Curriculum and courses

To help kick-start your career after graduation, career profiles are an essential part of our master’s. There are mandatory courses and an internship connected to each profile. You can choose from the following career profiles:

Research

This profile provides students with an extensive background in academic research within the field of biomedical sciences. In general, students will find employment in scientific departments of universities, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies or institutions where fundamental, pioneering, or translational research is performed. Others find work as advisors in a wide variety of public sectors and commercial organisations, or with private consultants, and regional environmental health services.

Communication

This profile teaches about the problems that may be encountered when communicating about biomedical sciences, and how such problems may be resolved. Subjects include communication theory and how to apply this knowledge in a variety of ways. A wide variety of organisations employ communication advisors with a background in biomedical sciences, such as research organisations, government (responsible for public campaigns), municipal health services (responsible for local and regional health education), funding organisations, patients' organisations, science museums, and broadcasting companies.

Consultancy

This profile is aimed at preparing students for a role as a scientific consultant or advisor. Scientific consultants combine ample knowledge of their scientific discipline with insight into the interaction between science, technology, and society. Additionally, they are sensitive to the views and stakes of people involved, and have the analytical and communicative skills to handle these. You will learn to think of consultancy as both a matter of content and as a matter of managing human interaction. You can help find sustainable and widely endorsed solutions to issues that come along with scientific and technological developments.

Entrepeneurship

This profile is directed at students who aim to acquire a better understanding of what it takes to translate an idea or business concept into a product, where product relates to a novel drug as much as a service. This includes students who already have the ambition to become entrepreneurs or engage in their own business activity as well as students who wish to explore this path or wish to better understand what entrepreneurial thinking in the broader sense is about. Topics covered are building a business from different business models to sketching of a business plan, knowledge protection and partnering, leadership, teambuilding and communication and finally questions around sustainability. Overall, this profile will help you understand the context in which companies operate and thereby complement the biomedical science aspects of the master with a business perspective.

BMS Courses

There are four courses (23EC) associated with your chosen specialisation and two courses for the chosen career profile (12EC). They are part of a broad range of over 48 different biomedical courses that we offer. Students can also choose to follow courses from other faculties or universities as electives.

Internships

Your programme will contain two internships, of which one is a research internship in the field of your specialisation. The second internship depends on your profile. This implies that for a student with a research profile, both internships will involve scientific research. Each student must perform two internships, one research internship in the field of the chosen specialisation. This master’s programme has a strong link with research departments connected to the Radboud university medical center offering many internship opportunities. Depending on your specialisation you can focus on research at a molecular/cellular, individual (clinical practice and patient care) or population/societal level. Of course it is also possible to do a research internship outside the Radboud University. Many students choose to perform an internship outside of the Netherlands. 

The second internship is in the field of the chosen career profile. This implies that for a student with a research profile, both internships will involve scientific research. Students who choose one of the other three profiles broaden their perspective towards career opportunities outside of research. These students do their second internship related to their profile choice: communication, consultancy or entrepreneurship.

Remaining study load

Besides the requirements for the specialisation and career profile, you can choose from elective courses or spend extra time on one of your internships. This allows you to tailor your programme to your personal interests and ambitions. The BMS programme offers a broad range of elective courses. You can also choose additional courses in other programmes at Radboud University or at other universities in the Netherlands or abroad.

Personal and professional development

Both study years start with a starting week. In the first year this will give you time settle in before the start of the first specialisation course and get accustomed to the BMS master’s. You will look into what the master’s has to offer and start with your personal and professional development (PPD) trajectory.

The PPD line spans the full two years of the programme and runs alongside courses and internships. Each student is assigned a specialisation coordinator who acts as a coach and supports the student in formulating and achieving personal and professional development goals. The specialisation coordinator supports the student during the entire programme and advises the student regarding their choices for courses, electives, internships, and future prospects. With the support of the specialisation coordinator, students reflect on their learning process and career aspirations.

PPD themes include:

• Self-reflection
• Personal leadership and wellbeing
• Academic and responsible conduct
• Career orientation
• (Digital) information literacy
• Collaboration