Biomedical Science BSc (Hons) at University of Northampton

Biomedical scientists are at the forefront of our modern healthcare system working in partnership with medical practitioners and health care professionals, to perform many different roles in the NHS, as well as in academia and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors. As a biomedical scientist you are likely to be involved in the diagnosis of disease, supporting the work of clinical departments, and developing and evaluating the next generation of treatments that could improve patient outcomes.  A biomedical science degree also provides the foundation for graduate entry programmes, including medicine, dentistry or the more recently established Physician Associate (PA) programme for clinical practice within the NHS.

Whatever your ambitions, we’re here to help you to achieve them. We’ll support you to identify the skills you’re learning during your course, find your strengths and secure practical experience so that when it comes to applying for jobs or further study you’ll feel confident in standing out from the crowd. We’ve created the Northampton Employment Promise because we are so confident that if you focus on your studies and complete one of our awards you’ll be highly employable by the time you graduate. Putting you in a great position to secure employment or continue your studies.

Course Highlights

• International scholarships available.
• Guaranteed paid internship with the Northampton Employment Promise.

Course Details

The BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science degree is designed to equip you with a fundamental understanding of how science underpins the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. The degree reflects both the theoretical knowledge and applied clinical laboratory skills required to be a biomedical scientist.

Biomedical scientists are at the forefront of our modern healthcare system working in partnership with medical practitioners and health care professionals, to perform many different roles in the NHS, as well as in academia and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.

As a biomedical scientist you are likely to be involved in the diagnosis of disease, supporting the work of clinical departments, and developing and evaluating the next generation of treatments that could improve patient outcomes.  A biomedical science degree also provides the foundation for graduate entry programmes, including medicine, dentistry or the more recently established Physician Associate (PA) programme for clinical practice within the NHS.

Methods of Learning

Teaching and learning will involve lectures, small group tutorials, e-learning, independent study and a final year research project.  Teaching will be research led, involving research active staff with subject specific expertise who will also act as academic advisors and provide additional pastoral support.

Our purpose-built £330 million brand new campus completed in September 2018 alongside the Teaching Excellent Framework (TEF) gold award will enable us to deliver innovative teaching using state of the art facilities, including new molecular biology laboratories with facilities for tissue culture, DNA extraction, PCR and other modern lab techniques.

Students will be provided with a lap coat and core textbooks will be available in the library.

The department is located close to Northampton General Hospital and enjoys good links with the NHS and commercial partners providing opportunities for undregraduate and postgraduate students for collaborative research.

Linking human health and disease to underlying biology, is the holy grail of biomedical science. Clearly, new developments in regenerative medicine, genome editing, molecular medicine and the 100,00 genomes project for example, are not only transforming our understanding of biology but also having an impact on society and in understanding complex disease, personality and physical traits.

The course will closely follow these developments and build up knowledge of complex systems at the level of the individual cell, tissues and the whole organism through the core disciplines of basic medical sciences, including cell biology, physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology and pharmacology.  Through levels 5 and 6 specialist modules in cancer biology, medical genetics and bioinformatics will be offered alongside generic courses on statistics and research methods. The final year of the degree will offer an opportunity to undertake a laboratory based research project.