PM1MPAS2-Professional Skills for Healthcare A

Module Provider: Pharmacy
Number of credits: 10 [5 ECTS credits]
Level:4
Terms in which taught: Autumn / Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Dr Lizzy Lander
Email: e.r.lander@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module will examine and address key questions for future healthcare professionals: what does it mean to work in healthcare? What skills will I need? How can I begin gaining and practising the skills I will need to work in healthcare? Through exploring roles in healthcare, defining and practising key skills that a healthcare professional needs in their career such as communication (listening, speaking and writing), reflection and numeracy, this module will provide the basis for your future studies and career.

Aims:

This module aims to enable you to begin developing some key professional skills that are essential for study and practice in healthcare roles.

This module provides a foundation for students to support their future studies and professional development. The module will enable students to gain insight into multidisciplinary team working and develop key professional skills, which are essential for practice in healthcare roles such as a Physician Associate, as well as the differing roles of members of the healthcare team. The module will develop students’ listening, oral and written communication skills in the context of university study and healthcare practice. Students will be provided with an opportunity to consider themselves in context as a healthcare professional and explore how patients’ backgrounds and values impact upon their healthcare experiences. Students will also develop some written reflective practice skills. Additional key skills acquired during this module are first aid, numeracy for clinical calculations and collaborative problem-solving.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of this module, students will be able to:

1. Describe the roles of members of the health care team and how they work together to provide optimal patient-centred care.


2. Demonstrate numeracy to a required standard and safely complete clinical calculations tasks.


3. Demonstrate effective written communication skills


4. Describe what it means to be a professional, and demonstrate professional behaviours in all clinical and educational settings.


5. Reflect on a variety of experiential learning activities in the context of personal and professional identity and explore next-step learning needs.

Additional outcomes:

During the module, students will:

• Work as part of an interprofessional team to solve problems.


• Develop effective listening and oral communication skills in a variety of settings.


• Develop skills in interpreting, proposing, analysing and reporting scientific research.


• Meet lecturers and current students involved in healthcare programmes at the University, to explore healthcare roles further and gain insights that inform personal career choices.


• Demonstrate basic first aid techniques and suggest appropriate responses to specified scenarios.

Outline content:

Interprofessional education sessions:

• Lectures, team-based learning and problem-solving group work to explore multidisciplinary teams in healthcare.


• Numeracy and clinical calculations lectures and workshops.


• First aid training (basic).

Discipline-specific education sessions:

• Lectures, workshops and case-based scenarios focussing on communication skills, team-working collaborative skills and problem-solving skills relevant to healthcare.


• Lectures, clinical workshops and case-based scenarios focussing on introducing the origin, biological theory, diagnosis, communication, management of selected common pathologies encountered in the clinic.


• Lecture(s) and or group discussions exploring personal identity in the context of healthcare.


• Discussion and small group sessions to introduce reflection as a skill for future healthcare professionals.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

A variety of teaching and learning methods are used, including lectures, workshops and small group discussion seminars. Problem-based learning in small groups will be used to guide reflection and there will be some interprofessional education and experiential learning in simulated/real clinical settings with guided observation tasks and group feedback.

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures	5	5
Seminars	5	5
Tutorials	5	5
Practicals classes and workshops	10	10
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)	3	5
Exam revision/preparation	10
Advance preparation for classes	5	5
Preparation for presentations	2
Completion of formative assessment tasks	5	5
Essay preparation		5
Reflection		5
Total hours by term	50	50	0
Total hours for module	100

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	70
Class test administered by School	30

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

A 1-hour in-class clinical calculations test (30%). Autumn term.

Students on the MPAS programme must achieve 70% in this assessment to be able to progress to Part 2 of the MPAS programme

Reflective writing coursework (70%) Spring term.

Students will compete a written account that demonstrates effective personal reflection on their learning relating to their role as a future healthcare professional

Formative assessment methods:

Students will take formative numeracy and calculations test(s) at the start and during the autumn term

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

Students will have the opportunity to engage with formative feedback on their reflective writing prior to submission of their summative reflection.

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: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/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:

An overall module mark of 40%.

Students must also pass their numeracy and clinical calculations in-class test with a pass mark of 70% for progression to Part 2 of the MPAS programme.

Students must achieve 40% or more in their reflective writing coursework to progress to Part 2 of the MPAS programme.

Reassessment arrangements:

Reassessment of coursework will be by resubmission of coursework or submission of equivalent pieces of work, as appropriate.  Reassessment of departmentally and university administered examinations will be by written examination, as appropriate.

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) Specialist equipment or materials: 

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: 

4) Printing and binding: 

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification: 

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence: 

Last updated: 30 March 2023