This course is designed to provide oncology, palliative care and oncology pharmaceutical industry professionals with detailed knowledge about the interrelationship between oncology and clinical cancer service provision.

Through the course you will develop clinical leadership, clinical excellence and the ability to cultivate interdisciplinary collaboration in the delivery of evidence based oncology and palliative care. This includes sharing mutually valuable information to help develop clinical practice. You will be introduced to the basis of research in oncology and palliative care, preparing you for further research within the fields.

We have designed this course in collaboration with the Faculty of Medical Sciences and it is delivered in association with the Northern Centre for Cancer Care (NCCC).

Our students include those:

• training in nursing, medical or scientific specialties and dealing with cancer, clinical or medical oncology, or palliative care
• working in the pharmacology industry or in cancer research

Quality and Ranking

We rank in the top 100 for Medicine - QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019

Staff

Newcastle and the North East of England have a tremendous amount of oncological and palliative care expertise and all our teaching staff are healthcare professionals actively involved in research. This knowledge base provides a comprehensive, intellectually stimulating, and extremely useful educational experience to all students involved in it.

The course is led by:

• Dr Charles Kelly, Degree Programme Director and Consultant Clinical Oncologist
• Dr Victoria Hewitt, Deputy Degree Programme Director and Palliative Care Specialist

Delivery

Modules are taught online, so you can choose to study anytime and anywhere. This flexibility means that you can fit your studies around your other commitments, plus learning online will develop your online digital literacy skills.

You will be given an account on Blackboard, our managed virtual learning environment, and an email address. Blackboard is accessible across a variety of operating systems and browsers, check that your equipment is compatible. Our materials and supporting reading are accessible across a variety of devices including desktop computers, tablets and mobile phones.

IT support

As this programme is online, you should feel comfortable using the internet and networking online. You don't have to be a technical expert to study online. We'll give you an online induction before you start. This will show you the different interactive tools you will use during your studies. These include:

• discussion boards
• reflective journals
• blogs
• collaborative learning spaces, e.g. wikis

IT requirements

No campus attendance is needed, but you must have reliable access to the following:

• computer
• the Internet
• webcam
• headset
• printer

Recommended specifications:

• operating system: Windows 7 and above (32 and 64 bit) or Mac OSX 10.6 and above
• processor: Intel Pentium, Intel Celeron, Intel i3, Intel i5, Intel i7, or recent AMD processor
• RAM: At least 2GB
• connectivity: broadband or mobile broadband
• screen resolution: at least 1024 x 768 px

Online delivery is structured in weekly topics, guiding your learning via tutorials, videos, discussions and formative exercises. The modules are full of interactive exercises and activities, including immediate feedback from automatically scored activities and practices. You can discuss the course, ask questions and get help with problems through the module discussion groups or through emailing your module leader. The networking opportunities of this course give you a multi-disciplinary awareness to your studies.

Your first task will be to complete a short induction module before studying between 10 and 40 credits per semester. You will be assessed in a variety of ways including:

• multiple choice question exams
• essays
• presentations
• case studies

Each 10 credit module is the equivalent to 100 hours of estimated study time, which includes:

• studying the module materials
• online networking with fellow students
• directed reading
• research
• interactive and collaborative activities
• preparing assessments

Semester Dates

Approximate semester start dates are as follows:

• semester 1 - end of September
• semester 2 - end of January

Semester dates can be found on the University Calendar.

Module changes

Course content changes 

The information above is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content changes periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Optional module availability

Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions.

Find out more about our tuition fees, including how to pay them and available discounts.

EU students starting at Newcastle in 2020 will pay the UK (Home) tuition fee for the full duration of their course.

Pre-sessional English Language courses are not accepted as an alternative entry to this course.

Start date

The course has two start dates:

• September
• January

Closing date

The deadline for January 2020 entry is 13 December 2019. 

When you make your online application, you will need to select your academic year of entry on the 'Programme of Study' page.

• If you are applying for September 2019 or January 2020, select 2019/2020 in the 'Academic year of entry' field.
• If you are applying for September 2020 or January 2021, select 2020/2021 in the 'Academic year of entry' field.

When applying for a CPD module, please include the module name and code you wish to study in your personal statement, eg 'I would like to study the CPD Developments in Diagnostic Imaging in Oncology (E-learning) module (ONC8004)'

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