Master's Programme in Health Sciences - specialisation in Nursing; Clinical Research and Professional Development Programme description

The programme was established under the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges and the Regulations relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University.

Candidates who pass the programme will be awarded the degree Master of Health Sciences (Norwegian: Master i helsevitenskap) in accordance with Section 3 of the Regulations concerning Requirements for the Master's Degrees. A specialisation in one of the following 15 specialisations forms part of the master’s degree programme:

Specialisations for applicants with backgrounds in health or social care:

• Health Sciences
• Empowerment and Health Promotion
• Mental Health and Addiction
• Rehabilitation and Habilitation

Specialisations for applicants who are authorised health personnel in the specified professional fields:

• Nutrition for Health Personnel
• Occupational Therapy
• Physiotherapy for Children and Adolescents
• Physiotherapy for the Older Adult
• Physiotherapy for Musculoskeletal Health
• Psychomotor Physiotherapy
• Advanced Nursing Practice
• Public Health Nursing
• Cancer Nursing
• Nursing – Clinical Research and Professional Development

Specialisations for applicants from the professional field of nutrition:

• Public Health Nutrition

The specialisation will also be stated on the diploma alongside the name of the degree: Master of Health Sciences.

The master’s degree programme has a scope of 120 ECTS credits. Some of the specialisations are taken full-time over two years, while others are taken part-time over three or four years.

The programme comprises compulsory common courses, compulsory specialisation courses and elective courses, in addition to the master’s thesis. A more detailed overview of the programme’s structure for each specialisation is given under the section Content and structure.

According to the UN Agenda 2030, a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development is that everyone is able to live healthy lives. The Master’s Degree Programme in Health Sciences is primarily aimed at the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, Good Health and Well-being, while SDGs 4, 5 and 10 on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all, and achieving gender equality and reducing inequality, are also relevant. The 17 SDGs must be seen as a whole, however, where each goal is seen in conjunction with the others. The purpose of the programme is therefore to educate candidates who are qualified to help to ensure good health and promote quality of life for everyone, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, education, sexuality and functional ability, while also attempting to address considerations relating to sustainability, including life-long learning.

The students taking the programme can choose a specialisation in health promotion, illness prevention, treatment, palliative care and (re)habilitation work. The programme teaches the students to handle professional problems at the individual, group and system level in close cooperation with other professions, patients, users, next of kin and other services. The candidates should also be able to contribute to safe, effective, holistic and integrated services with good use of resources, and to innovation, improvement work and systematic user involvement.

Relevance to working life

Possible fields of work and careers after completing the programme include:

• research and development in the health sciences
• teaching, development and advisory functions in the guidance, administration and dissemination of knowledge in the health professions
• clinical work that is based on specialised expertise
• health and social care management positions

Relevance to further education

Students taking the Master's Degree Programme in Health Sciences who choose to write a master’s thesis worth 50 ECTS credits can apply for admission to the research programme for health sciences while taking the master’s programme. This is taken in parallel to and as an extension of the master’s programme. The research programme develops researcher expertise over and above that provided during the master’s programme and results in a research work that can later form part of a PhD-level work.

Candidates with a Master's Degree in Health Sciences are qualified to apply for admission to PhD programmes, including the PhD Programme in Health Sciences at OsloMet.

Specialisations

The Master's Degree Programme in Health Sciences has a number of specialisations that candidates can choose. Applicants must choose and apply directly for the specialisation they wish to take when applying for the master’s programme. The specialisations are subject to different admission requirements. However, the students will take a significant part of the programme together with students from the other specialisations, partly through compulsory common courses and partly through elective courses across the specialisations. More information about this is found in the section Content and structure.

MAKLI: Nursing – Clinical Research and Professional Development

The Specialisation in Nursing – Clinical Research and Professional Development focuses on scientific thinking and research methods. The students will analyse key areas of nursing research and the consequences of different views of knowledge, where emphasis is placed on understanding the nurse’s ethical and theoretical basis for practical action. Knowledge development and research on nursing can be related to patient groups, next of kin and health personnel at the individual and system level. Clinical research is seen from a broad perspective that includes innovation and development work and an understanding of people’s need for health care in different contexts. Scientific nursing research must address and be up-to-date in relation to the increasingly large group of patients who, due to age, impairment, cultural, ethnic or religious reasons, do not receive satisfactory help from the health services. The specialisation will help students to develop academic autonomy, critical awareness and political engagement related to nursing. In close cooperation with the clinical field, the student should be able to improve and develop the knowledge base in the field of practice.

The target group is students with a bachelor’s degree in health or social care who want to work on professional development and/or participate in research in their field, and potentially conduct clinical work in their chosen specialisation. The programme is a relevant additional education to a number of health and social care programmes.

