Menopause & Andropause
Confident, current, extended-scope practice across the menopause transition and male hypogonadism — with safe, individualised prescribing at its core.
Reviewed and kept current
Last editorial review: 6 June 2026 · Next scheduled refresh: 1 September 2026.
Midlife hormonal health, done properly
Menopause care has moved decisively into primary care, and demand for safe, confident hormone prescribing has never been higher. This CAS equips GPs, prescribing pharmacists and advanced clinical practitioners to assess and manage the menopause transition across its full symptom range — and, in parallel, to recognise and manage male hypogonadism (often called andropause) on the same evidence-led, benefit–risk footing.
It is built on the 2024 update to NICE NG231 and the guidance of the British Menopause Society,2 the International Menopause Society and RCOG, with the male strand anchored to the Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline on testosterone therapy.3 Throughout, the emphasis is individualised, shared decision-making — the right preparation, route and dose for the person in front of you.
Mrs B, 52 — 14 months amenorrhoeic, troublesome vasomotor symptoms, low mood, a prior provoked DVT. Decision point: is HRT appropriate, and if so which route and preparation minimises her thrombotic risk while controlling symptoms? The kind of nuanced, everyday decision this programme builds confidence in.
Management follows the stage
Recognising where a woman sits across the reproductive-ageing transition — and that men experience a slower, parallel decline — is the foundation of safe, individualised care.
From regular cycles to late postmenopause — with the management focus that each stage calls for.
By the end of the CAS, you will be able to
Eight modules across four strands
One module per week (Weeks 1–8), each a five-path living lesson plus a live workshop and a confidence-rated knowledge check. Weeks 9–10 are integration and assessment.
Foundations
The transition · diagnosis
Prescribe
HRT · routes · benefit–risk
Symptoms
Domains · special situations
Men & lead
Hypogonadism · service design
Module 1 · Foundations & the menopause transition
You will be able to: identify perimenopause and menopause clinically, use staging language, and counsel on what to expect. Aligned to: NICE NG23, BMS.
Module 2 · HRT — preparations, routes & benefit–risk
Choose estrogen ± progestogen regimens; transdermal vs oral and VTE risk; micronised progesterone; the timing-of-initiation question; contraindications and the breast-risk conversation. Aligned to: NICE NG23, BMS, IMS.
Module 3 · Symptom domains
Vasomotor symptoms; genitourinary syndrome of menopause and vaginal estrogen; mood and cognition; musculoskeletal and sexual health, including testosterone for low sexual desire in women. Aligned to: NICE NG23, BMS.
Module 4 · Special situations
Premature ovarian insufficiency; surgical and medical menopause; menopause after cancer; contraception in perimenopause; when to refer. Aligned to: NICE NG23, BMS, RCOG.
Module 5 · Non-hormonal & lifestyle care
CBT, SSRIs/SNRIs and newer non-hormonal agents; bone and cardiovascular risk; lifestyle levers — for those who decline or cannot take HRT. Aligned to: NICE NG23, BMS.
Module 6 · Male hypogonadism (andropause)
Diagnose on symptoms plus consistently low morning testosterone; exclude secondary causes; initiate and monitor therapy safely (haematocrit, PSA, cardiovascular considerations). Aligned to: Endocrine Society, BSSM.
Module 7 · Integration & shared decisions
Run the consultation; handle uncertainty and media-driven concerns; document shared decisions; structured review and de-prescribing. Aligned to: NICE NG23, BMS.
Module 8 · Leadership, quality & service governance
Design a menopause / midlife-health service; audit and quality improvement; prescribing governance; health economics; mentorship. This strand scaffolds your capstone. Aligned to: NHS England multi-professional framework, NICE.
The Acumen Mastery Loop
Every lesson is built as a cycle that moves knowledge into durable, examinable competence — then keeps it current.
Encode
Five-path living lesson.
Retrieve
Low-stakes recall.
Space
Boosters at widening intervals.
Calibrate
Confidence + feedback.
Master
Re-test to proficiency.
Refresh
Kept current.
Built for the extended-scope primary-care team
GPs, prescribing pharmacists and advanced clinical practitioners who want structured, current, assessed expertise in menopause and midlife men's health. The baseline is pitched at Level 7; an optional Professor Mode stretch reaches the doctoral-tier frontier for those who want it.
The estrogen "timing hypothesis" — that the cardiovascular effect of HRT depends on the interval between menopause and initiation — illustrates how a single landmark cohort (the WHI) reshaped a generation of practice, and how re-analysis by age and time-since-menopause materially changed the benefit–risk conversation. In men, the TRAVERSE trial's cardiovascular-safety findings refined, without overturning, the cautious diagnose-then-treat posture of the Endocrine Society guideline. Professor Mode surfaces exactly this kind of evidence-appraisal reasoning — as enrichment, never as a hurdle to pass.
Assessed at Level 7; distinction reaches to Level 8
Three elements, completed across Weeks 9–10. The pass standard sits at Level 7 — the optional Professor-Mode material earns distinction, and is never a hurdle to pass.
A balanced blueprint: applied knowledge, a workplace capstone, and a defended presentation.
Your capstone is a workplace asset. Choose a quality-improvement plan, a new menopause/midlife-health clinic design, a critical appraisal, or an aligned complex case series — built for your own setting.
A credential that doesn't quietly go out of date
Menopause guidance and the hormone-therapy evidence base move quickly. Your award keeps pace.
Every lesson, reference and self-assessment item is current with the latest NICE NG23 and BMS positions.
When guidance moves while you are studying, the affected material is reviewed and refreshed, under the Director's clinical sign-off.
The certificate states the period over which its content is warranted current.
A short Currency Update micro-lesson with a brief self-assessment re-dates your award's currency — indefinitely.
Reviewed and kept current
Beyond a weekend course
Short courses teach the basics. A CAS proves capability — safely, and with something to show for it.
The six-block quality framework
A Bologna-aligned scheme governs every programme, end to end.
1 · Curriculum
Mapped to cornerstone guidelines and the relevant professional frameworks.
2 · Assessment
Blueprinted to the learning outcomes; standards held at the award's level.
3 · Faculty
Director-level clinical sign-off on every module and item before it goes live.
4 · Risk governance
An auditable trail; nothing publishes ungated; currency actively maintained.
5 · Student feedback
Structured feedback loops feed programme enhancement each cycle.
6 · Programme monitoring
Ongoing monitoring → enhancement, reviewed on a quarterly cadence.
Awarding & alignment. Awarded by New Vision University (FHEQ Level 7 · 20 UK credits / 10 ECTS); delivered by MD Acumen Ltd. Curriculum-aligned with NICE NG23, the British Menopause Society, the International Menopause Society, RCOG, the Endocrine Society and the NHS England multi-professional framework. A CAS is an academic award — not a UK degree, GMC registration or specialist registration.
"Curriculum-aligned with" describes explicit content mapping to a body's published guidelines. This page never claims endorsement that has not been confirmed in writing.
Evidence base
The cornerstone guidance the curriculum is mapped to. Editions current at the last editorial review; links open the issuing body.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Menopause: identification and management (NG23). Updated 2024; amended 2026. nice.org.uk/guidance/ng23
- British Menopause Society. Tools for clinicians and consensus statements. BMS. thebms.org.uk
- Bhasin S, et al. Testosterone Therapy in Men With Hypogonadism: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2018;103(5):1715–44. academic.oup.com
- International Menopause Society. Recommendations on women's midlife health and menopause hormone therapy. IMS. imsociety.org
Advance your menopause & midlife-health practice
Join the next cohort, or talk to us about a cohort licence for your team or training hub.
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