Course length
1 year full-time,2 - 3 years part-time
Start date
September
Location
Online
Develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to lead, implement and evaluate evidence-based palliative care for people living with long-term and life-limiting conditions.
As populations age and more people live longer with complex, long-term and life-limiting conditions, the demand for high-quality palliative care has never been greater. Increasingly, care is delivered across homes, care homes, community services, hospitals and hospices, requiring professionals who can work across organisational boundaries to improve care for patients, families and communities.
Meeting these challenges requires more than clinical expertise alone. Health and social care professionals, researchers, educators and policymakers need the skills to critically evaluate evidence, generate new knowledge, implement innovation and lead meaningful change. They must be equipped to understand not only what works, but why it works, for whom, and how it can be successfully implemented in real-world settings.
Our PGCert, PGDip and MSc in Palliative Care: Implementing Best Practice was developed to meet this growing international need. Whether you are an experienced clinician, healthcare professional, researcher, educator, or policymaker, this programme will help you deepen your knowledge and build the practical skills to design, deliver, evaluate, and implement evidence-based palliative and end-of-life care across diverse health and social care settings.
The programme is delivered 100% online, providing the flexibility to study wherever you are in the world while balancing professional and personal commitments. Purposefully designed for online learning, the programme combines engaging lectures, interactive webinars, discussion forums, collaborative activities and independent study to create a supportive and stimulating learning environment.
Modules can also be studied as standalone continuing professional development courses. Find out more about our Palliative Care CPD courses.
Book a one-to-one chat with Programme Directors Dr Joseph Clark or Professor Mark Pearson to learn more about our PGCert, PGDip and MSc in Palliative Care: Implementing Best Practice.
Get the answers to your questions about the course, studying at Hull York Medical School, support, finance and more.
Course overview
3 mins
Our school
5 mins
Webinar
Tuesday 3 November, 18:00
Join our interactive webinar and get an exclusive insight into our Palliative Care: Implementing Best Practice course.
Discover what makes the course unique, explore how you’ll learn and develop your skills, and find out about the career development opportunities available to you.
You’ll also hear directly from Programme Directors Dr Joseph Clark and Professor Konathan Koffman, who will share their insights and answer your questions about the course, application process and student experience.
This programme is designed for healthcare professionals, researchers, educators and policymakers who are committed to improving palliative and end-of-life care for people living with long-term and life-limiting conditions.
We welcome students from around the world and recognise that palliative care is inherently multidisciplinary. Our students come from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including medicine, nursing, allied health professions, social care, psychology, pharmacy, rehabilitation, public health, health service management, academia and the voluntary sector. We also welcome policymakers, commissioners and those involved in designing, delivering and evaluating health and social care services.
Studying alongside an international, multidisciplinary cohort provides a unique opportunity to learn from diverse perspectives, share experiences across different healthcare systems and build a global professional network. Together, you will develop the knowledge, leadership and implementation skills needed to improve care for people with serious illness, their families and the communities they serve.
Our flexible, fully online programme is designed to fit around your professional and personal commitments. You can choose to study for a Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert), Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) or Master of Science (MSc), depending on your experience, career aspirations and available study time1.
Teaching and assessment
By the end of the programme, you will be able to:
Experiences
"Because it's remote studying, I've been able to work alongside and fit in my sessions. So for me, it was a perfect balance of being able to expand that knowledge and do a really interesting course, while actually fitting in full-time working as well. I've really enjoyed it so far".
We talked to Louise Nicholson and Angela Laybourne, two current Palliative Care: Implementing Best Practice students, about their experiences of the course so far.
The Postgraduate Certificate consists of three modules (60 credits); the Postgraduate Diploma consists of six modules (120 credits); and the MSc programme (180 credits) consists of six modules (120 credits) and a dissertation (60 credits).
All modules are subject to availability and this list may change at any time.
Some modules can also be studied as standalone courses. Find out more about our continuing professional development opportunities.
Filters
Core
20 credits
Core
20 credits
Core
20 credits
Core
60 credits
Optional
20 credits
Optional
20 credits
Optional
20 credits
Optional
20 credits
Optional
20 credits
HULL YORK MEDICAL SCHOOL Stories
If you’re interested in palliative care, or work in palliative care, the Palliative Care: Implementing Best Practice course at Hull York Medical School will really enhance and broaden your thinking.
Angela Laybourne
Teaching and assessment
The programme is delivered 100% online using our Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment.
This online delivery enables you to study flexibly, although you should take part in the weekly online group discussion sessions held for approximately one hour between 10am and 1pm (GMT).
We deliver our teaching and learning online through lectures, small group seminars (both tutor-led and student-led), Q&A seminars with tutors and external experts, one-to-one tutorials, feedback and support from tutors and other students.
Career prospects
This course supports and empowers individuals across a range of professions to develop the knowledge and skills needed to design, deliver and evaluate care that improves the wellbeing of those with advanced illness and their families. For example:
For those who seek to deepen their understanding and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field, pursuing a PhD is a natural progression. By embarking on this academic journey, you can position yourself on a career track that allows you to shape and influence the very methods that researchers employ, making substantial contributions to the field of palliative care.
Entry
Applicants must have previous training in a health or social care profession (e.g. graduates of medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, or social work or other allied health and social care professions), in a science applied to human or organisational behaviour (e.g. graduates of psychology or sociology) or have equivalent professional experience.
Applicants must have a 2.2 degree or equivalent.
As part of the application process, applicants will be invited to an informal discussion online with the programme director.
Applicants whose first language is not English must have one of the following:
Fees and funding
Fees listed are for 2027 entry. Fees are reviewed on an annual basis and may change for subsequent years.
UK (Home) and International (including EU)
The fees listed for part time study relate to the current year only; fees for subsequent years are subject to confirmation.
Applicants who hold Hull York Medical School palliative care module credits who want to apply for a higher level award for this programme should contact pgtadmissions@hyms.ac.uk for specific application support and fee information.
Applicants currently employed at hospices in the UK may be eligible to apply for a professional development grant via Hospice UK, such as the Wolfson Professional Development Grant and the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) bursary. These grants can provide up to £1,500 per year, with matched funding by your hospice encouraged by Hospice UK.
Applying
To apply, submit an online application on the University of Hull website.
You don’t need to complete your application all at once - you can save and finish it later.
To find out more about studying a single module, visit our Continuing Professional Development pages.
