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Perioperative Medicine MSc

London, Bloomsbury

Become a specialist in perioperative care on this highly innovative, online perioperative medicine masters. Learn how to provide integrated care for patients from the moment they consider surgery through the procedures itself until recovery and rehabilitation. You can study with us for between one and five years, from anywhere in the world. You will be equipped to lead services both in the UK and abroad, and even go on to study a PhD with us or go into leadership and healthcare management positions.

UK students International students
Study mode
Flexible
UK tuition fees (2025/26)
£16,000
Programme only available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)
£33,000
Programme only available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Duration
Not applicable
5 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2025
Applications accepted
All applicants: 14 Oct 2024 – 29 Aug 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of a second-class UK Bachelor’s degree in biomedical science or nursing or a medical degree, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 3

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree


Perioperative Medicine seeks to engage all members of the Perioperative Team. Join an international community of learners on one of the only courses which specialises in this new and exciting field.

This online master’s provides you with the advanced knowledge and understanding to provide best-evidence care to surgical patients who might be contemplating, undergoing or recovering from surgery. You can complete the course in as little as one year (effectively full time) or take up to five years to complete.

The programme design is influenced by several UK Royal College syllabi, including international healthcare systems. You will learn by walking the patient journey, from diagnosis to discharge. Delve into specific patient needs and become highly adept at risk assessment and analysing patient outcomes. View a sample from our modules.

The UCL Centre for Perioperative Medicine collaborates with a wide range of professional groups within the university, as well as international experts and progressive units throughout the global surgical community. You will benefit from this wealth of knowledge and expertise in this high-quality programme. Our aim is to improve patient outcomes and experiences by supporting the educational needs of healthcare workers.

The programme is relevant to an international community of learners, who will benefit from growing their network and expertise through shared online education.

Who this course is for

This programme attracts doctors, including anaesthetists, surgeons and physicians, as well as specialist nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists, theatre practitioners and many other professionals engaged in the management of patients in the perioperative period. Each is committed to developing expertise in perioperative care through active participation in this innovative education forum.

The course also offers an additional route of study exclusively for operating theatre practitioners, who work as surgical or anaesthetic workers or as recovery room nurses. All these students will be following a professional training programme in their own place of work.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

This programme offers you the following benefits and opportunities.

  • Access to material written and/or reviewed by more than 40 international expert authors from over 25 international institutions to provide a state-of-the-art, evidence-based course of the highest academic quality.
  • Excellent collaborative links with similarly progressive units throughout the worldwide surgical community.
  • Engagement with some of the key opinion leaders in perioperative medicine, including health services researchers, statisticians, health economists, social anthropologists, and many other professionals.
  • Academic confidence and experience with quality improvement strategies and systematic reviews.
  • An introduction to the concepts associated with managing change in practice, aspects of quality, safety and leadership, and common pathologies including ageing, cardiovascular disease and the epidemiology of surgical morbidity and mortality.
  • Theatre practitioners benefit from optional modules that will equip them to work across all areas of immediate perioperative, intraoperative and postoperative care, including with high-risk surgical patients.
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

This Master’s degree has real value in the workplace as it prepares graduates for senior positions in the field. According to the HESA Graduate Outcomes survey (2018-2022), around 93% of Perioperative Medicine graduates reported being in highly skilled work.

Alumni have gone on to lead services both in the UK and abroad, studied PhDs in the field and taken senior positions in healthcare management. According to the survey, Perioperative Medicine graduates have gone on to work for NHS hospitals and teaching hospitals across England and Wales as well as hospitals in Northern Ireland. The vast majority act as specialist medical practitioners, with a small number involved in teaching.

The course is delivered online. We have students across all continents, and they really do get a flavour of the UCL experience.

David Walker

David Walker, UCL Professor of Perioperative Medicine Education

Perioperative Medicine, MSc

Hear more from David

Employability

UCL's Perioperative Medicine MSc provides an internationally recognised academic qualification with real value in the workplace, as it prepares graduates for senior leadership positions in the field.

You will develop a deep understanding of the evidence base and be able to act on your understanding to bring about changes in perioperative processes and outcomes.

You not only enhance your individual clinical knowledge, skills, and attitudes, you also equip yourself to influence service development and to teach and train the next generation of healthcare workers.

Networking

There are regular networking opportunities, including events where you can hear from expert speakers. We encourage students to broaden their skills and expand their networks by attending and participating at conferences. We use our contacts to support our students taking fellowships overseas in a wide range of perioperative clinical specialities.

Teaching and learning

You will interact with engaging, online learning materials and use your personal mentor and peer group to discuss and develop ideas. You will be invited to review cases, interact with data and contribute to discussion and debate.

The programme is delivered through distance learning. A wide range of learning styles are catered for within the programme material, including vodcasts, podcasts, formal written text, online seminars, case reviews and graphics. Our students are supported by experienced clinical experts in the field acting as personal tutors and mentors.