In this master's program you will be challenged to take a role as a facilitator and designer, and sometimes even as a project leader, developing strategies, services, systems and product solutions. The skills, knowledge and insight you will attain during this study are regarded valuable in private and public sector within product, service and systems design, as well as design Research.

We do not seek to explain what design is neither from a practical, theoretical, or idealistic point of view; rather we recognize that our society and environment represent complex networks of relations.

To design for the shift towards sustainable societies, increased populations, digitalization of professional, social and private life, demands thus professional designers that can comprehend and visualize the grand picture, define scopes for work, and develop solutions in relation to different strategic levels.

On successful completion of this program, students are able to design for complexity. The complexity relates to the social/political, environmental, economic and technological contexts in which the designer as well as the product and service that they create, will perform and influence.

The programme leads to the Master's degree in Product Design

Who is this program for?

This education is for you who want to contribute to ongoing national and international design research projects, connected to institutions and industry.

During the study, you will be involved in design processes that are synthesized from the research front in design for complexity, culture, and aesthetics in contexts along with beautiful international and Norwegian students and staff.

On successful completion of this program, students are able to design for complexity. The complexity relates to the social/political, environmental, economic and technological contexts in which the designer as well as the product and service that they create, will perform and influence.

Complexity of nature, people, and industry and society

The design methods that you will explore society and environment through are therefore linked to complexity, and in extension systems theory and design. Thus, the Design in Complexity program offers courses that provide you with tools, methodology and new perspectives towards problem solving, innovation, as well as research. The Design in Complexity education offers the opportunity to practice analytical and research dimensions of design. Design Research, products and services can serve as catalysts for change in human behaviour, security, sustainability, perceived meaning, and quality of life. System-oriented approaches are specifically developed to recognize and handle such connections. Skills in handling these approaches gives insight to work on various strategic levels. You will be able to processes comprehensible amount of data, contexts and people in complex situations which may relate to market mechanisms, health and social services, elicitation of engagement and experiences, circular economy and the closing of material loops, as well as designing for sustainable living - in both local and global perspectives.

Designers for the future contexts - Mission oriented design

The goals of governments, international corporations and society in a broader context, are increasingly in line with the UN Sustainability Goals and the Paris Agreement. The EU strategy report on research (2018) expresses the need of mission-oriented approaches towards new knowledge and solutions.

By mission-oriented research, EU asks for solutions that solve essential problems causing global trends. The Design in Complexity master program will introduce to you these contexts and trends where you may explore connected tools and themes of research, as well as building your own identity and qualities as a designer, and thus be prepared for the next decades. You will be challenged to seek your mission and orient yourself along these tasks, both in an industrial context as well as for organizations and public institutions.

This education is for you who want to contribute to ongoing national and international design research projects, connected to institutions and industry. During the study, you will be involved in design processes that are synthesized from the research front in design for complexity, culture, and aesthetics in contexts along with beautiful international and Norwegian students and staff.

Admission requirements for the Master`s Degree Program in Product Design. Requirements are determined by the general regulation for master`s degree at OsloMet. In order to be admitted you need to have finalized a bachelor's degree which must include:

• in-depth design study or education equivalent to at least 80 ECTS or
• an integrated design program of at least 120 ECTS
• A portfolio that documents of your design skills and experience, through a carefully selection of your own design work. Please include a short text that explains the project.
• and lastly a letter that describes your motivation for applying the master program Design in Complexity. Your letter of motivation must also include your choice of specialization.

The two latter documentations, will be assessed by an academic committee at Department of Product Design, which will evaluate the candidates academic level within product and service design indimensions such as data gathering, design theory, process documentation, visualization, experience with materials and processing/production techniques.Ranking of applicants is based on this asessment only.

For more information about admission requirements, please see:

https://www.oslomet.no/en/study/tkd/product-design-master

Applicants with foreign qualifications

Applicants with foreign qualifications compete for places with applicants with Norwegian qualifications on equal terms, providing the foreign qualification is comparable to the Norwegian qualification. Applicants from outside Norway, Sweden or Denmark must be able to document sufficient skills in written and spoken English. The language skill requirements are listed on:

https://www.oslomet.no/en/study/admission/english-proficiency-requirements-masters

Language skill requirements

For admission to a masters degree program students must fulfill the requirements in the GSU-list (can be found on the website).

Varied and student-active teaching methods are used in the programme. Good learning outcomes are first and foremost dependent on the students’ own efforts. The number of hours of adapted teaching at the university will be relatively low. Own effort means both benefiting from teaching and academic supervision and following this up with independent work in the form of theoretical studies and, if relevant, practical skills training. Normal study progress requires students to make great personal efforts. The most important work and teaching forms used in each course in the programme are described below. The individual course descriptions state which work methods each course employs. Practical training is described in a separate chapter; see below.

Web-based work and teaching methods

Several forms of digital learning resources are used in the programme, such as digital textbooks, digital lectures, video clips, podcasts, tests, learning pathways and assignments. These resources can be used to prepare for teaching sessions, during seminars using the flipped classroom method, and as part of self-study. This form of teaching requires the students to meet prepared for the scheduled teaching sessions. Interaction can also take place digitally, in the form of Skype meetings, webinars etc.

Self-study and student cooperation/group work

Learning requires a high degree of own activity and self-study, including both individual work and cooperation with fellow students. Through activities such as exchanging ideas, presentations, discussions, writing assignments and problem-based assignments, students will be stimulated to learn by communicating knowledge and experience, expressing their own opinions and, together, reflecting on their own attitudes, actions and understanding of the field. Students are encouraged to take initiative to schedule and actively participate in study groups to promote learning.

Lectures

Lectures are primarily used to introduce new subject matter, provide an overview and highlight main elements and links within different topics, and also to communicate relevant issues.

Seminars

Seminars emphasise dialogue and discussion between the subject teacher(s) and students in order to stimulate the student's academic development. Verbal presentations by students and discussions are emphasised.

In connection with the master's thesis, seminars are held where the master's theses are presented and discussed. The students receive feedback from their fellow students and teachers, which enables them to learn from each other. Research-related issues, methods and academic supervision are among the topics discussed in the seminars. Seminars can also take place on digital collaboration platforms.

Written assignments and academic supervision

Through written assignments and the master's thesis, students will formulate research questions for assignments and work on them over time, either individually or in cooperation with other students. They will learn theory and develop skills in using and referencing sources, analysis, discussion and written and oral communication. The primary purpose of this is to develop their ability to reflect critically, see elements in context and develop a deeper understanding of a subject.

Developing academic writing skills is a key aspect of all parts of the programme. Supervision is an important component of the work on the master's thesis. The supervision is intended to ensure that the project complies with research ethics principles and help students to formulate the research question and ensure quality in the collection and analysis of data.

All courses in Design in Complexity are project based in which workshop learning is emphasized. Workshop learning may be arranged in the various labs (physical and virtual) and workshops at OsloMet. However, all teaching methods involve learning in real life contexts by for example field studies, in accordance with research, industry, and public sector which describe complex settings. Project/problem based learning involves a further development of verbal and visual communication as a facet of reflection, exploration, cooperation, adjustment and alterations of methods. There will be lectures, exercises with individual and group supervision, coursework requirements (compulsory assignments), group projects, contact with the business community (including guest lectures) and self-study to mention some of the most common working methods.

There will be lectures, exercises with individual and group supervision, coursework requirements (compulsory assignments) and group projects.

During the second semester, students will be required to complete practical training. This training has a value of 20 ECTS credits and is designed to give students real work experience in private business or the public sector. Students will acquire knowledge of relevant organisational models, decision-making mechanisms and gain experience of the methods used in the organisation. The goal is that students will be able to further develop their skills in the product design environment.

Individual cooperation agreements are entered into between the University and relevant businesses, municipalities and other public sector bodies regarding the practical organisation of specific student assignments which can be completed at the cooperation partner's location within a period of three months. The assignments will tend to involve research and development tasks at the cooperation partner's location. Practice in public sector may be that students assign to ongoing research projects within the institution. The student is assigned a contact person with the cooperation partner or the research project for the agreed time period. Guidance will come from both the staff working at the place of practical training as well as the University teaching staff.

As some businesses prefer that students complete a placement of between three to six months, the location of the practical training the study programme has been so positioned that students may extend their practical placement into the summer months. Placement that exceeds three months is a volunteer option, and is not a part of the formal study programme. Practice training more than three months do not account for more ECTS credits.

It is possible to exchange with foreign universities and university colleges in the second semester. We advise you to choose between one of the institutions with whom we have established agreements. It is possible to study abroad for one year as part of the master's education (60 ECTS credits).

Since the design-subject in itself focuses and evolves in an international context, the programme also includes activities with international lecturers, teachers, researchers and companies. Usually there are between a couple and ten international students in the class.

Coursework assignments

Coursework assignments are defined in the individual course descriptions and further requirements are described in the work and teaching plan for the course. Assignments are carried out individually and in groups.

Coursework assignments are given the assessment Approved/Not approved. In courses with coursework assignments, the students must receive an approved on the coursework assignments in order to be able to take examinations and be given a final assessment of the course.

Not approved coursework requirements

Legitimate absence based on e.g. a medical certificate, does not exempt students from meeting the coursework requirements. Students who due to illness or any other documented legitimate absence, who do not meet the coursework requirements within the appointed deadline, should as far as possible, be given a new attempt to meet the requirements, before the relevant examination.