Study options
- Starting in
- September 2025
- Location
- Distance Learning
- Fees
- Home: £8,600
Overseas: £18,350
EU/EEA/Swiss students
What you'll study
The programme promotes critical thinking in the context of advanced clinical practice and is designed to develop the following capabilities:
- Provide and promote safe and effective clinical care to newborn infants in partnership with individuals, families, carers and stakeholders
- Provide values-based facilitative and strategic leadership across the neonatal clinical care pathway
- Advocate and contribute towards a positive learning culture that enables individuals and teams to continuously develop and improve care for newborn infants
- Advocate and contribute towards implementing evidence into practice and facilitating continuous quality improvement of local, regional, national neonatal care delivery and outcomes
The curriculum has been mapped to the British Association of Perinatal Medicine Capabilities Framework for Advanced Neonatal Practice, and the Health Education England Multi-Professional Framework for Advanced Clinical Practice.
The PGDip is delivered over two years with eight compulsory taught modules over four semesters. The programme takes students through a narrative that spans across the four pillars of Advanced Neonatal Practice (Clinical Practice, Leadership and Management, Education, and Research) and progressively helps develop the academic underpinnings to advanced clinical practice within neonatology.
We draw on local expertise at the Royal London Hospital for content delivery and academic supervision. The neonatal unit is part of the Children’s Hospital at the Royal London Hospital, and we have close working relationships with fetal, maternal, paediatric hospital and community services, neonatal/paediatric surgery and the full spectrum of specialist allied healthcare professionals as well as the London Neonatal Transfer Service.
Structure
Year 1 modules (90 credits)
A narrative is thread through the modules by working through the pre-, peri- and post-natal assessment strategies, further developing these within the pathophysiology and treatment of medical and surgical clinical cases, consolidating treatment modalities with non-medical independent prescribing, and eventually considering these within ethical and clinical governance structures.
- Module 1 - Clinical assessment of the foetus, neonate and young infant (Compulsory, 15 credits)
- Module 2 - Pathophysiology and management of neonatal medical conditions (Compulsory, 15 credits)
- Module 3 - Pathophysiology and management neonatal surgical conditions (Compulsory, 15 credits)
- Module 4 - Non-medical prescribing for the neonate (Compulsory, 15 credits)
- Module 5 - Decision-making, communication and ethics in neonatology (Compulsory, 15 credits)
- Module 6 - Transition to advanced neonatal practice - Leadership and management (Compulsory, 15 credits)
Year 2 Modules (90 credits)
This year consolidates your knowledge with two modules by working through research techniques, quality improvement and safety structures as they pertain to neonatal medicine and transport. There will be no further teaching for PGDip students after modules 7 and 8.
- Module 7 - Quality improvement and research methods in neonatology (Compulsory, 15 credits)
- Module 8 - Ergonomics & Human Factors in neonatal medicine and transport (Compulsory, 15 credits)
Compulsory/Core modules
This module is designed to give students an understanding of evidence-based assessment and associated interpretation procedures for prenatal, postnatal and post-neonatal unit discharge presentations, all within the remit of neonatal service care provision. The module will cover antenatal pathologies and counselling, perinatal pathological processes, physical examination of the newborn after delivery, on the neonatal unit and the postnatal ward including Newborn and Infant Physical Examination (NIPE) screening, and the assessment of infants in the setting of a general neonatal outpatient follow-up clinic.
This module is designed to give students an understanding of evidence-based assessment, associated interpretation and management procedures for postnatal neonatal medical conditions within the remit of neonatal service care provision. The module will cover postnatal medical pathological processes whilst drawing on the pre- and peri-natal periods, physical examination, pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment principles, and the critical appraisal of short- and long-term clinical outcomes.
This module is designed to give students an understanding of evidence-based assessment, associated interpretation and management procedures for postnatal neonatal surgical conditions within the remit of neonatal service care provision. The module will cover postnatal surgical pathological processes whilst drawing on the pre- and peri-natal periods, physical examination, operative and pharmacological treatment principles, and the critical appraisal of short- and long-term clinical outcomes.
This module is designed to provide a framework to work towards becoming a safe and effective non-medical independent prescriber for medical and surgical patients who fall within the remit of neonatal clinical services. It draws on the competency framework of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to support prospective prescribers in expanding their knowledge, skills, motives and personal traits, to continually improve their performance, and work safely and effectively in the context of neonatal clinical care provision.
This module is designed to give students a deep understanding of an evidence-based approach to justifying and articulating clinical decisions, drawing on theoretical principles, current evidence and practical experience in the provision of active and palliative care treatment for neonates.
This module is designed to further consolidate knowledge through analysis of the concept and scope of advanced practice, focussing on the interface of advanced practice accountability, clinical governance, autonomy, specialist and expert practice. Students will explore the integration and application to practice of advanced health assessment skills, diagnostic skills, complex decision making, therapeutic management, and speciality specific knowledge and skills, all whilst reviewing the challenges of transitioning into the ANP role as a new professional identity.