The faculty encourage students to bring their own professional experiences to the course, exchange ideas and take the opportunity to learn from others.

The examination process will include both summative and formative assessment. Students are examined mainly by short answer questions and reflective practice and by contributing to case-based discussions.

Four of the newly introduced, alternative route modules for Operating Theatre Practitioners ('Operating Theatre Practice') require the development of professional practice portfolios, undertaken in your own clinical department. These are the 'Professional Assistant in Anaesthesia', the 'Professional Surgical First Assistant', the 'Enhanced Recovery Room Care' and the 'Postoperative Care of the High-Risk Patient - PACU'.

We avoid long essay writing. Instead, we focus on developing skills which have a positive advantage in the workplace. You will develop a short PowerPoint presentation, a professional sales pitch for clinical service improvement, and a lay clinical summary of a complex medical case scenario.

As this course is delivered entirely online, you can work flexibly at your own speed and at a time that suits you. While we offer some recommendations on the pace of study, we give students discretion to pursue their own learning journey.

As a rough guide, we suggest that a 15-credit module takes approximately 150 study hours to complete, including the learning material and assessments. Competency-based modules in the Theatre Practice route require a variable number of hours in supervised practice to complete portfolios of evidence.

Students most commonly complete the course in three years. You would need to study an average of around 10-12 hours per week to achieve this - and the flexibility allows you to increase or decrease the intensity around your existing commitments.

You will be expected to read, make notes, interact with the summative and formative written questions and, when required, engage with peers to explore alternative ideas and solutions to questions posed by the faculty members. There will be audio-visual materials to aid learning and an opportunity to question faculty members on specific issues raised.

A Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits, flexible study, up to five years) is offered. A Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits, flexible study, up to two years) is offered.

Modules

This is a modular, postgraduate degree formed of eight taught modules and a dissertation project based on original research, systematic review, or a Quality Improvement project.

The programme is completely online. You are assigned to a course mentor and interact with a peer group for support. The modules are sub-divided into (usually) eight short chapters.

It can be taken over one year (effectively full-time) to a maximum of five years. You are encouraged to set your own timeline to complete the programme. The flexible nature allows you to fit your learning activities around your other activities and commitments. In our experience, working little and often leads to success.

For those who plan to finish in one year, we recommend working at a pace of three weeks per module. The groundwork for the dissertation will be introduced in the second half of the academic year, giving you a clear three months to complete a 12,000-15,000-word dissertation.

For those who want to finish in two years, we recommend completing 5-6 modules in Year 1, followed by 2-3 modules and the dissertation in Year 2.

For those who wish to take longer, you have up to five academic years to complete. You must complete four modules within two years, with a further three years to complete all other requirements. This suits learners in a wide range of circumstances.

When you successfully complete your dissertation, the course team will work with you to get your work published in a peer review journal where appropriate.

Compulsory modules













Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Perioperative Medicine. Upon successful completion of 120 credits, you will be awarded a PG Dip in Perioperative Medicine. Upon successful completion of 60 credits, you will be awarded a PG Cert in Perioperative Medicine.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Where you'll study

Medical lamp and equipment

As world leaders in medical and biomedical research, we design innovative courses for clinicians and scientists that meet new patient and industry needs. These are led by some of the greatest scientific minds, so you get a research-based learning experience. Our cutting-edge expertise ensures that you will be taught the latest techniques using the most advanced equipment. Our activities are split across three sites. Our Department of Targeted Intervention is based at Bloomsbury campus in central London. Our Department of Surgical Biotechnology is based at the Royal Free campus in Hampstead. Our Department of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science is based at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, north-west London.

Learn more about Surgery & Interventional Science

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time
Tuition fees (2025/26) £16,000
Tuition fees (2025/26) £33,000

Programme only available on a modular (flexible) basis.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

For Full-time and Part-time offer holders a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

For flexible/modular offer holders a £500 fee deposit will be charged.

There is no fee deposit required for PG Dip and PG Cert applicants.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

There are no anticipated additional costs for this programme.

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

Many of our past students have successfully bid for hospital / regional funding to support the cost of their course. Students in the UK have successfully used allocated Continuing Professional Development funds to part-fund the course.

For doctors who gain a one-year Perioperative Medicine Fellowship at University College London Hospitals, there is a £10,000 bursary available to study the MSc programme (up to 15 students per year).

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study Perioperative Medicine at postgraduate level
  • why you want to study Perioperative Medicine at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to the chosen programme
  • how your personal, academic and professional background meets the demands of this challenging programme
  • where you would like to go professionally with your degree.

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2025-2026

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

Division of Surgery and Interventional Science
Division of Surgery and Interventional Science

periopmed@ucl.ac.uk

UCL is regulated by the Office for Students.