Healthcare Science

Securing healthcare science for the future

Healthcare science consists of over 40 areas of applied science for diagnosis and treatment; these specialties come under four areas:

• Life Sciences - Healthcare science staff working in Life Sciences play a major role in the delivery of healthcare and the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Life Sciences is divided into three areas: genetics, pathology and reproductive science.
• Physical Sciences - Healthcare Science staff working in the Physical Sciences develop methods to see what is happening in the body and devise new methods to treat diseases. This includes physical sciences, clinical informatics, clinical scientific computing, and imaging.
• Physiological Science - Healthcare science staff in the Physiological Sciences investigate the functioning of organ/body systems to diagnose abnormalities and find ways to restore function and/or reduce disabling consequences to the patient. Examples include cardiac science (monitoring and supporting patients with heart conditions, from providing post-pacemaker care to using ultrasound to monitor heart health) and respiratory science (involved in all aspects of respiratory function assessment including patient testing, interpretation of test results, maintenance of equipment, development and evaluation of new methods, research and quality assurance).
• Informatics - Informatics is an area of healthcare science responsible for developing and improving methods for acquiring, storing, organising and analysing biological data that supports the delivery of patient care. Informatics in healthcare science is broken down into three unique areas: Bioinformatics Genomics, Bioinformatics Health Informatics and Bioinformatics Physical Science.

The University of Essex has a strong background in delivering healthcare education and working with NHS partners. The Centre for Healthcare Science builds on the excellent work already underway in the East of England to develop new courses in other areas of healthcare science, encourage school students to consider healthcare roles through outreach activities, and support current NHS staff by offering additional Continuing Professional Development courses in new areas.