Healthcare Science

Healthcare science in rehabilitation engineering applies engineering principles, biomechanics, and clinical knowledge to the design and development of technologies that improve the lives of people with physical disabilities or impairments. From prosthetic limbs and wheelchair systems to assistive devices and rehabilitation equipment, rehabilitation engineering sits at the intersection of engineering innovation and healthcare need, concerned with creating tools that genuinely extend what people are able to do in their daily lives. At Swansea University, this three-year, full-time degree equips you with the technical and clinical knowledge to contribute to this life-changing field.

You will study engineering mechanics, biomechanics, materials science, and electronics alongside the clinical and physiological knowledge needed to understand the bodies and conditions that rehabilitation engineering addresses. The programme develops your ability to analyse functional problems, design technical solutions, and evaluate their performance in clinical and real-world settings. You will gain insight into the regulatory and ethical frameworks that govern medical device development, and into the collaborative working that characterises this interdisciplinary field, where engineers, clinicians, and patients must work together effectively to produce technology that genuinely helps.

Graduates of healthcare science in rehabilitation engineering find careers in the NHS, medical device companies, prosthetics and orthotics services, and research and development in the healthcare technology sector. The NHS employs healthcare scientists in rehabilitation engineering roles through its scientific training programmes, and the degree provides the academic foundation for those pathways. Many graduates also pursue postgraduate study or research in biomedical engineering, rehabilitation science, or related fields, contributing to the development of technologies that improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and health conditions.

This is a discipline where engineering expertise and a concern for human wellbeing come together in a particularly direct and meaningful way.