Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education
Subject to Validation
In today’s healthcare landscape, formal teaching qualifications are becoming essential. Our Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education is your fast-track route to becoming a recognised medical educator—100% online, highly flexible, and designed for busy professionals like you. In just six months, you’ll gain the expertise to deliver high-quality teaching, strengthen your leadership skills, and advance your career in medical education.
What sets our pg certificate in medical education apart is our accreditation status from the Academy of Medical Educators (AoME), and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) ensures your qualification is widely recognised. You’ll benefit from a dynamic, interactive learning experience, with scenario-based discussions that sharpen your analytical skills—making you more marketable to employers. Unlike many institutions, our certificate course in medical education is built around truly flexible, self-paced learning, without the constraints of scheduled online sessions that disrupt your clinical responsibilities and personal life.
Next intake: September 2025Key Facts
On top of this, we offer one of the most affordable routes to qualification among comparable offerings. Our certificate in medical education online provides exceptional value, combined with quality education that aligns with your professional goals enhancing its accessibility and appeal. Whether you’re looking to enhance your teaching credentials or open doors to further career progression, this postgraduate certificate in medical education online is your stepping stone to a stronger professional profile and greater career opportunities.
Faculty
Programme Leader - Professor Steve Davies MB BCh, FRCP, MD
Steve is a clinician and authority in medical education, with over 20 years of leadership in digital learning innovation. A pioneer in online postgraduate training, Steve is one of the...
Programme Leader - Dr Karuna MAcadMEd, MBBCh, MRCGP, DRCOG, DCH, MBA
Karuna is an experienced medical educator with a strong background in primary care and a longstanding commitment to developing future clinicians. She has spent over a decade teaching clinical skills,...
Subject To Validation
This programme has not yet been validated by a University partner. We are accepting applications for this course on the basis that it will shortly be validated. Please note that all applications are subject to this validation being approved.
Accreditors and Endorsers
AoME - Academy of Medical Educators
The Postgraduate Diploma and Masters in Medical Education have been accredited with AccreditationPlus by AoME
Frequently Asked Questions
For a full list of our FAQs visit our FAQs page.
As each Medical Council has their own rules/regulations with regard to Postgraduate study we recommend that you contact your local Medical Council with regard to recognition.
Upon completion of the course the University would invite you to a graduation ceremony and provide your certificate which makes no reference to the fact that the course was studied online and is therefore typically recognised the same as any other UK University qualification.
Rest assured, the overall Postgraduate Diploma carries a total of 1,200 CPD points, with the MSc an additional 600 CPD points, and all official certifications are issued directly by the University.
When you study one of our programmes you may be surprised to find that there are no lectures or seminars. Your learning will be self-directed meaning that rather than being told information you find it for yourself (with tutor guidance and support). We do this via a series of clinically rich scenarios which your tutor will post on our academic forum which you and your classmates will research, respond to and discuss.
You will be assessed through the Academic Forum, Reflective Journal and Assignments. Learning will be carried out using our online learning platform: Moodle.
You can study whenever and wherever you want - our programmes are totally flexible to fit around your other work and life commitments.
The course is specifically designed so that part of your study is the application of theory to practice in your day job.
We typically suggest that students aim to log into the Moodle platform daily. We recommend a "little and often" approach for reading, reflection and/or posting. High achieving students will typically spend 1-2 hours dedicated to their studies a day; 10 hours per week is sufficient time to spend on the platform.
Those who cannot dedicate more time than once/twice per week may struggle with the demands of this postgraduate programme.
Yes, everything is done entirely online through our learning platform, Moodle. You do not need to attend the University.
All of our courses are delivered in English, so proficiency in the English language is essential for success. If English is not your first language, we require proof of competency as part of your application. We accept the following as proof of English Language skills:
We Accept a Range of English Language Qualifications
While IELTS and TOEFL are among the most commonly used English tests, we understand that students come from diverse backgrounds — and we’re happy to work with you to accept a wide range of other recognised English language qualifications.
We accept IELTS (International English Language Testing System)
Our most commonly accepted test, IELTS is globally recognised and widely used for university admissions.
We accept TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)
Another widely accepted test, TOEFL assesses your reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills in an academic setting.
We accept English Medium of Instruction (EMI) Letters
Many of our international students provide an EMI (English Medium Instruction) letter from their previous institution. This letter should confirm that you were taught in the medium of English. It is a popular and widely accepted form of proof, especially if you have completed prior academic studies in English.
