King's College London

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Postgraduate degree

Overview

The Aerospace Medicine programme aims to provide specialist training for medical graduates in the discipline from its research orientated basic science to its operational and clinical application. The course is therefore appropriate for Flight Medical Officers (Flight Surgeons), specialists in aviation and space medicine and for clinicians from other disciplines with a role to fulfil in aerospace medicine. It is not the aim of the course to train individuals in clinical medicine but rather to use the knowledge and experience students already have from their medical practice to allow them to understand its specialist application in aviation and space medicine.

Key benefits

World-class learning course delivered at a location recognised by the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board for higher professional training in aviation and space medicine.
Teaching by internationally renowned scientists and clinicians from a combination of academic, commercial and military organisations.
An advanced course with a considerable experiential/practical component complementing the theoretical aspects of the course.
The only course recognised by the Faculty of Occupational Medicine as preparation for the Diploma in Aviation Medicine exams with contributions by the Faculty of Occupational Medicine examiners.
For those undertaking the MSc, the course provides a unique opportunity to undertake an aerospace medicine/physiology research project that is carried out in the laboratory or in approved aeromedical centres in the UK and elsewhere.

Course essentials

The Aerospace Medicine course is a unique study pathway that provides physicians with comprehensive theoretical and practical instruction in advanced aviation physiology, psychology, pathology, clinical and operational aviation medicine.

The first semester of the course is taught at King’s College London and the second semester taught at the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine (CAM). Having the course partly based at CAM allows for valuable elements of the teaching to be enhanced through practical experiences not available at the University and also allows visits to a number of the military and civilian aerospace medicine related establishments. The Centre also offers unique practical facilities which are available to students on the course.

PG Dip and MSc students will complete the first taught 6 months of the course as a single group, at which point the MSc cohort will then go on and complete a research project. If you are following the MSc pathway, you will take modules totalling 180 credits to meet the requirements of the qualification, of which 60 will come from a research project and written dissertation. The Postgraduate Diploma pathway requires modules with a total of 120 credits to complete the course.

Course aims

A detailed working knowledge of the scientific basis of aerospace medicine.
The ability to understand and describe the medical and physiological effects of flight in health.
Develop the capacity to understand the interaction of the aerospace environments with the clinical status of the occupants of airborne craft as well as comprehend the hazards to flight safety that may arise from medical factors in air traffic controllers.
Develop the skills to investigate an aeromedical issue such as would allow them to make appropriate written or oral arguments regarding the aeromedical disposal of individuals in health and disease.
An ability to communicate their ideas effectively and confidently.
(For MSc only) have developed the skills associated with conducting a supervised project in aerospace medicine including its written and oral presentation.

Key Information

Course type:

Master's

Delivery mode:

In person

Study mode:

Full time

Duration:

MSc one year, PG Dip six months

Credit value:

MSc UK 180/ECTS 90; PG Dip UK 120/ECTS 60

Application status:

Open

Start date:

September 2026

Taught in

Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine

Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences

School of Basic & Medical Biosciences

Administrative bodies

Regulating body

Application closing date guidance

Base campus

Guy’s Campus

Located near London Bridge, Guy’s Campus offers a dynamic yet focused environment, ideal for health and science students. Offering cutting-edge labs and a close-knit academic community, at the heart of one of London’s most vibrant and historic areas.