing to both Cardiff University and more recently SGUL medical students. She has been nominated for and won various teaching awards in these roles.

Other teaching experience includes working as a lecturer for PassPACES, teaching doctors preparing for their postgraduate medical examinations, and creating an open access online course for healthcare professionals about Functional Neurological Disorder on futurelearn.com. Although Ania’s main clinical interests are in movement disorders and functional neurological disorder, she retains a love for general neurology and takes pleasure in sharing this with her students. Wherever possible, she prioritises incorporating in her teaching the voices of her patients, alongside their families and carers.

Dr Gill Cumberbatch

Module lead Health Service Delivery for the Neurosciences

Dr Gill Cumberbatch is a Stroke nurse consultant at St. George’s University Hospitals Foundation Trust and module lead for ‘Health Service Delivery for the Clinical Neurosciences’ on the MSc in Clinical Neuroscience Practice. She completed her nurse training at Glasgow University followed by an MSc at King’s College London and a subsequent PhD on patient, carers and clinician views on communication about thrombolysis treatment. Her current role as stroke nurse consultant at encompasses the whole patient pathway including thrombectomy, hyper-acute care, inpatient care, research, outpatient stroke clinics and stroke prevention. She is the principle investigator for a number of stroke clinical research trials.

She is the joint Clinical Director for stroke in London and until recently was the stroke care group lead for St. George’s Hospital. She jointly leads the National thrombectomy nursing group. She is a member of the Royal College of Physicians Intercollegiate Stroke Working Party and peer review project. She was part of the Guideline Development Group for the Stroke National Clinical Guidelines. She is also an honorary lecturer and co-convenor of the Acute Care module of the MSc in stroke at University College London. Internationally she has worked with stroke services in Guyana, Russia, Vietnam and China to improve stroke care.

Dr Atticus H Hainsworth

Programme deputy director 

Atticus H Hainsworth is Reader in Cerebrovascular Disease at St George’s University of London, UK. He is an expert in the pathology of cerebral small vessel disease, the primary cause of lacunar stroke and vascular cognitive impairment. His interests are in the pathological processes that underlie small vessel disease and associated white matter lesions. He has explored pathogenic mechanisms of small vessel disease in human brain tissue derived from large cohorts (primarily the OPTIMA and MRC-CFAS cohorts). He has explored animal models relevant to small vessel disease, see Hainsworth et al (2017) below.

Atticus received his undergraduate training in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and his PhD in Physiology & Biophysics from Rush Medical Center, Chicago. He was Chief Investigator on the PASTIS trial, testing tadalafil for possible use in vascular dementia. He leads the Vascular Health theme within the MRC-funded Dementias-PlatformUK.

Dr Dean Semmens

Module lead Foundations of Clinical Neuroscience

Dr Dean Semmens is a Lecturer in Neuropharmacology at St George’s University of London.

Dr Semmens obtained a first-class degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Bath, where he also spent time at Eli Lilly as part of a neurodegeneration drug-hunting team focusing on targets in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. He obtained a PhD in Neuroscience and subsequently undertook two Postdoctoral Research Assistant positions at Queen Mary University of London. Following a position as a Lecturer in Neuroscience at Barts and the London, Dr Semmens joined St George’s University of London.

Dr Semmens currently leads the Life Control module on the Medicine (MBBS5) degree programme, whilst also leading The Central Nervous System, Mental Health, Gut and Skin module on the Pharmacy (with Kingston University) degree programme. Dr Semmens teaches and supervises students in the areas of neuroscience and pharmacology on the Biomedical Science, Clinical Pharmacology, Medicine, and Pharmacy degree programmes.

Dr Semmens has obtained a Certificate in Teaching and Learning (CILT) at Queen Mary University of London and a PGCert in Healthcare and Biomedical Education at St George’s University of London, leading to Fellowship of Advance HE.