Introduction to Implementation Science Masterclass (Online) Non-credit

On this course, you'll examine key challenges and strategies in translating research into practice. 

Engaging with case studies in masterclasses from diverse sectors, you'll develop the skills to assess and enhance implementation efforts. 

By studying this short course, you'll develop the ability to: 

• Critically evaluate key theories, models, and frameworks in implementation science and apply them appropriately to different public health or healthcare contexts.
• Identify and analyse the barriers and facilitators to implementing evidence-based interventions, using implementation frameworks to inform potential solutions.
• Design a comprehensive implementation strategy for an evidence-based intervention, justifying the chosen approach based on relevant theories and empirical evidence.
• Construct an evaluation plan to measure the effectiveness, adoption, and sustainability of an implementation strategy, using appropriate implementation science metrics and methodologies.
• Develop strategies to engage key stakeholders, including practitioners, policymakers, and community members, in the design and execution of an implementation project.
• Synthesise knowledge from expert-led masterclasses to develop insights into real-world applications of implementation science theories, models, and practices.
• Reflect on and critically discuss the common challenges in implementation science, including contextual factors, scalability, and sustainability, and propose strategies to address these challenges.

How you'll learn

• You'll access approximately 28 hours of audiovisual content and masterclasses across two units. 
• You'll learn through eight expert-led masterclasses from researchers and practitioners at the University of Birmingham and beyond alongside structured reading. 

How you're assessed

• The course includes formative quizzes at the end of each unit.
• There is also a summative 30 minute oral viva (summative).

Unit One

This unit introduces you to the foundational concepts of implementation science, including the distinction between theories, models, and frameworks. 

You'll learn about the most widely used tools in the field: the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), Normalisation Process Theory (NPT), RE-AIM, and EPIS. You'll look at applied examples of these tools from real implementation projects and through expert-led masterclasses from leading researchers. 

Topics covered in Unit One include:

• Organisational factors in implementation
• The application of implementation science to AI-enabled services in the NHS
• Implementation science in surgical contexts.

Unit Two

The second unit looks at research methods and the applied challenges of studying and evaluating implementation in complex systems. 

Topics covered in Unit Two include:

• Quantitative, qualitative, realist, and mixed methods approaches.
• How different methodological choices shape if, how, and why implementation succeeds or fails.
• Hybrid Type II effectiveness-implementation trials, process evaluation, and causal approaches to implementation research. 
• A dedicated focus on de-implementation - the planned reduction or cessation of low-value practices - one of the most important and least well-understood challenges in the field.

The course is designed for healthcare professionals, public health practitioners, PhD students, researchers, commissioners, and policy professionals who wish to develop a principled and evidence-informed approach to understanding and improving how change happens in health systems.

No prior knowledge of implementation science is assumed, though participants are expected to engage critically with academic literature and would benefit from professional experience that can serve as the basis for reflective learning.

This course is available free of charge.

You can pay a fee for optional add-ons:

• £10 fee to receive a course completion certificate. 
• £100 to receive feedback and a mark on your final course submission (30 minute oral viva).
• £110 fee to receive feedback and a mark on your final course submission (30 minute oral viva) and receive the certificate. 

To apply for this course, please register via our online shop. 

You can select the free option or one of the paid options, depending on whether you want the certificate and/or feedback. 

If you have any queries, please email cmhcpdenquiries@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

The courses have minimum required attendance levels and the University reserves the right to cancel or postpone the course if the minimum required number of delegates has not been achieved for the course.

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