Course: Clinical Trials Centre | University of Edinburgh Moodle

    • Programme Description

      The online programme provides knowledge and understanding of the key elements and principles of clinical trial design, delivery and analysis. In addition to a knowledge and understanding of the principles of GCP and their practical implementation in clinical trials.

      This programme is suitable for graduates in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, life sciences and other allied disciplines involved in Clinical Trials.

      This programme will support the demand for appropriately qualified investigators to lead clinical trials of all phases. Each course is divided into a set of themed sections in which material is presented in a blend of short online lectures, practical case studies, directed readings, podcasts and archived webinars. Discussion board tasks and live expert guest lectures offer opportunity for collaborative critical discourse and debate of current issues under the guidance of expert teaching staff.

      The programme covers Commercial Aspects of Drug Discovery and Development, Trial and Project Management, Statistics and Data Management, Regulations and Ethics, Imaging, Medical Devices and Complex Interventions.

      APPLY NOW or click on the book icon below to find out more (will open with a table of contents on the right)

    • Book icon
      Who is this Programme for? Book
    • File icon
      Click here to find out about career paths File
    • URL icon
      Click here to play a Clinical Trials game! (open in Flash player if prompted) URL
    • Book icon
      Programme handbook
    • Page icon
      Meet our Director Professor Stuart Ralston Page

    • The benefits of online learning

      You will have 24/7 access from anywhere with an internet connection so you can go at your own pace, suiting your own learning style. 

      Empty classroom

      The information here in this Clinical Trials Centre mini course will remain open access and be available to you throughout your studies so that you can refer back to it as you need to.

      The University has a wealth of online courses and the latest in online tools and technology. You can read about postgraduate study online on the University web pages here. 

    • File icon
      Click on this link to open the pop up and learn about the benefits of online learning File

    • Supporting your online journey at the University of Edinburgh

    • An Introduction to online learning degrees at The University of Edinburgh

    • Digital Badges

      Throughout the Programme you can be awarded digital (or sometimes known as open) badges for certain activities. Perhaps you already have badges from another course, or from the Survey activity in this Clinical Trials Centre. These digital badges can be held in systems like Moodle, Mozilla backpack and Pebblepad (you automatically receive a free lifelong Pebblepad ePortfolio account when you become a student with us).

      You can learn more about Digital/Open Badges here, and you can can gain one for yourself here. 

      If you gain an open badge on the Programme, you keep it within your Moodle profile, then you can upload it to your Mozilla Backpack so that you can move it around with you to any other platform in the future. You can choose to display it within your Pebblepad ePortfolio lifelong account. The beauty of open badges are that they are portable and so move with you digitally as you move through your learning and career. 

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  • The courses use discussion boards to foster thought and discussion through the unit lessons. You will answer "thought questions" at intervals throughout your learning. You will comment on others' ideas and tutors will respond with their thoughts. 

    This is an important collaborative process in your course and you will learn from each other while creating your own community. This will prepare you for working in online groups later in the programme.

    • How you will be assessed 

      On the MScCT you will be assessed in different ways continuously throughout the programme. We currently use a mixture of online exams, essays, group work, individual projects and online participation.

      The assignment specification for each course are released at the beginning of the course with dates and instructions so that you can plan your work and life around them. 

    • How to avoid plagiarism

      The University web pages have really  good information on this here. We currently use a system called Turnitin. This checks your originality score against thousands of papers and the internet when you make a submission then gives you a score which you can break down to see exactly where the sources match. You can practice submiting an assignment in the portal below. 

    • Turnitin Assignment 2 icon
      Test submission portal Turnitin Assignment

  • Although many courses at Edinburgh University use Blackboard Learn for online courses, the Clinical Trial programme uses Moodle, an easy to use, popular virtual learning environment (VLE).

    This Clinical Trials Centre you are in just now is using Moodle. Our courses for the programme are set up in exactly the same way, with course Units in each drop down section, a link to the Usher Institute, Tweets and a BMJ feed on the right. 

    The drop down sections will have lessons and discussion boards where you will take in the learning then answer some "thought questions" to discuss ideas with your tutors and peers. Your assignments will be submitted online (normally through our Turnitin system) and we will deliver "live" sessions periodically through Collaborate, a virtual classroom. 

    Below is a list taken from the first course, Clinical Trials Foundation Course, with some of the online tools you will use during your studies:

    Software and systems

    You will normally engage with your lessons from your PC, laptop or mobile device online in Moodle but there may be lessons and literature which you will prefer to download and/or print out for ease (also, while close captioning/subtitles is usually available for all video recordings their transcripts can be downloaded for reading too).

    Files will either be Word documents, PDF files or PowerPoint presentations. readable on Microsoft Office. All students are entitled to Office 365 as part of their studies. Please make sure you have a working copy of office software as soon as your course begins. You can find out about getting it here:

    https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/computing/comms-and-collab/office365/latest-office

    As an Edinburgh University student you can take advantage of the latest in educational technology systems in your day to day life. You will be using a few different ones on this course, mainly: 

    • Office 365 - usual office software with Outlook for your emails, Word, Excel, Powerpoint and many add on apps to help you study.
    • Moodle - the platform where your courses and programme sit.
    • EASE/MyEd - the University staff and student platform with a dashboard to access all of your information, get announcements and sign up to further courses etc. 
    • Leganto - a reading/resource list from our library.
    • Collaborate - a virtual classroom/web conferencing system by Blackboard for live meetings and lectures.
    • Media Hopper  - like a University Youtube which requires you to login first for authentication and allows you to upload and edit your own video, and watch others' (tip: check out the film studies channel for some good movies).
    • Turnitin - an electronic assessment tool for submitting assignments and online marking/feedback.
    • Lynda.com - a "Youtube" style channel with very helpful tutorials on a vast array of subjects.
    • Pebblepad - an ePortfolio and blogging tool to showcase your current and future skills. Every Edinburgh University student gets a lifetime profile they can add to long after their studies. 
    • Box of Broadcasts (BOB) - another media repository with a massive library of free programmes (including BBC dramas, comedy etc!).
    • Eduroam - this is the University wifi service. Of course, being on an online course you may not need this but if you live in the UK it will give you free wireless access to the internet at every University and College in the country (which is handy if you happen to be visiting!).

    If you're enrolled on the Programme you should familiarise yourself with these systems before you start the course. This will prepare you for the first few weeks of the programme although we cover this again in the Clinical Trials Foundation Course. 

  • The Institute for Academic Development (IAD) provides support for students through workshops, online resources, networks and advice. Students on our online Masters in Clinical Trials will find useful information on the Postgraduate Taught section of the website.

    IAD produces a monthly Newsletter, and you are encouraged to have a look at the iad4masters Blog, and follow IAD on Twitter @ iad4masters.

    Open workshops focussing on useful study skills can be booked online. IAD offers a number of online courses including Academic Writing, Statistics and IT training. Information Literacy covers managing your references, literature review skills. You will also find an Introduction to Collaborate on the Digital Collaboration web page.

  • Not available unless: Your Email address is not empty
    On the MScCT programme we value community, even before your studies have started, and especially once they have ended. Use this space to network with old and new peers, and keep in touch with us.
  • Not available unless: You belong to Year 2019/20
  • This section

    Year 2018/19
    Not available unless: You belong to Year2018/19