University of Birmingham
Medical technologies are evolving faster than ever before, and healthcare systems are looking to encourage adoption to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs of care. Almost everyone has, at some point, thought to themselves “why don’t we do it like that” or “what we really need is…”, which are the starting points of every great innovation. Innovation is often discouraged as it is seen as difficult to traverse, but the MSci in Novel Emerging Medical Technology Evaluation and Development peels back the layers to reveal the most successful routes through discovery and to market.
Suitable for intercalating students who wish to improve their understanding and skills of medical technology design, regulation and adoption, the MSci in Novel Emerging Medical Technology Evaluation and Development creates a sound base for clinicians wanting to lead or be involved in the development of medical technologies.
By taking a year out of your studies to focus on medical technologies you will gain a far clearer understanding of the issues faced by healthcare services when identifying need and opportunity. Your improved appreciation and understanding of multiple medical technology interaction will enable you to quickly assess patient pathways and remove unnecessary steps which increase system burden and slow down or limit patient recovery, whilst also being better able to independently assess and implement new technologies. Your knowledge of the regulatory pathway and requirements will be far greater than the majority of your peers, enabling you to accurately and quickly comprehend safety requirements sometimes missed in a busy clinical day, protecting your patients, you and your team from accidental harm. Your experience of the novel technology assessment pathway and accelerated access process will enable you to access the best technologies earlier, improving outcomes for your patients and team. Your deep understanding of all the above as a single process ensures you will be able to work through medical innovation in the NHS without getting frustrated by going in circles. This level of knowledge will make you equally invaluable to external companies, small or large, who are looking to take a technology to market.
The core modules dissect the processes of regulation and assessment of medical technologies. Regulation is the legal requirement, overseen by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority) which licenses all medical products for use in the UK, and is the basic requirement for anything entering the market for use. Assessment of efficacy is performed at a national level by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence). Whilst products can and do enter clinical use without going through NICE, the Medical Technologies Advisory Committee (MTAC) at NICE is regarded as ‘the Golden Ticket’ for medical technologies, with a positive recommendation enabling a far greater pace of adoption.
The MSci in Novel Emerging Medical Technology Evaluation and Development is written and led by renowned expert in the field, Mr Matthew Campbell-Hill. A founding member of MTAC and a past member of TACB (Technology Appraisals Committee B) at NICE, Matthew has advised on over 360 medical technologies, and led the work on the roll out of mobile medical apps for the NHS as a member of the National Information Board. As a non-executive director at the MHRA, Matthew advised on digital medical devices as well as machine learning. Matthew is part time at the University as he continues to be in demand in the commercial and government sectors as well as running his own medical technology start up.
Entry Requirements
Applicants should be able to demonstrate that they have achieved an equivalent standard to a 2.1H / 1H degree so far on their medical programme.
Closing Date
Please contact our Intercalation team mdsintercalationenquiries@contacts.bham.ac.uk to make enquiries and apply.