ProfDip in Clinical Leadership
€5,750
Develop the leadership skills you need to enhance your professional practice and empower you to tackle contemporary organisational needs.
Professional Diploma
9 months
Online - Part-time
30 ECTS
October 2026
About
Clinical expertise is fundamental to delivering excellent healthcare. As clinicians take on greater leadership responsibility, professional expertise needs to be complemented by the leadership and interpersonal capabilities to understand and manage yourself, influence others, navigate complexity and lead change – helping to shape organisational culture, support an engaged workforce and contribute to better outcomes for patients.
The ProfDip in Clinical Leadership from RCSI Graduate School of Healthcare Management takes you on a progressive development journey through leading self, leading others and leading change. Beginning with self-assessment against the ProfDip in Clinical Leadership Framework, you will explore your strengths and development priorities and build a deeper understanding of yourself as a clinical leader, your values, behaviours, communication, decision-making and impact on others.
Throughout the programme, you will develop and apply these capabilities in real time within your own organisation, using reflection, feedback, workplace experience and assessment to evidence your development. At the end of the programme, you will reassess your leadership behaviours to recognise your progress and identify your next development priorities.
Grounded in current evidence and informed by the real-world challenges facing healthcare organisations, the programme equips multidisciplinary health professionals with practical leadership capabilities that can be applied directly in practice. The programme is delivered part time over nine months through online learning and activities alongside live, interactive webinars, offering a collaborative and supported learning experience. Live webinars are two hours in duration, and are recorded.
This course is a Level 9 award on the Irish National Framework of Qualifications.
Build self-awareness and leadership confidence
Develop effective and inclusive team leadership
Lead innovative and sustainable change
Suitable for
This programme is suitable for clinicians, interdisciplinary health and social care professionals, healthcare managers and administrators, and others in the wider healthcare sector aiming to advance their leadership and management capabilities.
What you will learn
Develop self-awareness, confidence, emotional intelligence, critical thinking and communication skills to strengthen your effectiveness as a clinical leader.
Develop the skills to build, engage and lead high-performing, inclusive teams, navigate team dynamics and manage challenge and conflict effectively.
Develop the skills to design and lead evidence-informed, digitally enabled and sustainable improvement, mobilising people and navigating complexity to deliver meaningful change.
What our students say
Testimonial
"What I really liked about the course was the ability of the faculty to be professional and informal at the same time, I felt part of a team since day one, despite the virtual nature of the course."
"As a result of this programme, I feel more confident when taking up leadership or management roles within healthcare. I am better equipped to lead multidisciplinary team meetings and online clinical discussion groups."
"I particularly enjoyed the traditional learning in small groups where peers from different specialities would share leadership experience. This was made possible with the seamless virtual platform provided by RCSI."
"The flexibility was really important when I was working and had a young child. The skills, knowledge and language that I developed afforded me the additional lens and language to move things forward."
Faculty highlight
Biography
Dr Kristina Brown
Dr Brown’s research interests are restorative just cultures, psychological safety and clinical leadership in healthcare organisations, in which she actively researches and collaborates with healthcare organisations.
Find out more
Register your interest
Are you interested in learning more about the Professional Diploma in Clinical Leadership programme? Please register your interest for the 2026 intake below
Course information
On completion of this programme learners will:
- Develop knowledge and understanding of leadership theories, concepts and competencies in the contexts of the clinical leadership development, leading and managing others and leading change.
- Develop leadership theories, concepts and competencies in the context of the clinical leadership development, leading others and leading change through knowledge and understanding, critical analysis, critical evaluation and critical reflection.
- Develop clinical leadership ability through the application of self-leadership evaluation and development strategies, interpersonal and team effectiveness skills and change management skills.
- Apply clinical leadership competencies through a range of analytic tools, psychometric profiling and change frameworks to demonstrate leadership development, leading others and leading and influencing change within clinical settings.
- Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of clinical leadership competencies, effective team-based and leading and influencing change in clinical contexts.
- Critically apply in-depth knowledge, theory and understanding of the clinical leadership development, teams and change, demonstrating the ability to apply this learning in clinical leadership contexts.
- Identify barriers and challenges to clinical leadership development, leading others and leading and influencing change and develop practical strategies to manage these for successful outcomes.
- Critically apply their knowledge and understanding to develop a change initiative proposal to affect an area of change in a clinical context with digital and sustainable influences.
- Act with clinical leadership integrity, demonstrating effective leadership, collaboration and interpersonal skills across multidisciplinary teams and across clinical and non -clinical contexts.
- Apply personal effectiveness skills such as emotional intelligence, selfcare, communication and problem solving and critical reflecting.