Our University partners Requirements
The University of South Wales and The University of Wolverhampton accept an overall score of 6.0 (minimum of 5.5 for each band) and The University of Buckingham accepts an overall score of 6.5 (minimum of 6.0 for each band).
Our Flexible Instalment Plan is designed to offer ultimate flexibility to pay for your programme. You have the choice of two payment options:
Make an Upfront Payment in Full: For those who prefer to settle their fees upfront, you can pay the full amount at the beginning of your programme.
Interest-Free Payments: Alternatively, you can choose to spread your payments out with interest-free instalments every other month for the duration of your course.
These options are separate from our existing lending partners, which you can explore further on our programme pages. We believe that education should be accessible to all, and our Flexible Instalment Plan is just one of the ways we are committed to supporting you in your academic journey.
We currently offer two discounts: the Early Bird Discount and the Action Taker Discount. The Early Bird discount allows you to save up to £500 or more, available only to self-funders and is a limited-time offer that runs for the entirety of November for the March cohort or the entirety of May for the September cohort. Our Action Taker Discount allows you to save up to £150 off for PGCert and £250 off for PGDip/2-year MSc programmes. To qualify for Action Takers, you must pay the deposit within 7 days of acceptance. This discount is not available during February and August and not available in combination with the Early Bird Discount.
For Early Bird Discounts, the discount is visible if your application and acceptance are completed within the required timeframe. For Action Taker Discounts, it will reflect once conditions are met.
Subject to validation
Next intake: September 2025 Key Facts
Programme Leader - Professor Steve Davies MB BCh, FRCP, MD
Steve is a clinician and authority in medical education, with over 20 years of leadership in digital learning innovation. A pioneer in online postgraduate training, Steve is one of the few clinicians who has also created businesses from clinical education. He is the founder of Learna and co-founder of OnExamination, one of the UK’s leading medical assessment platforms, now part of the BMJ Group. His expertise in curriculum design, assessment, and online andragogy underpins our flexible learning model, tailored for busy healthcare professionals. Steve’s leadership ensures our programme remains academically rigorous, clinically relevant, and globally impactful.
Programme Leader - Dr Karuna MAcadMEd, MBBCh, MRCGP, DRCOG, DCH, MBA
Karuna is an experienced medical educator with a strong background in primary care and a longstanding commitment to developing future clinicians. She has spent over a decade teaching clinical skills, diagnostic reasoning, and professional development to medical students and junior doctors. Her academic interests lie in curriculum design, learner engagement, and assessment in postgraduate education. With an MBA focused on healthcare efficiency, she brings a systems-thinking approach to medical education. This ensures our programme equips students with the practical, evidence-based teaching strategies to drive meaningful learning and improved patient care.
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Why Study a Medical Education Postgraduate Certificate with Learna
We have over 10 years’ experience delivering online courses, giving you access to flexible, affordable distance learning in partnership with world-leading educators.
100% Flexible
Our courses are 100% online. No fixed study times mean you can log in and learn whenever and wherever.
Multidisciplinary - study in a group of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.
Expert Led
All of our programmes are authored and developed by world leading experts in their field.
Our faculty are selected due to their subject expertise, experience and teaching abilities to ensure the highest standards of educational excellence.
Career Boosting
Get a University Validated postgraduate qualification in just 1 calendar year instead of 2 academic years.
40% of our alumni reported an increase in salary 2 years after studying with us.
Who is this course for?
This postgraduate diploma in medical education is specifically designed for healthcare professionals seeking to advance their expertise in medical education. It caters to a diverse range of roles, including:
GPs (General Practitioners)
This programme provides GPs with advanced teaching methodologies and leadership skills, enabling GPs to enhance their role in medical education, improve learner assessments, and optimise educational outcomes in primary care settings.
Nurses
This diploma equips nurses with a deeper understanding of curriculum development, educational theory, and assessment techniques, enabling nurses to create more structured and effective training programmes for both peers and patients.
Clinical Educators and Trainers
This programme provides clinical educators with the latest tools and techniques in education, including the use of educational technology, allowing them to design impactful, engaging learning experiences for healthcare professionals.
