PM2MPAS1-Professional Skills for Healthcare B

Module Provider: Pharmacy
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:5
Terms in which taught: Autumn / Spring / Summer module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Placement opportunity: Micro placement
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Dr Sarah Greenwood
Email: s.l.greenwood@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module continues to develop from Professional Skills or Key Skills modules completed by Physician Associate and Medical Sciences Students in Year 1. The module develops skills essential for healthcare and medical practice and provides placement experience for students both in hospital and within simulated environments to provide a breadth of experiential learning opportunities. Students will learn with and from different health care professionals through a portfolio of inter professional education sessions. Students will continue to develop effective communication skills with a focus on written, listening and oral communication. Additional key skills that are developed during this module are clinical calculations and problem-solving. Reflective practice and independent learning skills will be developed, and students will complete their Personal and Academic Development (PAD) portfolio.

Aims:

This module aims to develop professional skills essential for all students with an aim to move into a health care profession including medical practice. 

Assessable learning outcomes:

Intended learning outcomes:

By the end of this module you will be able to:

• Apply and analyse core communication skills in simulated and clinical settings. 


• Solve clinical calculations accurately and safely.


• Demonstrate your knowledge of interprofessional working and explain how various healthcare professionals work together using a patient-centred approach.


• Investigate th e theory, clinical skills and clinical guidance relating to diagnosis, treatment and management of specific conditions relevant to medical practice.


• Generate a personal and academic development portfolio.


• Apply appropriate evidence-based material to solve problems.

Assessable learning outcomes:

The module will enable you to

1. Carry out clinical calculation s and interpret clinical and scientific data.


2. Know how to make simple medical decisions with an understanding of the roles of different members of the health care team and an appreciation of your own limitations.


3. Demonstrate effective communication skills with patients and health care professionals in a variety of scenarios using written and oral communication styles.


4. Exhibit professional behaviour in all educational, clinical and simulated clinica l environments.


5. Be able to reflect on experiential learning activities and develop actions to meet own learning needs.


6. Be able to use research skills and evaluate appropriate material to problem-solve.

Additional outcomes:

During the module, students will work as part of an interprofessional team in simulated hospital and community settings.

Outline content:

Patient-facing communication skills: students will learn using patient-centred case studies, discussion seminars and practice techniques using simulated scenarios and role play in preparation for clinical visits.

Interprofessional education sessions: Students will develop core decision-making skills and take part in an interprofessional learning events. Students will face simulated patient-facing learning scenarios in preparation for placements.

PBL Wor kshop sessions will explore various themes relevant to specific clinical conditions; students will use research and skills of enquiry to explore the following essential medical processes:

Approaches to history-taking

Investigations and decision-making

Diagnosis of common conditions relevant to specified themes

Awareness of red flags relevant to specified themes

Recognising your own limitations in knowledge and skills

Structured placements

Students will attend some short placements in health care settings and encounter practitioners interacting with patients.

Structured clinical placements in hospital will be provided for students to complete pre-planned tasks in a supportive environment, including taking simple histories from patients.

Numeracy and clinical calculations skills will be developed.

Generation of a personal and academic portfolio will develop throughout the module. Student portfolios must include formative reflections on placement experiences, and , one assessed procedural skill.

Preparatory classes for the multi-component professional skills assessments will be provided.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

A variety of teaching and learning methods are used, that include lectures, flipped-classroom, problem-based learning, workshops and tutorials, learning in simulated and real clinical settings and interprofessional education.

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures	20	15
Tutorials	5	5	2
Practicals classes and workshops	25	30
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)	5	5
Exam revision/preparation			15
Preparation for tutorials	5	5
Completion of formative assessment tasks	15
Revision and preparation		15
Group study tasks	8
Essay preparation	5	20
Total hours by term	88	95	17
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Report	50
Portfolio	50

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

1. Portfolio – 50%.  Student portfolios will be submitted. Contents must meet the minimum requirements as outlined in the assessment guidance provided at the start of the module


2. 50%. There will be six seperate stations, each examining specific areas relevant to the skills acquired during the module.

The Portfolio and MCPSA assessments each form the k-element to determine progression onto the Physician Associate programme.

Formative assessment methods:

Students will receive formative feedback on written and oral communication skills throughout the year.

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/qualitysupport/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

All students: an overall weighted average of 40% for the module.

Progression to Part 3 of the MPAS programme:

For progression to the Physician Associate Programme, students must meet the below criteria:

1) The MMI must be passed. The student must demonstrate competence at every station.  

2) The portfolio assessment must be passed. 

Reassessment arrangements:

Reassessment will be through resubmission/resit of the failed component in the August resit period.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1. Required text books A wide variety of text books is available from the University library.  Students are not expected to purchase additional texts for this module

2. Travel, accommodation and subsistence Students may need to travel to visit different healthcare settings within the local area.

Last updated: 29 September 2021