Clinical Trials -Online

Course Outline
Our Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Trials (Online) is suitable for those of you wishing to pursue a career in clinical trials in the pharmaceutical, medical device, or academic sectors.

This is the first year of an online 3-year part-time Clinical Trails suite of programmes:

Year Qualification Credits
Year 1 Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Trials 30
Year 2 Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Trials 30
Year 3 MSc Clinical Trials 30

On completion of this Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Trials, you can apply for the Diploma in Year 2. On successful completion of the Diploma, you can apply for the Master's programme in Year 3.

Our Clinical Trials programmes are run in collaboration with the Health Research Board (HRB) Clinical Research Facility in Cork. The HRB provides dedicated infrastructure, experienced research and support staff, and the necessary quality and oversight programs that are critical for the successful conduct of world-class patient-focused research.

This is a fully online, part-time, programme designed for the working professional who wishes to develop a career in clinical trials. Each year of the programme comprises three modules totalling 30 credits:

Certificate Modules (30 credits)
EH6123 Fundamentals of Clinical Trials (10 credits)
EH6124 Introduction to Clinical Trial Design and Analysis (10 credits)
EH6125 Ethics, Data Management and Quality in Clinical Trials (10 credits)

Exemptions
As part of UCC's commitment to Continuing Professional Development (CPD), students who have successfully completed a module from the Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Trials as a CPD module and subsequently undertake the programme within 24 months will be exempt from that module.

1. Students accepted on the Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Trials are expected to hold a Second Class Honours Grade II in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8), or equivalent, in a science or health-related discipline, or relevant subject area.

2. The Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Trials is also open to registered (not necessarily in current employment) health care professionals in Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Clinical Therapies, and Allied Health care disciplines who may not have a primary degree. Such applicants must provide evidence of current registration with the relevant professional regulatory body in their country (e.g. the Irish Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, etc. for Irish applicants).

3. All applicants will be required to write a 500-word personal statement on why they wish to pursue a career in clinical trials.

4. In exceptional circumstances, applicants with an honours primary degree (NFQ Level 8 or international equivalent) in an unrelated field, and who can demonstrate relevant experience in clinical research, may be considered under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for entry to the programme, subject to the approval of the programme team.

5. Applicants may be asked to participate in an interview.

6. In all cases, decisions will be based on the qualifications and quality of the application.

Technical Requirements
This programme will be delivered wholly online. As such, there are specific technical requirements that you need to meet.

You will need access to a laptop or desktop (either Mac OS or Windows) running a relatively recent operating system (Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 or Mac OSX 10.8, 10.9, 10.10 or later). UCC supports access to the Canvas Virtual Learning Environment through IOS and Android apps, which are available from the respective App stores.

You will need access to a reliable broadband connection with at least 2MB download speeds. You can test your broadband or 4G speeds by visiting http://www.speedtest.net.

You must have a modern web browser installed. The most reliable options for use with UCC online learning are Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Download and installation instructions will be provided. Safari is not suitable.

You must have Java and Flash Runtimes installed. Download and installation instructions will be provided.

You will require an Office suite of software (Microsoft Office 2003 or later or equivalent) and a PDF reader (preferably Adobe Acrobat Reader XI or later). Please note that registered UCC students have access to discounted software from Microsoft and Adobe.

Closing Date: Rolling deadline. Open until all places have been filled. Early application is advised.

Assessments can be expected to comprise of discussion fora, individual project and other online assessments. Each 10-credit module comprises continuous assessment 200 marks, divided as follows: Online activities 120 marks; and Written Assignment(s) 80 marks. The compulsory elements are continuous assessment, online participation in discussions and written assignment.

9 Months Part-Time. Course Delivery Method: Online.

The fee for this course is €3,600.

Start Date: 23rd September 2024.

Skills and Careers Information
Clinical Trials is a rapidly expanding discipline with exciting new job opportunities in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. On completion of the course, you can pursue a career in the academic, pharmaceutical, or medical device sectors that include the following roles:

Clinical Trialist
Quality Manager
Project Manager
Trial Monitor
Data Associate
Data Manager
Clinical Research Nurse
Clinical Research Associate
Research Coordinator
Pharmacovigilance Associate
Regulatory Affairs Associate