MSc in Exercise and Sports Medicine (Football)

Our innovative Exercise and Sports Medicine (Football) MSc is aimed at physiotherapists and doctors either working within football medicine or interested in moving into football medicine.

The programme is aimed at physiotherapists and doctors and is ideal for those either working within football medicine or interested in moving into football medicine.

This is a research-led programme delivered within a School with 90% of its research classified as world-leading or internationally excellent, with experts from football medicine, sports medicine and musculoskeletal medicine.

The programme is part of a collaboration framework of MSc and MRes programmes between the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences and the College of Medical and Dental Sciences.

The overall aim of the programme is to enable exploration of the theoretical basis of exercise and sports medicine in general and football in particular, and its application to the development of a physiotherapist's and doctor's clinical reasoning. Using the process of clinical reasoning as its framework, the programme will integrate the key issues central to practice in this specialist area, including clinical assessment, communication skills, accurate diagnosis, differential diagnosis, diagnostics and prognostics, treatment interventions, management approaches, best evidence, evaluation of outcome, strategies to reduce injury time etc.

The programme will facilitate the evaluation of existing evidence through the exploration of the assessment and management of athletes. It will provide students with the opportunity to tailor their learning experience to meet their personal and professional needs, developing their capacity for leadership within a multidisciplinary team providing clinical management in football. The programme will promote enquiry-based learning through a range of strategies including case analysis and problem-based learning.

The programme was written in line with the international competencies and standards established by the International Federation of Sports Physiotherapists and the Specialty Training Curriculum for Sports and Exercise Medicine from the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board, and in collaboration with The Football Association and physiotherapists and doctors working within football and other sporting contexts.

Why study this course?

The specific aims of the programme are:

• To critically evaluate approaches and methodologies for researching theoretical and practical issues relating to exercise and sports medicine with a focus on clinical practice within football.
• To critically evaluate previous professional development and plan future development within the framework of contemporary exercise and sports medicine within football.
• To critically analyse the theoretical and conceptual issues underpinning assessment, evaluation, management and rehabilitative approaches within football.
• To use advanced clinical reasoning and clinical skills to enable optimal clinical effectiveness and holistic management of complex clinical presentations in athletes.
• To develop a high level of clinical and research skills to enable leadership within a football medicine context.
• To critically evaluate the scientific and clinical evidence of exercise and sports medicine in football.
• To formulate a justifiable research design and conduct analytically an investigation to address a given problem.
• To produce a written research report and presentation worthy of scrutiny in both academic and clinical settings.

Unique features of the programme include:

• Part delivery of two specialist modules at The Football Association's National Football Centre, St George's Park at Burton on Trent.
• Anatomy skills development is taught at the prosectorium in the Medical School,
• A further specialist module that promotes professional practice/clinical mentorship within a football/sports medicine environment.

A range of skills can be gained from undertaking this programme that contributes to advanced practice within the speciality of Sports Medicine (Football). Specifically, they include oral communication, written communication, leadership, teamwork, critical thinking, time management, cross-cultural awareness, enterprise skills, commercial/business awareness, numeracy, ICT, adaptability/flexibility, advanced interpersonal skills, managing own development, advanced clinical reasoning, prioritisation skills, and excellence in practical skills.

The College of Life and Environmental Sciences is dedicated to exploring the diversity and evolutionary challenges of life in all its forms.

Across the breadth of life and environmental sciences, we discover, apply and translate science, forging major advances in human and environmental health. From exercise, biomedicine and mental health to climate change, food security and resilience we combine original thinking and real-world experience with clear focus and rigour. This is underpinned by our enabling technologies, which combine state-of-the-art equipment with expert staff.

We are home to one of the best stand-alone Schools of Psychology in the UK, as well as being ranked consistently in the top five in the world QS league table for Sport and Exercise Sciences. Supported by a major gift from a philanthropist, we have developed the unique Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BiFoR), which is investigating the effect of rapid climate change on tree canopy development and pathogens.

The College is comprised of four Schools: Biosciences; Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences; Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences; and Psychology. We combine our discipline expertise with those across the wider University to address the most significant human and environmental questions of the present, past and future.

Our extensive engagement with partners across academia, industry and communities deliver a growing impact on the local, national and global stage.

Talented staff

With a faculty of more than 700 academic and professional services staff working in partnership, we are actively engaging with University initiatives to make high-quality appointments in the College’s established and emerging centres of research excellence. Among our academic staff are a number of outstanding, high potential, early career researchers, appointed as part of the University’s sector-leading Birmingham Fellowship programme. Our professional services staff provide valuable support to academic colleagues, enabling an exceptional educational experience for our students, and helping us to grow our influence regionally, nationally, and globally.

One of our core aims in the College is to help our staff to look after themselves. We have a range of apps, programmes and information available to our staff to improve and support both their physical, and mental health.

World-leading research

In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) the majority of our research was rated as world-leading (4) or internationally excellent (3). Our world-leading multidisciplinary research areas include:

• Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR)
• Environmental Sciences
• Microbiology and Infection
• Water Sciences
• Centre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain
• Centre for Human Brain Health
• Institute for Mental Health

In recent years, the College has placed significant investment into key interdisciplinary initiatives including the Centre for Computational Biology and, recently, the Centre for Human Brain Health. Established in 2017, the Institute for Mental Health will largely focus on transforming NHS services from an evidence base of the highest quality research. These investments build on the College’s outstanding infrastructure and reputation for enabling technologies.

Teaching excellence

The College is home to around 5,000 students studying a diverse range of more than 100 undergraduate, postgraduate taught and research programmes.

The combination of outstanding research, training, fieldwork and facilities enables our students to engage with the most exciting and pioneering research through its impact and application to real-world challenges. As a result, they learn both transferable and discipline-specific skills giving them the confidence and experience to succeed in a wide range of careers across the globe.

International students in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences

We are home to a diverse and vibrant community of international students who have chosen the University of Birmingham to further their studies in biosciences, geography, earth sciences, environmental sciences, planning, psychology, sport and exercise sciences and physiotherapy.

Muhammad Nadzmie Bin Zulkifli - Malaysia (MSc Air Pollution Control and Management)

“My favourite thing of being a student in the University of Birmingham probably would be the community, the diverse international community here. It makes me feel at home.”

Christy Wong Hei Yan - Hong Kong (BSc Psychology)

“Studying abroad can broaden my horizons”

Our schools

• Biosciences
• Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Psychology
• Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences

Fellowships

Pursue an independent fellowship in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, and gain the opportunity to further your own research within a globally respected multi-disciplinary environment.

Postdoctoral and Early Researcher Career Development and Training - PERCAT

The PERCAT programme within the Colleges of Engineering and Physical Sciences and Life and Environmental Sciences aims to provide a gateway to resources and support available at the University of Birmingham for career development and training for postdoctoral and early career researchers, including events, seminars, career development opportunities, research council funding, fellowships and other support services.