Postgraduate study
Postgraduate study

Menu

  1. Home
  2. Study
  3. Postgraduate study
  4. Degree finder
  5. Subject: Health
  6. Health Humanities and Arts MScR
Contact us

Health Humanities and Arts MScR

Awards: MScR

Study modes: Full-time, Part-time

Funding opportunities

Programme website: Health Humanities and Arts

Research profile

Who this programme is for

This full-time and part-time campus-based programme is designed for professionals and recent graduates in humanities, medical, health, social care and policy fields as well as staff in the voluntary sector and creative practitioners.

About our programme

The programme offers a unique perspective within the embryonic interdisciplinary field of health humanities.

You will have the opportunity to undertake a programme that brings arts and humanities knowledge and practices to bear upon health and wellbeing in relation to, for example:

  • patient empowerment
  • self-reflection in health professionals and policymakers
  • the impact upon bodily markers of health

You will explore how performing and fine arts, film, literature and other art forms offer creative and intellectually stimulating ways of (re)conceptualising and (re)presenting health, illness and disability, and are especially good at enriching knowledge of individual and community experiences of health and illness while also challenging structural issues in society.

Innovative, experiential and collaborative approaches will encourage ‘hands-on’ learning, acknowledging and encouraging the expression of personal experiences in the co-construction of Health Humanities and Arts knowledge.

Programme content

Primarily campus-based, you will be able to attend a limited number of online learning courses subject to availability.

The content of the programme will include:

  • a core course on Humanities and Arts-Informed Research Methods in the Social Sciences
  • a range of related existing courses within the School and University
  • a dissertation in which students will have scope to develop creative, humanities or arts-inflected research and collaborative approaches to matters of health and well-being

You will also form part of the University of Edinburgh’s new cutting-edge research Centre for Creative-Relational Inquiry, which brings together a dynamic interdisciplinary network of researchers and practitioners.

*(Revised 5 February 2021 to include updated programme structure and content.)

Programme structure

The programme comprises:

  • one compulsory course (20 credits)
  • a dissertation (80 credits)
  • 80 credits from a wide range of options

Under the guidance of the Programme Director and your supervisor, you will have the freedom to design your own programme by selecting available option courses from across the University of Edinburgh.

Your choices will be based on your particular expertise, research interests and career prospects.

*(Revised 5 February 2021 to include updated programme structure and content.)

Training and support

The programme will equip you with knowledge and understanding of:

  • theoretical understandings of health and well-being
  • approaches linking the creative and the artistic with health and well-being
  • debates about research and research evidence in the field of social science research
  • transferable interpersonal, conceptual and analytical skills, including critical thinking, self-evaluation and research

Career opportunities

Graduates can use this programme’s training and experience to enhance their career in a related profession such as health care, social work, nursing or education.

Increasingly, employers are seeking masters qualifications from applicants for practitioner and management roles and graduates are well positioned for these opportunities.

A wide range of career opportunities and specialities are open to graduates of the MSc Health Humanities & Arts including:

  • health policy
  • health management
  • science and medical journalism
  • bioethics
  • medical sociology
  • medical anthropology
  • health advocacy
  • art history
  • heritage

Entry requirements

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent.

If you do not meet the academic entry requirements, we may still consider your application if you have relevant work experience and submit a Personal Statement demonstrating a high level of motivation, and indicating why you wish to take this particular study route.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

English language requirements

You must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies, regardless of your nationality or country of residence.

English language tests

For 2021 entry we will accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

  • IELTS: total 7.0 (at least 6.5 in each module)
  • TOEFL-iBT (including Special Home Edition): total 100 (at least 23 in each module). We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements
  • CAE and CPE: total 185 (at least 176 in each module)
  • Trinity ISE: ISE III with a pass in all four components

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL or Trinity ISE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries.

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than three and a half years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

Fees and costs

Read our general information on tuition fees and studying costs:

Scholarships and funding

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

  • your programme
  • the duration of your studies
  • your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

Further information

  • The University of Edinburgh
  • School of Health in Social Science
  • Medical School, Teviot Place
  • Central Campus
  • Edinburgh
  • EH8 9AG

Application deadlines

The School of Health in Social Science operates a gathered field approach to PGR applications - this means that all complete applications which satisfy our minimum entry requirements will be held until the nearest deadline and an admissions panel will meet to consider all applications received together after that date.

The application deadlines and dates for decision are listed in the table below. In order to ensure full consideration of your application we ask that you submit your complete application including all supporting documentation by these dates.

More information about what will be considered a complete application and how to apply can be found on our School website:

Application deadlines Places awarded*
1 27 November 2020 | mid-January 2021
2 26 March 2021 | mid-May 2021
3 11 June 2021 | late July 2021

*(Revised 15 October 2020 with added application deadlines.)

How to apply

Before applying please ensure that you have read and followed the guidance for application to postgraduate research programmes with the School of Health in Social Science.

Find out more about the general application process for postgraduate programmes:

Further information

  • The University of Edinburgh
  • School of Health in Social Science
  • Medical School, Teviot Place
  • Central Campus
  • Edinburgh
  • EH8 9AG
This article was published on