Health and Social Care with Professional Practice

Health and social care with professional practice is a programme that combines the academic study of health and care systems with a structured focus on professional development and practice-based learning. The field encompasses the organisations, policies, professionals, and service users that together constitute the systems through which society responds to illness, disability, vulnerability, and need. Understanding those systems critically, and being able to engage with them as a reflective practitioner, is what this kind of programme is designed to develop.

At Birkbeck College, which has a distinctive tradition of delivering university education to mature and working students, this three-year full-time programme is likely to attract students who already have some experience of health or social care settings and want to develop both their theoretical understanding and their professional standing. You will study the policy frameworks governing health and social care in the UK, the sociology and psychology of health and illness, approaches to safeguarding and risk, the organisation of care services, and the evidence base for effective practice. The professional practice dimension encourages you to connect your academic learning to your own experience and developing professional identity.

Graduates of health and social care programmes pursue careers in health services management, social work, community care coordination, public health, voluntary sector organisations, commissioning, and care quality inspection. The professional practice emphasis of this particular programme is relevant for those already working in the sector who wish to progress into leadership or management roles. Further study in social work, public health, nursing, or management is open to graduates who wish to qualify professionally or move into research and policy.