Overview
Diagnostic ultrasound is a rapidly developing area within musculoskeletal medicine with a number of allied health and medical professions utilising musculoskeletal ultrasound in their clinical practice
Whether working within the NHS, private practice or elite sports, if you'd like to add the skills of diagnostic ultrasound assessment to your already established musculoskeletal assessment and treatment skills, the Musculoskeletal Ultrasound PgCert is the course for you.
Equally, if you're a radiologist or sonographer who wishes to expand their knowledge and skills of musculoskeletal scanning, this course provides the ideal training and support to help you achieve your goal.
You’ll be taught by full-time clinicians working in the NHS and private sectors, in both point-of-care musculoskeletal clinics and radiology sonography roles. You’ll also benefit from guest lecturers who have expertise in a range of specialist areas including medical physicists, radiographers, consultant musculoskeletal radiologists and consultant rheumatologists. This offers you an exciting combination of clinical expertise, bringing together the different clinical domains where musculoskeletal ultrasound is used. You'll not only learn the core skill of musculoskeletal ultrasound image generation, interpretation, and reporting but there's also a strong emphasis on clinical relevance, clinical reasoning, and you'll learn the impact this can have on patient care.
At Brunel, we understand the challenges of fitting study around work and family life. This is why we also offer the modules from this programme as a CPD (Continuing Professional Development), so you can choose to study one module and return to complete the other module to achieve the full PgCert at a later date. Find out more and to apply.
This course is accredited by the Consortium for the Accreditation of Sonographic Education (CASE), however your work-based learning experience must be carried out in the UK or Republic of Ireland in order to gain this accreditation. This provides you with comprehensive training combined with workplace learning to help you become a musculoskeletal sonographer.
This course has also been endorsed by The British Medical Ultrasound Society (BMUS) and provides CPD credits in accordance with the Royal College of Radiologists.
This programme has been developed in partnership with The Ultrasound Site Ltd, who are established market leaders in musculoskeletal ultrasound training.
This MSK ultrasound PG Cert programme meets the training requirements of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
This MSK ultrasound PG Cert programme also meets the training requirements of the Royal College of Radiologists
Musculoskeletal Work-Based Learning can be found here
Got a question about this course? Check out our FAQs page.
Course dates
| 2024/25 | 2025/26 | |
| The Fundamentals of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound | 7th 8th November (campus) | 10 (online), 19, 20, 21 Sept 2025 (campus) |
| 3rd December (campus) | 8, 9 Nov 2025 (campus) | |
| 2 Dec 2025 campus) | ||
| Integrating Musculoskeletal Ultrasound into Practice | 23rd and 24th January (campus) | 17, 18 Jan 2026 (campus) |
| 23rd and 24th March (campus) | 21, 22 Mar 2026 (campus) |
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Course content
This programme comprises of two different modules. The PgCert modules are positioned within the M level postgraduate physiotherapy programme, emphasising the focus on clinical integration of this unique and dynamic imaging modality. On successful completion of both modules, you'll graduate with a PgCert in musculoskeletal ultrasound.
The 'Integrating Musculoskeletal Ultrasound into Practice' module also includes a work-based learning experience and assessment. Before commencing the experience, you'll be required to arrange a clinical mentor.
Compulsory
- The Fundamentals of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound
This module aims to develop the practical skill of performing a diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound examination for the peripheral MSK system.
Core foundation topics such as professional issues, quality assurance and science and technology including physics, knobology, image optimisation will be addressed in taught lectures and through supporting online material
- Integrating Musculoskeletal Ultrasound into Practice
This module aims to develop students ability to recognise pathology on imaging, report it accurately but also develop an understanding of the evidence base surrounding the impact that those sonographic findings have upon a patient pathways.
Considering normal ageing changes and determining relevance of imaging findings. A significant focus of the module will be clinical mentorship, but taught contact days to refine skills and develop an understanding of tissue appearances will be provided. Group based working, online resources and learning materials will further supplement this.
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Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Read more about the structure of postgraduate degrees at Brunel
Careers and your future
On successful completion of this course, you'll be able to demonstrate a competency-based award in musculoskeletal ultrasound to employers. This will enable you to work autonomously as a musculoskeletal sonographer in a number of different clinical settings.
Our Musculoskeletal Ultrasound PgCert programme will equip you with the skills needed to work within focused sonography roles in radiology settings. You’ll also be able to incorporate these skills within your current clinical practice. This could open up a new career path alongside your established clinical work.
You could also continue on to further study. Completing this course means you could progress onto the PgDip or MSc of our Advanced Clinical Practice named specialist pathway in Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation.