Physician Associates (PAs)
As PAs become increasingly integral to healthcare teams, their involvement in training the next generation of PAs and other healthcare professionals grows. This diploma helps PAs enhance their teaching and assessment skills, allowing them to contribute effectively to the education of new clinicians and support staff.
Pharmacists
This programme provides pharmacists with enhanced skills in educational theory and practice, enabling them to design, deliver, and assess more effective educational interventions for both healthcare professionals and patients.
Physiotherapists
Physiotherapists often take on teaching responsibilities, whether training junior staff or educating patients about rehabilitation practices. This diploma gives them the ability to structure and deliver educational content more effectively, ensuring that training and patient education efforts are evidence-based and impactful.
Dietitians
Through this programme, dietitians gain advanced skills in creating educational materials and programmes, enhancing their ability to deliver effective, structured training sessions that improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.
How Will I Learn?
You'll learn through our flexible, interactive online platform, which allows you to engage with clinical cases, complete assignments, and collaborate with fellow students at times that suit your schedule. There's no fixed timetable—simply log in daily to participate in the week's activities.
Learn through engaging discussion
Our teaching approach is highly interactive, using small groups of 10-20 students to foster a collaborative environment where you can engage in thoughtful discussions and receive guidance from your tutor. You'll have access to learning resources and discussion forums that encourage ongoing interaction and deeper engagement with the material.
Throughout your studies, you'll receive support from a dedicated expert tutor and our Student Support Team, ensuring you have the resources needed to navigate the course successfully.
Curriculum
Our Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education allows you to study for just six months and is a part-time, distance-learning course. The course is worth 60 credits and comprises three modules of 20 credits, each running over a period of six weeks.Aims of the module:
To cultivate a critical understanding of the context of medical education within the broader field of education, emphasising the importance of patient care.
Module Content:
Learning and teaching theories
Learning and teaching methods
Lesson planning
Practical skills for teaching;
Individuals
Small and large groups
Practical skills for teaching online learning
Current topics and controversies
Learning outcomes:
- Analyse and apply teaching methods and theories for effective learning.
- Critically evaluate the significance and impact of medical education with a focus on patient care.
Aims of the module:
To attain an in-depth comprehension of the principles and practices of assessment in medical education.
Module Content:
Performance /Testing
Formative assessment
Summative assessment
Constructing an assessment (case study)
Supervision and feedback (appraisal)
Current topics/controversies
Authenticity and situativity in assessment
Learning outcomes:
- Critically analyse various assessment methodologies in medical education.
- Implement formative and summative assessment strategies in the context of medical education.
Aims of the module:
To develop a thorough understanding of various evaluation models and their applications in medical education.
Module Content:
Regulatory context of Medical Education
Moore’s levels
Programme evaluation
Case Studies
Current topics and controversies
Learning outcomes:
- Critically evaluate and synthesise various models of evaluation in medical education.
- Design and implement evaluation methods to enhance educational practices and improve patient care.
Assessment Methods
This programme emphasises learning through active participation in case-based discussions, reflection, and real-life scenarios. Students engage with clinical cases that mirror everyday practice, fostering problem-solving and evidence-based application from the very beginning.
Across the modules, assessments are integrated with learning. Each week, you will work through two to three clinical cases, discussing and reflecting on them with peers under the guidance of an expert tutor. These discussions form the core of your learning and are also the basis for your assessments.
Our innovative teaching methods are designed to help you translate this learning into real-world clinical practice. You'll need to regularly log in to participate in discussions, ideally on a daily basis, and commit approximately two hours per day to your studies. Our dedicated Student Support Team is available to assist with any challenges you may encounter, from navigating our online platform to managing deadlines.
How Foundational Knowledge is Developed
The programme is structured so that foundational knowledge is introduced through carefully designed clinical cases. Each case is crafted to highlight essential concepts and progressively deepen your understanding as you apply critical thinking and evidence-based analysis. This hands-on approach ensures that you are not only acquiring theoretical knowledge but also learning how to apply it in a practical, clinical setting.
This programme is suited for professionals who thrive in an online, discussion-based learning environment. Please note that this course focuses on interactive, applied learning through peer collaboration and case discussions. You will be fully supported, encouraged and led through the programme to success and graduation!
This can be either a Group Activity or an Individual Activity:
Group activity
Designed to stimulate and test the students’ ability to work as a team in taking the subject area forward. A group task is set, the group elects a leader using the online forum and the leader allocates tasks to group members. The leader is responsible for managing, collating and submitting the activity (online) at the end of the module. The tutor provides formative guidance part way through the module and marks the assessment at the end.
