Available qualifications & duration
- CPD course (four months)
- PG Certificate (one year part-time)
- PG Diploma (two years part-time)
- MSc (three years part-time)
All PG Certificate, PG Diploma and MSc students are registered for the maximum study duration of eight years, to allow flexible study options.
Scheme of study
The course is divided into units of study, each lasting 12 weeks. Study in each unit is supported by online learning materials, and most units also have a compulsory face to face workshop.
Year One (Certificate)
- 2 compulsory units (Foundation Skills and Foundation Knowledge)
- 2 further optional units
- Successful completion of the OSCE (observed structured clinical examination) assessment
Year Two (Diploma)
Year Three (MSc)
- Additional units as agreed with the programme lead
Units
Compulsory units
- Foundation Knowledge, 15 CATS credits (24 weeks)
Topics: management of interactions and co-pathologies, clinical lab investigations, antimicrobials and infections, use of medicines in paediatric patients, evidence-based practice, patient safety and reporting
- Foundation Skills 15 CATS credits (completed over the first year)
Topics: patient-centred care skills: effective communication and consultation, decision making, clinical skills for diagnosis and management, structured medication review, systematic medicines reconciliation and optimisation, clinical IT systems, leadership, motivational interviewing, inter-professional and intra-professional working.
Optional units
These may be combined with the core units for the Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma, or taken separately as stand-alone CPD units.
- Providing Better Care for the Older Person, 15 CATS credits (12 weeks)
- Minor Ailments, 15 credits (12 weeks)
- Managing Polypharmacy and Multimorbidity, 15 CATS credits (12 weeks)
- Managing Long Term Conditions 1, 15 CATS credits (12 weeks)
- Managing Long Term Conditions 2, 15 CATS credits (12 weeks)
- Managing Long Term Conditions 3, 15 CATS credits (12 weeks)
- Public Health, 15 CATS credits (12 weeks)
- Quality Improvement Project, 15 CATS credits (12 weeks)