A fully online Master’s in Patient Safety has been launched by Imperial College London and Bayer Pharmaceuticals.

The course aims to develop global leaders and changemakers in patient safety who can catalyse improvements and innovation in healthcare practice across the globe.

The programme, now open to UK and international applicants for the next academic year, is a refreshment of Imperial’s previous Patient Safety MSc offering, designed to enable a more flexible approach to learning and respond to emerging healthcare needs in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Through this MSc, we aim to upskill future leaders and ultimately make healthcare safer for patients globally." Dr Ana Luisa Neves Institute of Global Health Innovation

The new course aligns with the updated World Health Organization’s Patient Safety Curriculum. It features best-practice frameworks from healthcare systems around the world, as well as real-world insights and case studies from a pharmaceutical setting.

The programme is delivered through a combination of online learning, group learning and live virtual teaching sessions from world-leading experts in the field. Students will also have the opportunity to apply their learnings through the completion of a research study addressing a patient safety challenge.

The part-time, two-year programme was developed as a result of a collaboration between the College’s Institute of Global Health Innovation and Bayer’s Pharmacovigilance department. The partnership aspires to support the education of healthcare professionals, managers, policymakers and industry representatives.

Dr Ana Luisa Neves, course Deputy Director from the Institute of Global Health Innovation, said: “As health and care needs become increasingly complex, the safety of patients is fundamental to delivering quality health services.

“Through this MSc programme, we aim to upskill future leaders and ultimately make healthcare safer for patients globally, by helping to prevent and reduce risks and errors that can occur.”

“Promoting and protecting the health and well-being of patients is our priority." Michael Devoy Bayer AG

Michael Devoy, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Medical Affairs and Pharmacovigilance at Bayer AG said: “Promoting and protecting the health and well-being of patients is our priority, and we are pleased to be part of this collaboration to educate the future generation of leaders in the medical field.

“Pharmacovigilance is critical for patient safety and by combining best practices from the pharmaceutical industry with the refreshed Master’s course, students will have the opportunity to learn a comprehensive and international view of how healthcare can be safely provided to patients.”

Click here for further details and to apply for the programme.