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MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice - Learning Outcomes

Educational aims

This qualification is designed to enable you to gain the knowledge and generic skills required by the Multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice (NHS, 2018).

This will be achieved by including the capabilities associated with each of the four pillars of clinical practice - leadership and management, research and education - across the three modules of:

  • Non-medical independent and supplementary Prescribing (K803)
  • Clinical Foundations of Advanced Clinical Practice (K804)
  • Professional Inquiry of Advanced Clinical Practice (K805)

On completion, it will provide you with the relevant postgraduate education required for a health professional to work as advanced clinical practitioners, characterised by a high degree of autonomy and complex decision making.

Learning will equip you with the clinical and professional skills required to manage clinic care in partnership with individuals, families and carers. At present, the advanced clinical practice role is not recognised as a registered qualification by any of the UK professional statutory bodies/regulators. If you undertake Non-medical independent and supplementary Prescribing (K803) as part of the MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice (F85) you will be required to register your successful completion of the module with your statutory body/regulator in order to prescribe.

This qualification will enable you to develop the knowledge and skills required to analyse and synthesise complex problems across a range of clinical settings, enabling innovative solutions to enhance people’s experience and improve outcomes.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

When you have completed this degree, you will have knowledge and understanding of:

  • the complex clinical requirements of the Advanced Clinical Practitioner role. This includes the causes, symptoms and impact of physical and mental health conditions within your scope of practice.
  • the implications and applications of epidemiology, demographic, social, political and professional trends, that can highlight gaps in evidence, initiate and/or lead evidenced-based activity that aims to enhance clinical practice.
  • the importance of evidence-based practice and technologies to underpin and inform decisions about care and treatment.
  • the levels of professional responsibility and autonomy, and the limits of own competence and professional scope of practice. This includes ethical and legal considerations, local/national policies, and procedures within your scope of practice, and regulatory codes of conduct relevant to your advanced clinical practice.

Cognitive skills

When you have completed this degree, you will have developed:

  • an ability to evaluate own practice through critical reflection. You will be able to critically assess and address your own learning needs through ongoing professional development to continually develop practice.
  • an ability to critically appraise and synthesise current research, evidence-based practice, audit, health initiatives, health economics, clinical guidelines, frameworks and guidelines for prescribing and policies related to healthcare relative to your scope of practice.
  • the resilience and determination to manage complex situations and develop effective relationships within teams to encourage productive working.

Practical and/or professional skills

When you have completed this degree, you will be able to:

  • use a range of physical, psychological and population-based assessment methods used within your area of practice and the application of pathophysiology to underpin assessment and diagnosis.
  • demonstrate expertise in clinical reasoning appropriate to pertinent episodes of care – simple and complex, predictable and unpredictable.
  • provide professional leadership and supervision in complex and unpredictable situations, working across boundaries, instilling confidence and clinical credibility in others.
  • adopt a range of evidenced based strategies to manage risk in clinical practice, ensuring the safety of individuals and families.

Key skills

When you have completed this degree, you will be able to:

  • accurately and effectively communicate complex information to patients, carers or patients’ representatives and other professionals.
  • work in partnership with individuals, families and carers to support health literacy. You will empower individuals to participate in their care and to maximise their health and wellbeing through principles of health promotion and prevention.
  • identify the need to change by generating practice innovations, acting as a role model, and leading new practice and service solutions in response to feedback and service need.
  • work collaboratively to identify and meet learning and development needs of the wider team.

Teaching, learning and assessment methods

Tuition across the modules that make up the MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice (F85) includes face to face training, online lectures and seminars utilising video-conferencing facilities, and blended learning utilising online forums, wikis and interactive activities.

Students enter the course with different levels of clinical knowledge and you will be supported throughout, depending on your own learning needs. You will develop the skills and knowledge, seen as fundamental, to work safely and effectively as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in a variety of clinical settings.

Assessment will include continuous assessment via tutor-marked assignments (TMAs), examinable assessment via an e-portfolio, examination and face-to-face presentation. The assessment strategy will include reflections on clinical and professional practice, case studies, and evidencing clinical competencies, all with appropriate feedback at each assessment point.
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