Watch this video to hear first-hand from our musculoskeletal ultrasound students and how this course is helping them in their field of work.
UK entry requirements
2025/6 entry
- A UK 2:2 honours degree, or equivalent internationally recognised qualification in Health Care related subject that is registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC), General Medical Council (GMC) or CORU (Regulating Health and Social Care Professionals). After you apply email the Admissions Office with your HCPC, GMC or CORU registration number. We need this to assess your application.
- It is mandatory for applicants to complete this form in full as part of their application. Once complete, please upload this to your My Applications portal
EU and International entry requirements
If you require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK, you must prove knowledge of the English language so that we can issue you a Certificate of Acceptance for Study (CAS). To do this, you will need an IELTS for UKVI or Trinity SELT test pass gained from a test centre approved by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and on the Secure English Language Testing (SELT) list. This must have been taken and passed within two years from the date the CAS is made.
English language requirements
- IELTS: 7 (min 6.5 in all areas)
- Pearson: 64 (59 in all subscores)
- BrunELT: 68% (63% in all areas)
- TOEFL: 98 (min 23 in all areas)
You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.
Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our Brunel Language Centre.
Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.
Fees and funding
2025/26 entry
UK
£4,040 part-time
International
£8,265 part-time
More information on any additional course-related costs.
Fees quoted are per year and are subject to an annual increase.
See our fees and funding page for full details of postgraduate scholarships available to Brunel applicants.
Scholarships and bursaries
Teaching and learning
Your course will be delivered using a variety of methods that have been chosen to optimise your learning of clinical theories and skills. These have been designed to maximise the level of interaction and engagement with your tutors and fellow students.
All modules will continue to teach sonography skills in-person on-campus. This'll be supported by the teaching of theoretical knowledge through interactive online learning.
Our interactive online delivery
We'll provide interactive online study packages that you can engage with at any time that suits you. These comprise of videos of your tutors introducing and explaining subjects that are linked with study materials and workbooks.
There'll be scheduled live interactive online seminars, where you'll work with your tutor and a small group of fellow students to learn clinical theories and skills. Each seminar will provide opportunities to discuss topics and ask questions.
Each module will provide you with a wide range of online study materials to support your learning, including case studies, workbooks, clinical skills videos, discussion forums.
You'll be required to attend campus to take part in seminars and practical skills training.
The schedule of teaching and assessment has been developed to maximise your enjoyment and support during the programme. Through the provision of campus-based teaching, we'll provide an engaging and stimulating programme that helps you to maximise your learning and professional development.
Access to a laptop or desktop PC is required for joining online activities, completing coursework and digital exams, and a minimum specification can be found here.
We have computers available across campus for your use and laptop loan schemes to support you through your studies. You can find out more here.
Our academics are specialists in musculoskeletal ultrasound with extensive clinical experience. All of our team remain in clinical practice and currently work in hospitals and other clinical settings, so they'll be teaching you up-to-date scientific knowledge and musculoskeletal ultrasound skills.
Our lecturers are also active in research and often contribute to the development of professional guidelines, so you know you’re being taught by practicing clinicians with a high profile in the sector.
Our teaching approach is diverse and you’ll benefit from lectures, tutorials, practical sessions (small groups), study guides and our computer-based learning packages.
Studying your postgraduate degree with us, means you'll be taught the most up-to-date clinical methods in a fast-moving field. Our team will teach you cutting-edge research through practical experience.
Should you need any non-academic support during your time at Brunel, the Student Support and Welfare Team are here to help.
Assessment and feedback
During the course you'll be assessed in a variety of ways and you'll be assessed differently for each module.
The Fundamentals of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound module will be assessed via:
- completion of mandatory online lectures with multiple choice questions
- Practical Exam and VIVA
- physics multiple choice and short answer question paper.
Integrating Musculoskeletal Ultrasound into Practice will be assessed through:
- VIVA case study presentation
- logbook submission of 250 scans, including an audit of 100 supervised scans
- work-based learning assessment
- final assessment of work-based learning from supervisor.
As part of the final assessment for the ‘Integrating Musculoskeletal Ultrasound into Practice' module, you'll be required to perform a practical ultrasound scan examination on three different patients. This is assessed by your supervisor, as well as an independent assessor. You'll need to provide the details of up to three independent assessors for the final exam, one of which will be selected by the University. Both the supervisor and independent assessor are required to sign the relevant agreement prior to you starting this module.
Read our guide on how to avoid plagiarism in your assessments at Brunel.
