Our physician associate students require experience engaging in clinical audits or quality improvement projects (QIPs) to improve their employability. The aim of this UROP project is to undertake research to support the development of resources and clinical scenario that would allow students to carry out a QIP or audit within our Clinical Simulation Training Suite.
Department: Pharmacy
Supervised by: Professor Becky Green
Our physician associate students require experience engaging in practice led clinical audits or quality improvement projects (QIPs). These are normally based on specific needs within primary and secondary care establishments and are important for improving patient safety. They are designed to improve patient care by reviewing clinicians’ practices against guidelines and specific standards. For our students to gain this essential experience and essential skill, we need to develop a simulated clinical scenario for them to work through. In this project, a UROP student will research to support the creation of a training patient record database within our clinical simulation training suite using software that is used within a clinical environment. As part of a team, they will support in undertaking research to facilitate the development of a training event that guides students through the Audit/QIP process. This training will be designed to allow students to complete their own QIP or audit and report findings and make suggestions for improvements as part of the simulated clinical scenario. The UROP student will define and evaluate the scenarios used in the training. The training that results from this project is likely to be disseminated within pedagogic research journals and at conferences as an innovative approach to helping student groups gain essential research skills that enable them to confidently engage in clinical audits or QIPs in the workplace. This training will improve the employability of our graduates given that many physician associate employers ask for QIP/audit experience.
Tasks for the project: 1. Research appropriate topics and scenarios for clinical audits/QIPs. 2. Assess and adapt trainer patient record databases that can be used by students to collect data needed for audit/QIP training. 3. Provide the knowledge base to underpin development of student research skills in carrying out audits/QIPs through use of a simulated clinical environment (within the Clinical Simulation Training Suite). 4. Evaluate the results of simulated QIPs/audits to assess their suitability.
The UROP student will benefit from having an understanding of the needs of clinical audits/QIPs within healthcare. The UROP student should be confident editing and searching on databases and using Excel.
Students will develop research skills associated with improving patient safety within a clinical environment. They will develop IT skills (using databases and Excel). They will also develop skills in researching literature and other online resources to develop appropriate clinical scenarios.
On campus - the student will be based within a shared office with staff who teach on the physician associate programme.
Prop 6 weeks on a full time basis, but part time requests over a longer time period will be able to be considered.
Monday 10 June 2024 - Friday 19 July 2024
The deadline to apply for this project is 5pm on Friday 5th April 2024. To make an application, please go to the following link and complete the application form: https://forms.office.com/e/pMgea0dAHv. To find this project in the application form, please filter ‘school of project applying to’ and select School of Chemistry, Food & Pharmacy