Healthcare Science (Rehabilitation Engineering)

Are you interested in a career where engineering meets healthcare to make a real difference to patient independence and quality of life?

Rehabilitation engineering plays a vital role in developing technologies that help individuals overcome physical challenges, and this degree will equip you with the skills to contribute to this life‑changing work.

Our BSc (Hons) in Rehabilitation Engineering will give you the expert training you need to begin a rewarding and highly skilled career in the healthcare profession as a rehabilitation engineer. You will learn about the application of engineering principles to develop technological solutions and devices to assist individuals with disabilities and long-term conditions. You will combine in-depth academic work with practical, clinical and technological skills in a range of specialised healthcare settings.

Over the three years you will learn about the design, construction and testing of a range of assistive technologies, including wheelchairs, artificial limbs, robotic aids and specialist seating. Using pressure mapping systems, goniometers, inclinometers, joystick controllers and programmers you will learn to build standard and custom-made devices, as well as learning about their importance towards revolutionising patient care and independence.

Rehabilitation engineering is an exciting, challenging and continually evolving field requiring a high level of responsibility and technical skill. As a rehabilitation engineer, you will work as part of a rehabilitation team including prosthetics and orthotists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, as well as patients and clinics in acute and community services. As your career progresses, you will have excellent opportunities for advanced practice and further study to Masters and doctoral level.

Your learning will be based across two locations: our Singleton Park Campus, set on the edge of the beautiful Gower Peninsula, and through practice learning placements in specialist healthcare settings, where you’ll gain hands‑on clinical experience and apply your skills with real patients and multidisciplinary teams. This blend of campus‑based study and clinical training ensures you graduate ready for the workplace.

You will be taught and supported by our experienced academic staff, many of whom are practising healthcare scientists. Their combination of scientific expertise and professional insight means you’ll learn from people who understand the realities of rehabilitation engineering and the evolving needs of patients and services.

In Year 1, you will typically study areas including: Professional and Clinical Practice for Clinical Engineering; Anatomy and Physiology Healthcare Science; Fundamentals of Healthcare Science, Scientific Basis of Engineering; Pathophysiology for Healthcare Science.

In Year 2, you will typically study areas including: Professional Practice 2; Research Methods and Statistics; Instrumentation Signal Processing and Imaging; Healthcare Science Work Based Placement 1 (Rehabilitation Engineering); Medical Equipment Lifecycle; Fluid Mechanics, Biomechanics and Materials; Innovation and Medical Devices.

In Year 3, you will typically study areas including: Rehabilitation Engineering in the Clinical Environment; Science and Principles Supporting Rehabilitation Engineering; Professional Practice 3; Healthcare Science Research Project; Healthcare Science Work Based Placement 2 (Rehabilitation Engineering).