About this course
LJMU's Prof Doc in Health Psychology meets the requirements for BPS Stage Two training in Health Psychology and leads to eligibility for registration with the HCPC.
- Choose this programme which meets the requirements for BPS Stage Two training in health psychology and leads to eligibility to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- Benefit from studying on a course that is British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited and HCPC approved
- Experience quality training and supervision on a course underpinned by high-grade research and practice activity
- Learn from enthusiastic, expert staff offering supportive learning opportunities
- Enjoy career opportunities in the health industry, healthcare provision, teaching and research
Health psychology is an exciting new discipline with growing opportunities for qualified professionals.
The DHealthPsych programme is underpinned by a strong focus on equipping the future Health Psychologist for a range of professional scenarios. In keeping with the nationally agreed curriculum competences for Health Psychologists, you will be developing your skills in teaching and training, behaviour change interventions, research, consultancy and demonstrating that you have the generic professional skills needed to qualify in this field. This is achieved through your own job role, taught sessions on the programme and extensive supervision.
Staff in the School of Psychology produce high quality research in a range of areas in health psychology. Areas of expertise include pain, disability, patient-reported outcome measurement, positive psychology, obesity and health cognition. Staff have long-standing expertise in training and developing future Health Psychologists.
Debi's Story
Course modules
Discover the building blocks of your programme
Further guidance on modules
Modules are designated core or optional in accordance with professional body requirements, as applicable, and LJMU’s Academic Framework Regulations. Whilst you are required to study core modules, optional modules provide you with an element of choice. Their availability may vary and will be subject to meeting minimum student numbers.
Where changes to modules are necessary these will be communicated as appropriate.
Core modules
Planning Training in Health Psychology
30 credits
30 credits
This module's primary objective is to assess the trainee's capacity to align their training with the national competences for health psychologists, and to showcase a critical self-assessment of their developmental plan. It serves as the introductory module for the DHealthPsy program, focusing on aiding trainees in crafting a training plan akin to the one mandated by the British Psychological Society for their Stage II Qualification in Health Psychology. Additionally, it encourages reflective thinking by using a SWOT analysis to evaluate the training plan.
Professional Practice in Health Psychology
270 credits
270 credits
This module focuses on Consultancy, Teaching and Training, Behaviour Change Interventions and Research. It aims to capture the professional competencies of:
- research
- consultancy
- behaviour change interventions
- teaching and training
in Health Psychology, over the period of training.
Reflection in Health Psychology
60 credits
60 credits
This module serves as the culmination of the DHealthPsy program. It is designed to prepare students for their future roles as health psychologists by enabling them to reflect on their development, choices, and decisions throughout their training. The primary objective of this module is for trainees to demonstrate their comprehensive professional skills development and their capacity for reflective and meta-reflective thinking about their development, choices, and decisions made throughout their training.
Your Learning Experience
An insight into teaching on your course
Applicants must have a suitable pre-determined placement (paid or voluntary) before undertaking the course.
Study hours
All teaching is on Thursdays (mostly fortnightly) and in the slots 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm, leaving you some time in the day to meet with your supervisor. Sessions are formally scheduled from January to May/June and September to December in year one and on an ad hoc basis in subsequent years.
Teaching methods
In keeping with the nationally agreed curriculum competences for Health Psychologists, you will be developing your skills in teaching and training, behaviour change interventions, research, consultancy and demonstrating that you have the generic professional skills needed to qualify in this field. This is achieved through your own job role, taught sessions on the programme and extensive supervision.
Applied learning
Applicants must have a suitable pre-determined placement (paid or voluntary) before undertaking the course.
How learning is monitored on your programme
To cater for the wide-ranging content of our courses and the varied learning preferences of our students, we offer a range of assessment methods on each programme.
Where you will study
What you can expect from your School
The School is based in LJMU’s City Campus at the Byrom Street site, which is located in the heart of Liverpool city centre, and offers postgraduates excellent laboratory and research facilities, including appetite laboratories, psychology testing labs and neuroscience labs.
Course tutors
Dr Lisa Newson
- Programme Leader
The most rewarding aspect of my role is supporting MSc students in developing their career ambitions, particularly those who aspire to become Health Psychologists.
The most rewarding aspect of my role is supporting MSc students in developing their career ambitions, particularly those who aspire to become Health Psychologists.
Lisa’s career began in the NHS as a Programme and Commissioning Manager within public health. She moved into academia in 2011 to develop her interest in healthcare research and to promote the field of health psychology. Lisa is an HCPC Practitioner Psychologist; a BPS Chartered Health Psychologist and a BPS Health Psychology Stage Two Professional Supervisor and Assessor. She is currently carrying out public health research in smoking cessation, physical activity and obesity plus healthcare research in Type 2 diabetes, the treatment of obesity, improving patient adherence to clinical advice and experiences of care.
Career paths
Further your career prospects
LJMU has an excellent employability record with 96% (HESA 2018) of our postgraduates in work or further study six months after graduation. Our applied learning techniques and strong industry connections ensure our students are fully prepared for the workplace on graduation and understand how to apply their knowledge in a real world context.
A growing number of health psychology graduates work in health education, health promotion, health administration and health audit. There are also opportunities in the organisational aspects of delivering health care within the health service and in research/teaching. Staff on the course have supervised trainees working in the health service, universities, private healthcare companies including occupational health, health and safety laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, and in private practice offering health coaching and therapeutic interventions.
Professional accreditation/links
The programme is BPS accredited for Stage 1 Training in Health Psychology for those applicants with BPS Graduate Basis for Chartered Status (GBC). This means, by the end of the course, you will be provided with a qualification which meets the requirements of Stage 1 training.
