M.Ost degree programme (part time)

Studying for our new M.Ost takes five years of part time attendance including:

• 19 weekends each year between late September and early July
• Five week days of clinic observation each year in the first three years
• Incrementally increased numbers of hours in the clinic in years four and five
  • One day of clinical practice during each week in Year 4 and five block weeks
  • One and a half days of clinical practice during each week in Year 5 and four block weeks

Over the five years of study, you will have time to enhance your academic knowledge and develop strong practical skills, before taking the opportunity to consolidate this learning with significant clinical experience.

The course is divided into a number of core themes which are designed to equip you with the necessary knowledge, skills and professional attributes needed to become a practising osteopath. You will be taught the knowledge of normal functioning of the body (physiology) and what happens when it goes wrong leading to disease (pathology). You will use this knowledge throughout your working life as patients will present to you with various problems that might be related to disease rather than musculoskeletal problems.

You will also look into the study of human anatomy and later in the course you will learn how osteopaths work with patients whose normal functioning anatomy has become impaired. You will learn all your practical skills of how to examine your patients and how to treat and manage their problems. Your technical skills will be developed to a very high level.

The clinical experience you will get provides you with the central focus where you will put all your knowledge and skills to use by treating real patients in our large and purpose built public outpatients clinics under full supervision of practising osteopaths. You will benefit from over 1000 hours of clinical practice during your course, mostly in the final two years. You will need to be prepared to spend about half a day per week in clinic in your penultimate year and about a day and a half in your final year as you make that transition into practising osteopath.

The key to successful and fulfilling osteopathic practice in the years following your graduation is a strong sense of professional identity and a thirst to keep your knowledge and skills honed and up to date. Your work on the development of criticality in osteopathy gives you that platform so that your practise as an osteopath is based on sound evidence and your identity as a professional is robust.

*Subject to validation and RQ inspection, planned for Spring 2012.