The module is designed to make a case for quality improvement to be at the heart of local plans for improving and redesigning neonatal clinical services and their interface with maternity and paediatric clinical care provision. This is further extended into research methods and ways in which evidence is used to inform neonatal clinical practice whilst also underpinning health and social care policy. The module will also provide the knowledge base for the Scientific Paper (Dissertation) of the MSc.
The module is draw on unique local expertise to deliver an overview of the application of Ergonomics and Human Factors to the safe and efficient provision of clinical care in the context of neonatal unit-based and neonatal transport medicine. The module will provide students with a targeted and deep understanding of the human-technology-systems interactions and lead a systems approach to designing safe and effective clinical environments as they pertain to neonatal clinical care provision.
Assessment
Taught modules will be assessed through a variety of oral and written assessments, for example critical appraisal of clinical cases and evaluation of the literature, which may include a written or oral presentation and/or video elements. Formative feedback on the discussion forum contributions will be an integral part of the moderated discussion, with faculty members responding to posts and offering feedback.
Teaching
The programme has been designed for engaging distance learning, allowing you to study with your peers, in your own time and at your own pace. It will be delivered as a high-quality, interactive online learning experience featuring online group seminars, problem-based learning sessions, and regular one-to-one online coaching by expert neonatal specialists.
You will be provided with a dedicated academic advisor. This tutor will support you on an academic and pastoral level as required, referring issues to the programme director and academic coordinator when appropriate. For the final Scientific Paper module, you will be allocated a dedicated tutor at the start of the year, depending on the subject chosen.
You will also have the opportunity to attend an optional end-of-year summer school at Queen Mary to expand your knowledge and professional network.
Blizard Institute distance learning (online) students* gave their experience a score of 99% for overall satisfaction.
*Students who completed the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) 2024
Where you'll learn
Facilities
- Access to Queen Mary’s dedicated online portal, QMplus
- Video and audio recordings of all lectures and other online resources (journals, books and databases)
- Supplementary reading and a selection of relevant journal articles
- Student Café — this area of the website allows pictures and questions or messages to be posted for discussion within the group
- Access to our campus facilities if you decide to visit at any point during your course
About the Institute
Blizard Institute
The Blizard Institute is the largest institute of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. Our research and education span broad areas of modern biomedicine, with particular expertise in cell biology, genomics, immunology, neuroscience, primary care, population health and trauma sciences.
Our research puts Queen Mary joint seventh in the UK (REF 2021). We work closely with linked NHS hospital trusts which means that the School’s research and teaching is informed by an exceptionally wide-ranging and stimulating clinical environment.
Barts Health NHS Trust is home to:
- One of the capital's leading trauma and emergency care centres in the UK (approaching 1,000 attendances daily)
- Europe’s largest Trauma Centre
- Europe’s busiest Heart Centre.
Queen Mary University is also part of the prestigious Russell Group - a body of leading UK universities dedicated to research and teaching excellence.
Career paths
- 96% of Blizard postgraduate-taught students are in employment or further study (2020/21)
- 98% of Blizard postgraduate-taught students are in highly skilled work or study (2020/21)
- £47k is the median UK salary of Blizard Institute postgraduate-taught graduates (2020/21). 87% earn above this
Fees and funding
Part-time study
September 2025 | 21 months
- Home: £8,600
- Overseas: £18,350
EU/EEA/Swiss students
Funding
There are a number of ways you can fund your postgraduate degree.
- Scholarships and bursaries
- Postgraduate loans (UK students)
- Country-specific scholarships for international students
Our Advice and Counselling service offers specialist support on financial issues, which you can access as soon as you apply for a place at Queen Mary. Before you apply, you can access our funding guides and advice on managing your money:
Entry requirements
UK
Degree requirements
A 2:2 or above at undergraduate level in Nursing and experience in intensive care.
Other routes
Other related degrees at 2:2 or above will be considered on an individual basis if there is relevant clinical experience.
Applicants with qualifications below this level will be considered on an individual basis if there is strong evidence of suitable experience.
Find out more about how to apply for our postgraduate taught courses.
International
English language requirements
The English language requirements for our programmes are indicated by English bands, and therefore the specific test and score acceptable is based on the band assigned to the academic department within which your chosen course of study is administered. Note that for some academic departments there are programmes with non-standard English language requirements.
The English Language requirements for entry to postgraduate taught and research programmes in the Blizard Institute falls within the following English band:
Band 4: IELTS (Academic) minimum score 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each of Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking
Please note, there are some postgraduate programmes with non-standard English language requirements in this Institute.
We accept a range of English tests and qualifications categorised in our English bands for you to demonstrate your level of English Language proficiency. See all accepted English tests that we deem equivalent to these IELTS scores.
Visas and immigration
Find out how to apply for a student visa.