Fees and funding
Tuition Fees:
Fees
The fees quoted at the top of this page cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as:
- library membership with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources
- access to programme-appropriate software
- library and student IT support
- free on-campus wifi via eduroam
Additional costs
Although not all of the following are compulsory/relevant, you should keep in mind the costs of:
- accommodation and living expenditure
- books (should you wish to have your own copies)
- printing, photocopying and stationery
- PC/laptop (should you prefer to purchase your own for independent study and online learning activities)
- mobile phone/tablet (to access online services)
- field trips (travel and activity costs)
- placements (travel expenses and living costs)
- student visas (international students only)
- study abroad opportunities (travel costs, accommodation, visas and immunisations)
- academic conferences (travel costs)
- professional-body membership
- graduation (gown hire etc)
Funding
There are many ways to fund postgraduate study for home and international students. From loans to International Scholarships and subject-specific funding, you’ll find all of the information you need on our specialist postgraduate funding pages.
Please be aware that the UK’s departure from the EU may affect your tuition fees. Learn more about your fee status and which tuition fees are relevant to you.
- International fee:
- £9,125
International Scholarships and payment plans
Liverpool John Moores University is committed to supporting international students by providing a range of scholarships and flexible payment plans to help students manage their tuition fees.
Scholarships
LJMU provides a variety of scholarships to support international students. Scholarships are available to self-funded students who have accepted their offer and met all the conditions outlined in their offer letter. Students must also demonstrate that they can cover living costs, travel, and other expenses associated to studying at the university. Postgraduate scholarships include tuition fee reductions and are often offered in partnership with external funding organisations.
All self-funded international students are eligible for an automatic scholarship worth up to £4,000. For more details and to view our full list of scholarships, visit the international scholarship webpages.
Deposit
All students must pay a £5,000 deposit before they can receive their CAS letter.
For more information view our deposit page.
Tuition Fee Payment Plan
After paying their £5,000 deposit, students have the option to pay their fees in full or in three equal instalments minus any internal scholarships and discounts. There are two payment options available for international students. You can either pay your tuition fees in full before enrolment or opt for a payment plan. With the payment plan, you can pay your fees in three instalments after making your £5,000 deposit. The first instalment is due before enrolment.
All payments should be made through Flywire. Full details can be found in the How to Pay Guide.
Early Bird Tuition Fee discount
We are excited to introduce a £500 Early Payment Discount to all self-funded international students. Eligible self-funded students who pay their fees by the required deadlines will get a discount which will be automatically deducted from the 1st year of tuition fees.
To see the required deadlines please visit the webpage
You can pay your tuition fees in instalments over the year and if you are taking out a masters loan, you can align your tuition fee payments to the same dates you will receive your masters loan payments. Read more about fee payments in our Postgraduate Fees and Funding section.
PLEASE NOTE: The Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology (along with The Professional Doctorate in Applied Sport and Exercise Science and Professional Doctorate in Sport and Exercise Psychology) is not eligible for the LJMU Alumni Award if the 20% discount has already been used for an alternative LJMU programme.
Entry requirements
You will need:
Qualification requirements
Postgraduate degree (required for research programmes)
- a BPS Accredited MSc in Health Psychology (or BPS Stage I Qualification), normally at merit level or higher
Undergraduate degree
- a good honours degree in Psychology and GBC
Additional requirements
-
Interview required
- All candidates will be interviewed
Further information
-
Extra Requirements
To become a Health Psychologist, you must have the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership from the British Psychological Society and fulfil a number of requirements:
- Stage 1 training involves the satisfactory completion of an accredited Masters programme - such as MSc Health Psychology at LJMU
- Stage 2 training includes two or more years spent acquiring a range of supervised skills connected with professional skills, interventions, consultancy, research, and teaching and training (as facilitated through this course)
-
RPL
- RPL is accepted on this programme
International requirements
IELTS
- IELTS 7.0 (minimum 6.5 in each component)
Other international requirements
- International students applying to study a full-time taught Masters, MRes, MPhil or PhD at LJMU should check if they require an Academic Technology Approval Scheme or ATAS certificate
- International students entering on a student visa cannot study part-time
How to apply
Securing your place at LJMU
To apply for this programme, you are required to complete an LJMU online application form. You will need to provide details of previous qualifications and a personal statement outlining why you wish to study this programme.
Please note: There are only seven places available per year and competition can be strong. We therefore recommend early application. Both January 2022 and January 2023 entry are currently fully subscribed. For January 2024 entry, we anticipate the course will be full by late summer 2023.
To help you to maximise your application success, and due to the nature of the programme, discussions with us - prior to application - are strongly advised. Please contact Co-Programme Leaders: Dr Lisa Newson l.m.newson@ljmu.ac.uk or Dr Rachel Tarling r.m.tarling@ljmu.ac.uk
Your student experience
There's so much more to university than just studying for a degree.
Postgraduate life at LJMU
See the amazing support you will get from the university, the academic expertise of the staff here, the first-class learning environment, fabulous libraries, excellent career guidance and their ongoing love affair with the city of Liverpool.
Accommodation
As a new student at LJMU, we guarantee accommodation right in the heart of the dynamic city centre, with easy access to the main University campuses.
You can view our approved accommodation to see the halls that we offer to new students.
Your campus
We’re very proud of our campuses. Not only because they provide a modern and inspiring learning space for all our students but also because they’re a place people really want to be.
Living in Liverpool
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Go abroad
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The University reserves the right to withdraw or make alterations to a course and facilities if necessary; this may be because such changes are deemed to be beneficial to students, are minor in nature and unlikely to impact negatively upon students or become necessary due to circumstances beyond the control of the University. Where this does happen, the University operates a policy of consultation, advice and support to all enrolled students affected by the proposed change to their course or module.