- Develop the ability to synthesise, critique, evaluate and apply different leadership knowledge, skills, behaviours and competencies for the development of their leadership practice in clinical contexts.
| Module name | Module description |
|---|---|
|
The Clinical Leader: Leading and Managing Self (10 ECTS) |
This module develops the interpersonal capabilities needed to lead effectively in complex clinical environments. You will explore leadership identity and self-awareness, emotional intelligence, critical thinking and decision-making, resilience and sustainable leadership, and effective communication, applying your learning directly to your own leadership practice. |
|
Leading and Managing High Performing Teams (10 ECTS) |
This module develops your capability to build and lead high-performing teams, understand team dynamics and psychological safety, lead across professional and individual differences, and influence and engage others. You will also develop practical approaches to managing conflict, challenge, negotiation and difficult conversations while maintaining effective team relationships. |
|
Leading and Influencing Change for Efficient and High-Quality Care (10 ECTS) |
This module develops your capability to identify and prioritise opportunities for improvement using data and evidence, and to design innovative, digitally enabled and sustainable solutions. You will explore implementation planning, stakeholder engagement, governance, resources and risk; evaluate impact across patient, quality, workforce, operational, financial and sustainability outcomes; and develop the leadership skills to mobilise people, navigate resistance and sustain meaningful change. |
*ECTS: European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is a tool of the European Higher Education Area for making studies and courses more transparent. It helps students to move between countries and to have their academic qualifications and study periods abroad recognised (EC, 2020).
| Module | Description |
|---|---|
|
Orientation |
5-16 October 2026 |
|
Module 1: The Clinical Leader: Leading and Managing Self |
19 October-December 11 2026 |
|
Module 2: Leading and Managing High-Performing Teams |
4 January-5 March 2027 |
|
Module 3: Leading and Influencing Change for Efficient and High-Quality Care |
15 March-14 May 2027 |
Continuous assessment.
We are proud to be a recognised University of the National University of Ireland (NUI). All RCSI programmes are accredited by the NUI.
Recognition by Ministries and bodies in all jurisdictions must be determined by the individual applicants.
Recognition in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
There have been positive developments across the region in relation to the recognition of online programmes delivered by international universities.
In the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, several RCSI graduates have successfully obtained degree recognition from the relevant authorities. In addition, RCSI is listed as a recognised institution for online study by the State of Qatar and the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Recognition requirements and application processes vary by country. For further information, please register your interest and one of our student recruitment advisors will be in contact.
Admissions
To apply for the Professional Diploma in Clinical Leadership, you must:
- Hold a bachelor degree. (If you don’t hold a bachelor degree, see the recognition of prior learning pathway outlined below)
- Be working in the healthcare industry
- Meet the English language requirements (unless exempt): IELTS score of 6.5, Duolingo score of 115-120, or equivalent score on another standardised test (certified proof should be uploaded with your application; see below for exemptions).
If you do not meet the minimum academic requirements above, you may still be eligible to apply through recognition of prior learning (RPL). RPL is the assessment of knowledge, skills and competence previously acquired.
Learning occurs in many contexts which include work, involvement in social and community activities, or learning through life experience generally. RPL does not give credit for experience as such – rather, it considers the learning that was acquired as a result of the experience.
RPL may be used to gain:
- Admission to courses/programmes where a person may not have obtained the standard entry requirements.
- Exemptions from course modules which duplicate the learning outcomes an individual has already demonstrably acquired through prior learning.
Exemptions may apply for:
- Applicants who have completed their school or undergraduate studies (three or more years) through English in a country where English is the majority native language.
- Applicants who have completed their school or undergraduate studies (three or more years) in an English speaking institution in a country where English is not the majority native language and where an IELTS score of 5 or more was a requirement for admissions to the programme.
- Applicants who have been working in a country (three years or more) where English is the majority native language or for an employer where English language is the official language.
- Graduates of an RCSI Undergraduate, Masters or Professional Diploma programme in Dublin and Bahrain.
Please note: Certified proof must be uploaded as part of your application.
Fees: €5,750
| Year 1 | Date | Fee |
|---|---|---|
|
1st payment |
On application |
€2,000 |
|
2nd payment |
End of module 1 |
€2,000 |
|
3rd payment |
End of module 2 |
€1,750 |
Please note
- Fee includes all resources, access to our award-winning online learning portal and access to extensive RCSI-only databases.
- Fee includes an NUI fee.
- Fee is payable via the above schedule, where relevant.
- If you have outstanding fees you will not be entitled to receive your grades or be eligible to progress and or graduate (VLE and Library privileges will be withdrawn in these cases).
- RCSI accepts no obligation to refund any fee, or part thereof, in respect of a student who chooses to withdraw from a programme.
- If you choose to withdraw from a programme you are liable for full fees owed for the seat on that programme.
- All NUI parchments are issued in Latin; you will be required to pay an additional fee of €50 to NUI if you wish to have a parchment published in English.
- Fees are subject to review annually.
- If you are being sponsored or funded by your employer you should upload a funding confirmation letter in the document upload section on the application portal.
International Document Delivery
To ensure safe and timely delivery of graduation documents to international addresses, we use secure courier services. Graduates are required to cover courier service fees for document delivery to international addresses. Delivery fees vary based on region, and full details about costs are shared in advance of conferring.
How to apply
Applications for the Professional Diploma in Clinical Leadership are accepted on a rolling basis. We are now accepting applications for the October 2026 intake. Please begin your application by completing the form below.
Please ensure you attach the following supporting documents with your application:
- Clear copy of your valid passport.
- Copies of your academic transcripts/degree.
- Copy of your CV.
Already begun your application? Complete it via our application portal now.
Continue your application