Course overview
Enhance your advanced clinical and practical skills in ultrasound
Are you ready for a new and exciting career path? Perhaps you want to work in a different area of the medical profession? Well, have you considered the rewarding and challenging field of Medical Ultrasound? It’s rapidly become an essential part of investigative healthcare and is used to support a variety of medical professionals including radiographers, physiotherapists, chiropractors, podiatrists, nurses, midwives, and doctors.
Developed by our School of Radiology, the MSc Medical Ultrasound course supports your professional development. Accredited by CASE for six years from February 2018, the course will give you the specialist knowledge, plus all the advanced clinical and practical skills needed for ultrasound practice. In your first and second years of the postgraduate degree, you’ll get the chance to select the units that are right for you, choosing between a series of clinical application and non-skills based units to build up your range of abilities.
What’s more, as we know not everyone is available to study on a full-time basis, we’ve made the course part-time so you gain your qualification while you work. The degree is made up of three progressive levels - the Postgraduate Certificate, the Postgraduate Diploma and the Masters - meaning that if you want to finish early you can get an exit qualification at the end of each stage, allowing you to tailor a learning experience that’s right for you.
With our expertise you will develop an understanding of the science and instrumentation of ultrasound in order to produce optimum images, with safety and quality assurance to make sure you lead with best practice. Choose from optional units in Gynaecology, First Trimester, Second and Third Trimester, General and Musculoskeletal Ultrasound to get the most out of your course to suit your needs.
You’ll be taught by actively practising practitioners and highly-qualified academic staff, who will guide you on your educational journey through professional development, experiential learning and reflective practice, tutorials, workshops, practical clinical skills classes, seminars, small group work, and lectures. Private study will form a significant part of your learning; reading and researching and preparing presentations and assignments, spending roughly an average of 8 hours per week study time.
You will have access to our web-based resources, including electronic databases and gateways, and online journals and a discussion forum for you to network with others on your course.
Our MSc Medical Ultrasound course is open for applications via our online application system.
Apply for 2021
For general questions on the MSc Medical Ultrasound qualification or to register your interest in the course, please use the contact form below.
Key Information
- Course title:
- MSc Medical Ultrasound
- Qualification:
- MSc
- Duration:
- Normally 3 Years
- Study mode:
- Part time
Course leader

Warren Foster
BSc (Hons), DR. MSc. MU - Head of School of Radiology
Warren Foster is currently Head of AECC University College's School of Radiology, a member of the Senior Management Group and program Lead for the MSc Ultrasound courses. With more than 15 years of Ultrasound experience across numerous specialities within the NHS, he is ideally placed to support your studies.
Course details
To earn your degree in MSc Medical Ultrasound, you’ll need a total of 180 Master’s level credits. Usually, you’ll aim to gain 60 credits a year - at the end of stage one, you’ll qualify for a PgCert (60 M credits), at stage two you’ll qualify for a PgDip (120 M credits), and finally an MSc at the end of stage three (180 M credits). Don’t be put off if you think this is too much or too little, as you’re encouraged to go at your own pace so you can do more or less than this in one year, depending on what suits you.
Even if your circumstances change and you cannot commit to the full 3 years of study, you will get the chance to earn a qualification at multiple exit routes. If you successfully complete stage one, you'll qualify for a PgCert (60 Level 7 credits), at stage two you will qualify for a PgDip (120 Level 7 credits), and finally an MSc at the end of stage three (180 Level 7 credits).
We recommend that you don’t take on more than 40 credits a year in one of our clinical application units due to the practical-skills workload involved. We want to make sure that you are comfortable and able to complete the workload that you take on at a reasonable pace.
To get a picture of the curriculum check out a list of units below, or should you need more information about each module’s aims, content and assessment structure, just take a look at our Course Specification.
A limited number of supervised clinical placements are available at our Ultrasound Clinic. Placements are at the discretion of the Head of School of Radiology and are reviewed each year. These are charged at an additional cost to the course fee. SMU clinical placement students should expect to attend 1 - 3 clinical placement days per month, for each skills-based unit, for a period of at least 5 - 6 months.
Our MSc Medical Ultrasound, developed by experts from the University College's School of Radiology, will give you the specialist knowledge, plus all the advanced clinical and practical skills needed for ultrasound practice.
This Medical Ultrasound Postgraduate course is accredited by CASE for six years from February 2018.
Need more info about, learning aims and outcomes, curriculum content, teaching methods and assessment, credits per unit? Take a look at our Course Specification to find out more.
Unit breakdown
You have control over what units to take. All units have Level 7 Credits assigned to them. You will need to pick units that total 60 Level 7 Credits for the PgCert. Along with completing the mandatory unit Science and Instrumentation of Ultrasound (20 credits), you’ll be able to select from a series of skills-based and non-skills based units to make up the remaining 40 credits. At least one of the optional units selected must be from the Optional Ultrasound Skills-based units list.
