MASTER (MSc) Degree program in Osteopathy

A program in association with Malta ICOM Educational Limited (MIE). MIE is an accredited Higher Education Institution in Malta (Recognized by the European ENQA). More details here.

The Master of Osteopathy (MSc Ost) is accredited by the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority as a Level 7 programme in the European Qualification Framework (EQF).

Introduction to the program

This program offers a 90 ECTS taught Master of Osteopathy (MSc Ost) accredited by the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA) that is also been recognized by the European ENQA. Please find more details about the program on the MFHEA website here.

The programme aims to deliver a high-quality learning experience, enabling students to develop a profile characterized by advanced knowledge, skills, and competencies aligned with the European Standard on Osteopathic Healthcare Provision. Graduates will possess a well-developed competence profile, allowing them to practice as autonomous, primary contact practitioners within specific specialist areas. These graduates will become skillful osteopaths, providing excellent person-centered care and possessing strong academic abilities. This foundation will enable them to advance both their practice and the osteopathic profession as a whole. Consequently, graduates will contribute to and promote an evidence-based culture within the profession, equipped with the capabilities to support its ongoing development and growth.

The programme offers osteopaths relevant, evidence-based learning opportunities that facilitate their progression towards clinical expertise. This MSc programme maintains a broad foundation, allowing students to study a range of relevant areas. It is structured to enable students to tailor their studies to their specific interests by selecting a specialist area of clinical practice. To achieve the required advanced clinical practice competence, students must critically reflect on their osteopathic professional practice and document their journeys and development. This reflective practice will allow students to integrate their evolving knowledge, skills, and competencies in a self-reflective, critical, and evidence-informed manner.

Specifically, the aims of the program are:

• To provide a stimulating teaching and learning environment that promotes a culture of research and critically, interprofessional collaboration, self-managed and life-long learning;
• To provide a programme of study that enable students to achieve the required competence profile to practice autonomously as osteopaths who can effectively operate within the context of multidisciplinary and evidence-based person-centred care;
• To enable students to critically explore osteopathic practice in various patient categories and clinical intervention areas to inform future possible career pathways towards specialisation.

A key aim of the programme is to prepare students for advanced clinical practice roles in osteopathy.

Program structure

The educational philosophy of the programme is to produce high quality graduates who are not only skilful osteopaths but also possess sound academic and practice management skills, which will enable them to develop their own practice and the profession as a whole. This educational philosophy takes into account the individual learning needs of the student, the complexity of learning required to become a competent osteopath, the professional body framework of competence and the level descriptors from the Maltese Quality Framework (MQF).

The teaching and learning philosophy is devised to encourage the student to achieve a high level of self-criticality and consequently become critically aware of their own competence profile. This is significant in the development of independent learning skills. In addition, the approach emphasises the assimilation, organisation, application and synthesis of knowledge, skills and competencies to achieve the competence profile expected for autonomous, advanced clinical practice.

The MSc programme use a wide range of learning and teaching methods, including lectures, practical sessions, tutorials, seminars and presentations, workshop sessions, clinical education, problem based learning and independent study to meet the requirements of specific modules. There are three compulsory and three electives modules.

On graduation, students will be able to:

Knowledge

• Critically evaluate current research and in the fields of osteopathy and health and, where appropriate, propose new hypotheses that have the potential to inform their own research, their own practice and that of others.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to research or advanced scholarship in osteopathy as a means of designing, implementing, evaluating research projects and disseminating their outcomes to a range of audiences.

Skills

• Provide safe, ethical and critically informed evidence-based osteopathic care underpinned by contemporary osteopathic and healthcare person-centred care models, adequate consideration of the patient’s health and well-being, and a judicious selection and application of safe and effective treatment and management strategies
• Communicate and work effectively and appropriately with patients, carers, colleagues and other members of the healthcare team.
• Critically evaluate and monitor their professional performance in order to identify and plan for continuing professional development needs and undertake their own independent learning.

Competence

• Critically evaluate the role of osteopathic care in various specialist areas and patient populations. Through self-reflection, critical thinking and a commitment to lifelong learning and professional development critically appraise future career pathways in osteopathy.
• To develop and promote a commitment to life-long learning, research, and evidence-based practice, continued professional development.
• Demonstrate highly developed clinical reasoning and decision-making competencies required to operate in the context of clinical complexity and unpredictability that characterise autonomous osteopathic practice.

Entry requirements

(a)       A relevant MQF/EQF Level 6 degree in osteopathy at second class or above from an approved Osteopathic Educational Institution or university or

(b)      An MQF/EQF Level 6 degree in osteopathy or another relevant healthcare discipline plus a portfolio evidencing relevant work experience for at least 3 years, or

(c)       A qualification deemed by Malta ICOM Educational to be equivalent to the qualifications listed in (a) and (b) above. Equivalent qualifications include Diploma in Osteopathy (DO) from an Osteopathic Educational Institution.

(d)      Interested individuals who have completed an osteopathic education, in accordance with the national standards set by the official professional association, may be considered for admission. An individual examination and/or a potential postgraduate course, organised by Malta ICOM Educational, may be required as part of the admission process.

EU and Overseas Applicants must, where applicable, be registered as practising clinicians with the relevant regulatory authority or association and must, irrespective of the former, hold appropriate professional indemnity insurance.

Modules

Semesters 1 and 2

Semester 3

Timetable and scheduling

The MSc Osteopathy is an 18-month program designed to provide advanced education in osteopathy.

• Semesters 1 and 2:
• Classroom teaching will occur in three blocks of two weeks each (Monday – Saturday).
• Block 1 and Block 2: Held in the Netherlands (February and June).
• Block 3: Held in Malta (October).

• Semester 3:
• Dedicated to the Master’s Dissertation.

In addition to classroom-based learning, students will have access to several pre-recorded theoretical lectures released in preparation for the teaching blocks. Students will also participate in one-to-one and small group online tutorials with the program Leader for guidance on their clinical practice and professional development, as well as with their dissertation supervisors.

Please find the full timetable below:

Time Table Master in Osteopathy | NL 2025

Clinical Education Overview

Clinical education will take place in the students’ own clinical practice, combining tutor-supported and student-independent practice. This approach allows students to integrate their developing knowledge, skills, and competencies in a self-reflective, critical, and evidence-informed manner.

Students are required to complete a minimum of 360 hours of journaled and self-critically appraised clinical education during the MSc Osteopathy program. This process is supported by scheduled online tutorials with the program leader, providing continuous guidance and support throughout their clinical practice and professional development journey.

At the end of Semester 2 in December, students will undertake a Clinical Competence Assessment in the Netherlands. This assessment evaluates advanced clinical skills and forms part of the summative assessment of clinical practice proficiency.

The Clinical Competence and Practice Assessments test students’ ability to synthesize knowledge and skills for safe and effective patient management. Assessment methods require students to demonstrate their osteopathic skills. During the assessment, two examiners will evaluate the students’ performance while managing a simulated new patient consultation.

Finance:

The invoicing will be done from the by Malta ICOM Educational Limited

• Payments will direcltlSingle Payment: €8,600 (€400,00 discount)
• Installment Payments: €9,000 (three times €3000,00)
• Trip to Malta (flight, hotel and other expenses are NOT included)
• Lunch is NOT included
• Coffee, Thee and snacks for coffee breaks are included