Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation MSc

This module provides a comprehensive exploration of cardiovascular diseases, focusing on risk factors, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. You’ll examine the epidemiological and pathophysiological influences behind conditions like heart disease and peripheral vascular disease, as well as the metabolic risk factors, including obesity and diabetes. A key focus is on diagnostic procedures and decision-making, equipping you with the ability to assess cardiovascular conditions and select appropriate treatments, including medications. The module also covers rehabilitation strategies, comparing biomedical and biopsychosocial approaches to patient recovery, behaviour change, and long-term health success. You’ll engage with the BACPR rehabilitation framework, evaluating its standards, benefits, and limitations. Most importantly, you’ll develop the ability to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence base, ensuring you can apply the latest research to real-world cardiovascular care. This module is essential for those pursuing careers in healthcare, rehabilitation, and medical research.

Understanding Cardiovascular Anatomy and Exercise Physiology unlocks the secrets of how your heart powers movement and adapts to physical demands. This module dives into circulation control, from mechanical and electrical heart functions to neuro-hormonal influences. You’ll explore how cardiac metabolism compares to skeletal muscle, how exercise affects heart rate and blood pressure, and how posture influences cardiovascular performance. Learn about heart diseases like arrhythmia and heart failure, and discover how exercise training drives long-term adaptations in heart structure and function. Key to this is the Fick Principle, which explains oxygen delivery and usage—essential for understanding fitness improvements and cardiac rehabilitation. Most importantly, you’ll grasp how regular exercise lowers disease risk and boosts longevity, using evidence-based insights. This knowledge is vital for careers in sports science, medicine, and rehabilitation, equipping you with the expertise to enhance cardiovascular health through training and lifestyle interventions.

This module provides a comprehensive understanding of clinical exercise testing and prescription, equipping you with the skills to assess and design exercise programs for health and disease prevention. You’ll explore the role of exercise in cardiovascular health, learning essential pre-exercise screening and risk stratification methods. Through both lab-based and field-based assessments, including cardio-pulmonary and submaximal fitness tests, you’ll gain hands-on experience in evaluating functional capacity. A key focus is on analyzing exercise and respiratory responses to inform safe and effective exercise prescriptions, factoring in heart rate, perceived exertion (RPE), and cardiovascular medications. Practical skills in aerobic fitness testing, such as Step, Cycle, and Shuttle Walk Tests, will prepare you for real-world clinical settings. By the end of the module, you’ll have the expertise to develop tailored exercise programs, ensuring safety and maximizing health benefits for individuals across various fitness and medical conditions.

This module explores the critical link between nutrition and cardiovascular health, using an evidence-based, concept-driven approach to understand how diet influences heart disease risk. You’ll examine dietary agents and their metabolism, uncovering how specific nutrients contribute to or protect against cardiovascular disease. Through nutritional epidemiology, you’ll analyze the scientific basis for dietary guidelines and population-level nutrition strategies aimed at reducing cardiovascular risk. The module also delves into the historical and anecdotal connections between diet, lifestyle, and heart disease, offering insights into how these relationships have shaped current recommendations. Additionally, you’ll explore psychological factors influencing dietary adherence and motivation, essential for promoting long-term heart-healthy behaviors. By understanding nutritionally driven risk factors like diabetes, you’ll gain the expertise to apply dietary strategies for disease prevention and health promotion, a key competency for careers in nutrition, public health, and healthcare.

This module provides a comprehensive foundation in research methods and data analysis, equipping you with the skills to design, conduct, and interpret scientific research. You’ll explore different research types—analytical, descriptive, experimental, and qualitative—while mastering key concepts like hypotheses, variables, sampling, and measurement reliability. Learn how to collect and analyse data effectively, from experimental designs and surveys to case studies and qualitative research techniques. A strong emphasis on ethical research practices ensures you understand the responsibilities of scientific inquiry. You’ll also gain hands-on experience with SPSS software, learning to establish databases, transform variables, and apply statistical tests like ANOVA, t-tests, and chi-square analyses. By the end of the module, you’ll be able to critically evaluate research, apply statistical techniques, and use data-driven insights to inform decision-making—essential skills for careers in academia, healthcare, and scientific research.

This module, delivered in collaboration with the British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR), provides a comprehensive foundation in cardiac rehabilitation and exercise prescription. You’ll explore the cardiac rehabilitation process, from understanding cardiovascular anatomy and disease pathology to reviewing medical and surgical interventions. A key focus is on exercise programming, including movement analysis, warm-ups, conditioning techniques, and intensity monitoring to ensure safe and effective rehabilitation. You’ll also develop skills in risk stratification and adapting exercise for individuals with co-morbidities, preparing you to tailor interventions to diverse populations. The module incorporates functional fitness assessments and outcome measures, giving you hands-on experience in evaluating patient progress. Additionally, you’ll explore behaviour change strategies and motivational interviewing, essential for encouraging long-term adherence to heart-healthy lifestyles. This module equips you with the practical and theoretical skills needed to support individuals in cardiovascular recovery through evidence-based exercise interventions.

This module provides an opportunity to conduct independent research, allowing you to contribute to the growing body of knowledge in your field of study. Working closely with a supervisor and research coordinator, you will design and execute a research project that aligns with your academic discipline. This involves identifying a research question, reviewing existing literature, selecting appropriate methodologies, and analysing data to generate meaningful insights. Through this process, you’ll develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and research skills, essential for academic and professional success. The module emphasises independent inquiry and evidence-based analysis, preparing you to engage with real-world challenges in your chosen field. By the end, you’ll have completed a rigorous, well-structured research project, demonstrating your ability to contribute valuable findings to your discipline—an essential competency for further study, professional research, or industry application.