There are several reasons why you may want to consider taking a Masters. You may want:

• a career change and a Masters will give you the knowledge/qualification required to this
• further knowledge and support in the work you already do
• to develop your practice and knowledge
• to improve future job prospects
• to learn more about a subject that interests you
• to start a Masters with the intention of carrying on to do a PhD
• to meet like-minded colleagues.

It should be stressed that professional and personal development are key reasons for studying a Masters. Subsequent research applications may motivate further development for individuals and institutions. Networking can be very useful professionally as can alumni meetings.

It is good to be realistic about the course and to judge whether you have the time to complete it, especially if you are working and studying, or juggling child-care and other commitments. The time you will need to spend studying will impact on your personal and social life and it may be that you even need to use some of your annual leave to study and to complete assignments. In addition, it will help to be very well-organised and to plan your work well in advance.

Finally, you should aim to be clear in your objectives as to why you are taking the Masters and you should choose the course carefully. For example, you should consider the return on your investment in time and money.

Some courses are more work-related and some are more academic in focus. It’s a good idea to decide which type of course you prefer and you should be able to find that out from the prospectus. Some employers may value more practical work-related courses, however if you are more interested in research then an academic course may be more suitable. Other courses will be more of a mix of practical and academic skills.

You could also decide between courses that are more face-to-face where you have more contact with the other students and the tutors, or you may find that distance learning is more flexible so that you can fit the study around your own time.

It is a good idea to do some thorough research into the course and the institution.

• Can you find information about what the course will lead to and what previous students have gone on to do? Look out for open days where it might be possible to meet the tutors and to talk to alumni.
• How experienced are the tutors?
• What is the tutor to student ratio?
• What are the course fees?
• How many teaching days are there?
• You can also look at the university league tables (see the resources section at the bottom of the page)

The BMJ Careers website has some very good case-studies of the typical Masters undertaken by doctors:

MA in Clinical Education

(For a further case-study for an MA in Clinical Education, also see http://careers.bmj.com/careers/advice/view-article.html?id=2162)

MA in Public Health

MBA (Masters in Business Administration)

MRes – Masters in Health Research

Doing a higher medical degree

In considering a Masters degree you will also need to take into account course fees. Individual institutions all charge different fees and if you are not a UK resident or have already done a Masters course at a HEI then it is likely you will be subject to higher fees. It is important to check with the registry of each institution for specific detail about the fee structure and how that might apply to you.

Potential sources of funding:

N.B. This list may give you some ideas of where to look but it is not exhaustive:

• Research Councils – MRC (best to google ‘MRC’ and ‘masters’), BBSRC
• Wellcome Trust
• University funding databases for bursaries e.g. University of Manchester
• Postgraduate medicine scholarships in the UK - Scholarship Search directory
• NIHR – see: http://www.nihrtcc.nhs.uk/
• There may be the possibility of funding from study leave budgets for MSc and MA programmes that can be part of a training programme. For example: MSc in a specialty area e.g. Paediatrics (at the institute of Child Health - London University) or MSc in advanced surgical training, Guildford (University of Surrey) or MSc in Diabetes or Cardiology
• Some professional courses can be offset against tax and this can help with funding. This could be true for Medics who complete a postgraduate course in Law and Ethics, or a management course (e.g. MBA).
• There may be charitable funding sources available. For example: the Kennedy Scholarships for 2011-2012.
  • Kennedy Scholarships are part of the UK's memorial to President Kennedy. They offer full tuition & health insurance fees and a generous stipend (plus other perks) to enable British graduates, who are also British citizens, to take programmes at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. If a medical student has done an intercalated degree, then they are eligible to apply from that point on. If they have not intercalated, then they are elgible once they have done their finals. The majority of medics apply for funding to take the Masters in Public Health at the Harvard School but two individuals have recently gained funding to take particular pieces of research further within the wider Harvard Medical School environs.  So, it can give the right person a very special opportunity. Full information is available on http://www.kennedytrust.org.uk/
• Prospects website also provides a useful list of sources of funding for postgraduate courses.

For help finding a masters look at the UCAS Website for postgraduate courses:  http://www.ukpass.ac.uk/

University League tables:

• The Guardian
• The complete university guide

The framework for Higher Education Qualifications in the UK

• For Correspondences between UK and Irish frameworks with European qualifications frameworks you can use the table on this link to see where your qualification fits on the framework for higher education qualifications (FHEQ): http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/Quals_cross_boundaries.pdf 
• For Scotland you can use the table on the link below to see where your qualification fits on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF): http://www.scqf.org.uk/features/Framework.htm?