Optional Ultrasound Skills-based Units
- Upper Limb Ultrasound
- Lower Limb Ultrasound
- Hip Ultrasound
- Soft Tissue Ultrasound
- MSK Ultrasound Guided Injections
- Gynaecology Ultrasound
- 1st Trimester Ultrasound
- 2nd and 3rd Trimester Ultrasound
- Superficial Structures Ultrasound
- Negotiated Ultrasound Skills
- Abdominal Ultrasound
- Breast Ultrasound
- Ultrasound Guided Breast Intervention
- Ultrasound Guided Fine Needle Aspiration
- Hysterosalpingo-Contrast-Sonography (HyCoSy) and Saline
Infusion Sonography (SIS)
Non-application specific optional units
- Work-based Practice
- Evidence-based Practice
- Current Advances in Practice
- Structured Learning Event
For the PgDip Stage of your degree, you get to choose from any of the units that you did not complete during the previous PgCert Stage (Year 1). All units have M Level Credits assigned to them. You’ll need to pick units that total 60 M Level Credits for the PgDip.
For your final stage of the MSc Medical Ultrasound, you can pick between two unit groups. Research Methods and Dissertation or Audit Methods and Clinical Audit.
Entry Requirements
How do I apply?
Applications for our 2021 MSc Medical Ultrasound course are open via our online application system. You will need to provide your educational history, a personal statement and a satisfactory reference. The deadline for receipt of applications is late August 2021.
For general questions on MSc Medical Ultrasound course entry requirements or to register your interest in the course please use the contact form below.
What qualifications do I need?
You’ll need a recognised professional qualification or a first degree in a relevant healthcare subject. Examples of these are; General Medicine, Physiotherapy, Radiography, Osteopathy, Chiropractic, Sports and Exercise Medicine, Nursing.
If you have an undergraduate degree that’s not listed, it may still be considered. Talk to Admissions team by completing the form below or call them on 01202 436200.
Is there anything else that is required?
When you apply you should also include a Clinical Workplace Agreement (completed by the work-place supervisor/mentor), just to make sure you can meet all the clinical requirements of the course. A limited number of placements are available at the School of Radiology should you be interested; assigned and reviewed by the Course Leader. Please note that this is charged at an additional cost to the course fee. Speak with our School of Radiology team for prices, dates, and further details.
If you live in the UK, we’ll need a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. It’s standard for all UK students and we’ll be there to guide you through the process once you’ve applied. To gain a place on the course applicants must also successfully undergo an interview process. In light of the current Covid-19 situation these interviews will be undertaken remotely via Skype. More information about this process will be provided if/when applicants are invited to the interview stage.
If you’re not sure about anything listed here, talk to our Admissions team on the form below or call us on 01202 436200 and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.
For more information about our admissions policies and procedures, including our Admissions Complaints and Appeals Policy, please click here.
International Students
Please note to be accepted onto this course; you will also need to demonstrate that you meet the minimum standards of English.
For further information on English language requirements, please see the dedicated English language requirements page.
Students from outside the EEA (European Economic Area) requiring a Tier 4 (General) student visa to undertake the MSc Medical Ultrasound course should note that AECC University College is not able to sponsor them, and will therefore not be able to consider them for a place of study. More information on permission to study in the UK, can be found here: Visas and immigration.
HAVE MORE QUESTIONS? LET US ANSWER THEM IN OUR APPLICATION FAQS
Course Fees
Our current 2021 entry course costs for the MSc Medical Ultrasound part time course are per annum and are shown below.
UK/ROI/Channel Islands
£3,686.00 per annum based on students undertaking 60 credits (3 x 20 credit units) per academic year. For students undertaking additional 20 credit units an additional payment of £1,228.67 will be payable for each additional unit.
International
£6,144.00 per annum based on students undertaking 60 credits (3 x 20 credit units) per academic year. For students undertaking additional 20 credit units an additional payment of £2,048.00 will be payable for each additional unit.
International students will be required to pay a non-refundable £1,000 tuition fee deposit to secure their place on the course. These deposits will need to be paid by August 31st 2021 and more details will be provided in your offer email. Further details about how to make this payment can be found on our Fees and Funding Information page.
Note: For students to be eligible for funding from Student Finance England, they must be studying on an eligible course at a provider registered with the Office for Students (OfS). AECC University College is registered with the OfS. You can view the register here and search for our AECC University College.
Additional course costs
Your tuition fees will cover the cost of all mandatory elements of your course. There are additional course related costs that are not included in the tuition fees, including details of the fees for clinical placements undertaken at the School of Radiology. You will need to budget for theses costs when you plan your spending.
For further fees guidance for all students at AECC University College whether full time or part time please refer to our Tuition fees policy.
Visit our student finance pages for more information on:

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