Surgical Science and Practice (Taught)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

The MSc in Surgical Science and Practice is a part-time modular programme which attracts healthcare professionals from around the world and is completed over two to four years.

Please note that this course is currently delivered in collaboration by Oxford Lifelong Learning and Nuffield Department of Surgical Science. A department transfer, for the course to be delivered solely by Nuffield Department of Surgical Science from 2026/27, is currently progressing through the approval processes within the University. If you have any queries regarding this please contact the course administrator (See Further information and enquiries).

The taught component of the course comprises six modules, spaced over the year and each a week long, with teaching taking place in person in Oxford. A research project carried out over the course of a year completes the masters. It is usually a work-based project and is supported by an Oxford supervisor.

The modular nature of the course allows you to fit study around your work and the majority of students have full- or part-time clinical roles.

Run in collaboration with Oxford's Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, the MSc is designed for trainees and consultants in surgical disciplines as well as practitioners of other clinical disciplines interested in better understanding the systems within which they practice and increasing their effectiveness working in those systems. It particularly appeals to those who wish to develop a further dimension to their role, such as a leadership position, academic, teaching or research role, as well as those taking their career in new directions.

The aim of the course is to give you a strong foundation in the most important non-clinical skills you will need to be effective and to lead others in providing safe, high quality, high reliability care. It will prepare you for life as an independent specialist, building skills and knowledge which are not fully represented or are omitted from graduate training curricula. Alumni of the course have used the MSc as a platform to:

• Lead larger teams and take on greater organisational responsibility

• Carry out significant quality improvement initiatives and introduce innovations in practice

• Conduct and publish research

• Take on new leadership and academic roles, either alongside continuing clinical responsibilities or as a new direction in their career

• Develop new educational programmes and training methods

You can read about how some recent graduates have applied what they learned in the student profiles section of the department's website.

Healthcare professionals work as part of multi-disciplinary teams in complex organisations. Thus the syllabus covers leadership, teamwork, management skills, quality improvement and patient safety, development and implementation of new technologies and procedures, principles of educating clinicians and how to appraise evidence to answer clinical questions.

For the full description, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas