The Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast is introducing three new Postgraduate Certificates starting in September 2025. These certificates are designed to suit learners at different stages of their professional journey — whether you're new to the field or looking to build on existing expertise.
Each Postgraduate Certificate is worth 60 CATS and is designed as an entry-level route into further postgraduate study. Upon successful completion, you may wish to progress to our Postgraduate Diploma and/or Master’s in Public Health (MPH).
Postgraduate Certificate in Public Health Systems & Policy: Theory into Practice is best suited for those who already have strengths in the field of epidemiology and statistics but who seek to broaden their understanding of the application of their knowledge and skills to public health practice.
Key Features
• Part-time study over a period of up to three years, ideal for working professionals.
• In-person delivery, ensuring dynamic learning experiences, with access to online learning resources through Canvas.
• A variety of assessment methods, including written assignments, presentations, and — depending on your chosen modules — formal examinations.
• Full access to QUB libraries, learning support services, and academic resources, enabling full engagement with the public health literature and academic community.
There has been a Medical School at Queen’s University Belfast since 1849.
Public Health Systems and Policy: Theory into Practice highlights
Career Development
Designed to suit part time learners
This Certificate is designed to suit learners at different stages of their professional journey — whether you are new to the field or looking to build on existing expertise.
Student Experience
One of our strengths is the joint teaching of the Certificate programme with the MPH programme.
You will be exposed to a wide range of public health leaders and practitioners who are working in the field of Public Health, making real changes to benefit the health of populations.
Student Testimonials
This is a new Postgraduate Certificate for 2025/26 entry
Students choose three of the following 20 CAT modules:
Semester 1: Health & Social Care Systems (20 CATS) – 12 weeks
Semester 1: Determinants of Health (20 CATS) – 12 weeks
Semester 2: Health Protection (20 CATS) – 6 weeks
Semester 2: Public Health in the Health Sector (20 CATS) – 6 weeks
Introduction
This Postgraduate Certificate has the choice of the following modules over a period of 3 years:
Students will choose 60 CATS points from the following modules:
Semester 1 modules
Introduce core concepts, methodologies and approaches, with an emphasis on critical thinking and the application of new knowledge:
SCM8166 Health & Social Care Systems (20 CATS)
This module discusses how health systems can be strengthened and covers the application of a public health approach and perspective to the assessment of the health needs of the population and planning, commissioning (including economic evaluation) and delivery of high quality evidence based health and social care services and population screening programmes.
SCM8168 Determinants of Health & Health Improvement (20 CATS)
Students will identify the determinants relating to health problems experienced by individuals, populations and social groups in both a global and local context
Semester 2 modules
Focus on public health practice within the three principal domains/modules:
SCM8169 Health Protection (20 CATS)
This module will cover an introduction to health protection hazards, incident management, immunisation, infection prevention and control, emergency planning
SCM8171 Public Health in the Health Sector (20 CATS)
This module will cover roles of public health professionals, improving population health through the health and social care sector and health services data.
9.00am to 5:00pm on scheduled teaching days
Students on the Certificate programme will join the full time MPH students for the specific module(s) they are undertaking in that academic year.
Learning and Teaching
Introduction
Learning opportunities associated with this course are outlined below:
At Queen’s, we aim to provide a high-quality learning environment that embeds intellectual curiosity, innovation and best practice in learning, teaching and student support to enable student to achieve their full academic potential.
On this course we do this by providing a range of learning experiences which enable our students to engage with subject experts, develop attributes and perspectives that will equip them for life and work that enhances their development as independent, lifelong learners.
Assessment
Assessments associated with the course are outlined below:
Assessment is by a variety of methods including written examination, written assignments and oral presentations (group or individual).
The information provided in this Course Finder reflects the module details for the current year of study (2025/26). Please note that modules are subject to annual review and changes may occur in response to various factors, including student feedback and academic developments. Prospective students will be notified of any significant changes to module offerings before the start of the new academic year.
Health and Healthcare Systems
Economic Evaluation
Organisations, Teams, Individuals – leadership and effectiveness
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module the successful student should be able to:
Health and Healthcare Systems.
Discuss and compare the key features of health and healthcare systems globally and describe how they may be strengthened.
Interpret and contrast key health indicators in a range of different healthcare systems.
Describe approaches to assessing health/ healthcare needs in populations.
Discuss approaches to prioritising, funding, strategic planning, and commissioning of services.
Discuss the importance of quality and safety within health services.
Discuss frameworks for service quality measurement and assessment.
Outline the generic steps in a quality improvement project.
Describe screening: principles and methods; ethical and economic aspects, planning, operation and evaluation of programmes and the importance of quality assurance in population screening programmes
Economic Evaluation
Interpret and apply health economic concepts including opportunity cost and marginal analysis.
Differentiate between the main types of economic evaluation and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.
Organisations, Teams, Individuals – leadership and effectiveness
Discuss organisational structure and function and inter-organisational relationships and how this may impact on services.
Undertake stakeholder mapping and understand the importance of collaborative working with stakeholders and advocacy approaches.
Reflect on models and theories for public health leadership and operational management.
Discuss approaches to effective communication and meetings.
Identify and use basic approaches to project management.
Discuss effective team working and skills required in influencing and negotiating.
Identify and understand how to apply models and tools for managing change.
Describe the application of the above skills to address a given health systems related issues.
Skills
Critical thinking,
Systematic approach to problem solving,
Systematic approach to assessment or evaluation,
Self-directed learning
Written and verbal communication skills
Information technology skills
Time management.
Wider determinants of health including cultural, social, economic, political and commercial determinants
Epidemiological paradigms
Epidemiology of specific issues /risk factors of public health significance
Genetics and Public Health
Physical Environment determinants
Principles and practise of health promotion
Disease prevention,
Models of behaviour change
Healthy public policy
Health Impact Assessment
Complex public health problems and interventions
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
Critique a range of epidemiological paradigms.
Describe and discuss the main determinants of health within a bio-psychosocial model.
Identify the determinants relating to health problems experienced by individuals, populations and social groups in both a global and local contexts with reference to the global burden of disease.
Discuss a rights based approach to health.
Compare psychological and sociological concepts of health and ill-health.
Explain inequalities in health and ways of addressing them.
Evaluate the inter-relationship between groups of health determinants.
Describe the epidemiology of a range of key public health issues /risk factors.
Consider determinants approaches to public health policy, theory and practice.
Compare and contrast health promotion, health improvement and disease prevention approaches.
Discuss the ethical considerations in the introduction of interventions to improve and protect health.
Summarise the prevention paradox and the medical model of disease prevention and its application to communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Discuss the implications of current genetics knowledge for public health practice.
Summarise the stages in policy development and the requirements for successful policy implementation.
Describe the key steps in undertaking a Health Impact Assessment.
Outline approaches to evaluation of interventions.
Skills
Subject-specific Skills :
Apply a public health approach and perspective to considering the determinants of health at population level
Planning, implementation and evaluation of evidence based interventions to address lifestyle and behavioural choices
Cognitive Skills:
Critical thinking
Systematic approach to problem solving
Systematic approach to assessment or evaluation.
Transferable Skills:
Self-directed learning
Written and verbal communication skills
Information technology
Time management
This module will cover the following topics:
Introduction to Health Protection hazards
Incident management and outbreak control
Immunisation
Infection prevention and control
Control of specific diseases and environmental hazards
Introduction to health protection regulations
Emergency planning
Learning Outcomes
After completing this module students should be able to:
Consider the role of vaccination in the prevention of communicable diseases globally
Distinguish between the different types of infectious and environmental hazards to health including food and water, mechanisms of exposure, and transmission of communicable disease
Critically evaluate infection prevention and control procedures in healthcare settings
Discuss the principles of surveillance of communicable diseases,
interpret information from communicable disease surveillance reports and assess the quality of disease surveillance systems
Explain the principles and approach to risk assessment and risk management in a reported suspected hazard exposure, disease case or outbreak.
Apply the principles involved in outbreak investigation / incident management
Skills
Cognitive: technical language and frameworks for disease prevention and health protection; problem solving; logical reasoning; critical analysis of information received form healthcare services, media and the public.
Subject specific: risk assessment and risk management of public health incidents; apply epidemiological and statistical knowledge to real world situations; processes for infection prevention and control, and for the control of environmental hazards
Transferable: oral and written communication skills; teamwork; researching and synthesising information.
Roles of Public Health Professionals
Improving population health through the health and social care sector
Health Services Data
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module the successful student should be able to:
Roles of public health professionals
Critically assess the various roles that Public Health practitioners and specialists may have within the health sector and in other contexts. Describe the key professional public health bodies and the routes to practitioner and specialist level Public Health practice in a UK context.
Discuss the concepts of continuing professional development, professional appraisal and revalidation and understand their importance in relation to governance.
Improving population health through the health and social care sector
Explain the contribution of health services to population health.
Describe the role of a range of health and social care professionals and services across primary, secondary and tertiary care and their contribution to improving the health of the public.
Describe the contribution of the non-statutory health and social care sector to the health of the public.
Apply a systems approach to planning and commissioning of health social care services and service provision to improve population health.
Explain the importance of public and patient involvement in health service planning and outline mechanisms of involvement.
Consider the importance of monitoring and evaluating service performance and service quality.
Distinguish between individual and organisational accountability and systems of governance to safeguard quality.
Distinguish between clinical governance and corporate governance and understand the role of each.
Be familiar with the development and role of clinical guidelines, quality standards and application in practice.
Explain the role of National Audits / Confidential Inquiry processes in healthcare and how these can be used to improve quality of services.
Describe the use of key quality improvement techniques.
Identify population groups that are vulnerable and marginalised and at risk of adverse health outcomes, and ways of addressing these issues.
Develop a plan for undertaking a health(care) needs assessment for a particular health issue / target group identifying appropriate data sources and stakeholders.
•devise evidence based/ evidence informed intervention / service aimed at improving the health / wellbeing of a target group giving consideration to identification of external influences.
Explain the steps involved in developing a business plan / securing resources to address a given health issue.
Outline the steps in developing a service specification.
Develop an implementation and evaluation plan for a service or public health intervention.
Health Service Data
Understand and interpret measures of service utilisation and performance from key sources of data.
Understand information governance principles in the context of health services.
Describe the key challenges in working with health datasets and be able to apply techniques to enable more meaningful interpretation.
Skills
Cognitive: use appropriate technical language and frameworks for health service improvement; problem solving; logical reasoning; critical analysis of information received form healthcare services, media and the public.
Subject specific: apply epidemiological, statistical, and health systems knowledge to real world situations;
Transferable: oral and written communication skills; teamwork; researching and synthesising information.
A 2.2 Honours degree or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University in a health-related subject is required. Evidence of equivalent professional qualifications (MBBS, BDS BSc or BVSc) or experience will be considered on an individual basis.
Applicants are advised to apply as early as possible. In the event that any programme receives a high number of applications, the University reserves the right to close the application portal prior to the deadline stated on course finder. Notifications to this effect will appear on the application portal against the programme application page.
International Students
Our country/region pages include information on entry requirements, tuition fees, scholarships, student profiles, upcoming events and contacts for your country/region. Use the dropdown list below for specific information for your country/region.
English Language Requirements
An IELTS Academic test score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 6.0 in each of the four elements or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University (taken within the last 2 years).
International students wishing to apply to Queen's University Belfast (and for whom English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study or research. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes.
If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, Queen's University Belfast International Study Centre offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.
Academic English: an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level
Pre-sessional English: a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen's University Belfast and who need to improve their English.
Postgraduate Certificate graduates will have the skills and knowledge foundation to pursue public health career opportunities in the health and social care sector and health-related non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
1EU citizens in the EU Settlement Scheme, with settled status, will be charged the NI or GB tuition fee based on where they are ordinarily resident. Students who are ROI nationals resident in GB will be charged the GB fee.
2 EU students who are ROI nationals resident in ROI are eligible for NI tuition fees.
3 EU Other students (excludes Republic of Ireland nationals living in GB, NI or ROI) are charged tuition fees in line with international fees.
All tuition fees quoted relate to a single year of study unless stated otherwise. Tuition fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs which are not covered by tuition fees, which students will need to consider when planning their studies.
Students can borrow books and access online learning resources from any Queen's library. If students wish to purchase recommended texts, rather than borrow them from the University Library, prices per text can range from £30 to £100. Students should also budget between £30 to £75 per year for photocopying, memory sticks and printing charges.
Students undertaking a period of work placement or study abroad, as either a compulsory or optional part of their programme, should be aware that they will have to fund additional travel and living costs.
If a programme includes a major project or dissertation, there may be costs associated with transport, accommodation and/or materials. The amount will depend on the project chosen. There may also be additional costs for printing and binding.
Students may wish to consider purchasing an electronic device; costs will vary depending on the specification of the model chosen.
There are also additional charges for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.
How do I fund my study?
The Department for the Economy will provide a tuition fee loan of up to £6,500 per NI / EU student for postgraduate study. Tuition fee loan information.
A postgraduate loans system in the UK offers government-backed student loans of up to £11,836 for taught and research Masters courses in all subject areas (excluding Initial Teacher Education/PGCE, where undergraduate student finance is available). Criteria, eligibility, repayment and application information are available on the UK government website.
