PM2PS2: Professional Skills 2

Module code: PM2PS2

Module provider: Pharmacy; School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy

Credits: 40

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1 / 2

Module convenor: Mrs Donna Baker-Lacey, email: d.a.baker-lacey@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Professor Becky Green, email: rebecca.green@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s): This module is only available to Associated Pharmacy students. (Open)BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE PM1PS1 (Compulsory)

Co-requisite module(s): IN THE SAME YEAR AS TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE PM2SPA (Compulsory)

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: Micro placement

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 12 September 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module continues to develop from Professional Skills A in Year 1 and is available only to Physician Associate students. The module develops skills essential for healthcare and medical practice and provides you with placement experience both in clinical and within simulated environments to provide you with a breadth of experiential learning opportunities. You will learn with and from different health care professionals through a portfolio of inter professional education sessions.

You 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. The module also enables you to integrate your science learning into practice scenarios using concepts in anatomy and physiology and your related science knowledge.

The module will also continue to develop your reflective practice and independent learning skills, and you will complete your Personal and Academic Development (PAD) portfolio.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate effective communication with patients and health care professionals in a variety of different clinical and simulated scenarios using written and oral communication. 
2. Make simple medical decisions with an understanding of the roles of different members of the health care team and have an appreciation of your own limitations. 
3. Exhibit professional behaviour in all educational, clinical and simulated clinical environments. 
4. Reflect on experiential learning and interprofessional educational activities and develop actions to meet own learning needs. 
5. