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9. WHAT IS THE ‘PITCH’ OF THE COURSE?

The course is designed for professionals from a variety of backgrounds with an interest in genomics and precision medicine in cancer. You could be working in any stage of target discovery, drug development, translation into practice, or health policy. We expect the course will appeal to practicing clinicians and pharmacists at all stages of their career, as well as those working in academia and the pharmaceutical industry - from medical specialists to health economists, ethicists, bio-informaticians and biologists.

10. WHAT IS THE LEVEL OF COMMITMENT REQUIRED BY ME?

Typically, students are expected to commit around 15-20 hours per week on the course, though this can vary depending on the requirements of the tutorial during some weeks, and whether there are additional summative submissions to prepare.

11. HOW MUCH OF THE COURSE IS ONLINE? WILL I BE REQUIRED TO VISIT THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD IN THE UK?

The course is entirely online apart from a compulsory week-long residential school in Oxford, in March of year 2.

The lectures are delivered online via our virtual learning environment, Canvas, and will be a mixture of pre-recorded mini-lectures, written content and external reading. Regular tutorials for each module will be hosted as live online tutorials via Zoom Conference Software.

The residential week is a requirement of the course and you must attend Oxford for the duration of the residential week (usually scheduled towards the end of March). You will also sit the examination component of the course during this time. Course fees include an allowance up to £1000 (Overseas students) or £200 (Home/EU students) towards travel to Oxford. The cost of your accommodation and most of your meals for the week are also included in the course fee.

12. WHAT DATE DOES THE COURSE START?

The date will vary according to the Academic year, but a safe rule of thumb is the first week of October. We will provide you with access to pre-course work (module zero) at the start of September, followed by an induction week the first week of October when you will get a chance to meet the team and fellow students.

13. CAN I STUDY AN ONLINE COURSE FROM MY COUNTRY? DO I NEED TO HAVE INTERNET ACCESS?

Yes. You can study from anywhere in the world. You can study from home, work, on your commute, or wherever suits you. All you’ll need is internet access and some time to concentrate on your studies.

Additional software/computer requirements are:

    • One of the following browsers: Google Chrome, Internet explorer, Firefox, Safari (Chrome is recommended for Canvas)
    • PDF reader files
    • Microsoft Word, Excel & PowerPoint - as a student you can download free copies of these

We are aware that within some regions of the world the IT infrastructure will not allow access to certain types or sources of media. We make every effort to ensure our course content are accessible to students around the world so that all students are able to join us.  

14. HOW DO I ACCESS MY COURSE MATERIALS AND WHAT IS THE VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT?

The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is the online platform where you will be able to access all the course materials. The VLE we use at Oxford is called Canvas. You will be able to have access to this in September (once you have fully enrolled with the University)

15. DO I NEED ACCESS TO PARTICIPANTS FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE DISSERTATION?

No. Dissertations may be based on data analysis, literature review, a small primary research project or pilot for a larger piece of research, or extended essay (for example, on ethics or clinical trial design in precision medicine).

16. WILL I CARRY OUT A LABORATORY BASED RESEARCH PROJECT?

There is an opportunity to do this, should you wish to, as part of the course requirement to submit a dissertation. There will be a limited number of laboratory projects based in Oxford available. It is expected that these projects will require a full-time block of study (12 weeks) to accommodate the requirements of laboratory-based research. A small number of bursaries will be available to assist with the cost of travel to Oxford and accommodation. Alternatively, students may complete a desk-based project.