Individual activity
Designed to stimulate and demonstrate personalised learning, creativity and problem solving with application to each student’s own practice area.
Examples of individual activities might include either a written assignment, developing an academic poster presentation, a blog or social media project.
All students must complete the same assignment for each module which is pre-determined by the Programme Leader before the modules commence.
Students are required to critically analyse clinically focused case-based scenarios, discussion threads and weekly questions posed by their tutors via the Academic Forum (an online discussion board) and designed to meet the module learning outcomes. Here, students make their own researched and referenced contributions and interact with the tutor and their fellow students. There is no didactic teaching, instead, students are posed questions and prompted to search the literature, read it critically and respond. Engagement is encouraged by the tutor prompting students to respond and the use of automated activity monitoring software.
At the end of each module, the tutor allocates marks to each student based on a marking rubric. The rubric takes into account the following elements:
· Promptness and initiative
· Delivery of post (spelling and grammar)
· The relevance of post and referencing
· Expression within the post
The online reflective journal is a learning portfolio that requires students to record and critically reflect on their learning. Reflection is an important aspect of the programme since the professionals will be able to spend time considering how their practice compares to the themes being discussed in the module. The tutor provides feedback to the student weekly and marks it at the end of the module. Reflective practice is a requirement for healthcare professionals for professional re-validation and professional development.
- Case problems in the form of a one-hour timed examination with multiple-choice questions directly test the reasoning and knowledge objectives of the module.
- The online exam is marked automatically.
- The examination tests related theory and problem-solving skills.
Entry requirements
Since our courses are conducted entirely online, they are accessible to both UK and international registered healthcare professionals.
Applicants will typically hold a first degree or equivalent (including international qualifications) in a relevant professional healthcare field, such as a medical or nursing degree.
Registered healthcare professionals without these recognised qualifications will be considered on an individual basis and a wide range of prior experience may be taken into account. In some cases, applicants may be asked to submit a piece of work for assessment in order to confirm that they are able to work comfortably at postgraduate level, and demonstrate the requisite clinical and professional knowledge.
Documents Required
- A copy of your updated CV including your address and date of birth.
- A copy of your undergraduate degree certificate.
- The name and email address of someone who is able to provide a reference, this can be a work colleague, employer or former tutor.
- A detailed personal statement explaining why you would like to undertake the course.
- A copy of your proof of English competency (see below).
English Language Requirements Proficiency in the English language is also essential to completing our courses. If English is NOT your first language, we ask for proof of competency during the application process. We are able to accept an IELTS overall score of 6.0 (with a minimum of 5.5 for each band) or an equivalent qualification.
If you do not meet these requirements, please don’t worry. The run a number of English Language Programmes at the Centre for International English to prepare you for your academic studies. You can also contact our admissions team on admissions@diploma-msc.com for more information on the qualifications we accept.
Should you have already successfully completed the 1 year Postgraduate Diploma and wish to convert to the MSc and complete only the second year of the programme this is possible. Please contact our admissions department admissions@diploma-msc.com to find out more.
Course Fees
- Deposit for September 2025: £840 †
- Total Course Fees for UK & International Students for September 2025: £2,900 ††
Payment Options
- Option 1: Upfront Payment in full. Pay-in-full discount is available.
- Option 2: Apply for Interest-free payments each month for the duration of the course.
Payment Plan Breakdown
| Deposit | 5 Monthly Payments |
| £840 † | £412 |
Total payments: £2,900
You may also be interested in:
- Spread the cost with Lendwise, who offer financing options for up to 8 years. ††††
† Deposits are non-refundable
†† Prices are subject to review following each intake
†††† Subject to eligibility criteria.
Reviews
Why Learna
We have over 10 years’ experience delivering online diploma courses, giving you access to flexible, affordable distance learning in partnership with world-leading educators.
Our courses are some of the most affordable of their kind, providing value for money without compromising on quality. We also don't apply an international surcharge. No fixed timetable means you can log in & learn on the go, at your convenience.
Being totally online means we can select the very best tutors and resource editors, no matter where they’re located.
Connect with multidisciplinary people around the world to expand your insights & broaden your career prospects.
Our programmes produce 90% fewer emissions than campus-based learning.
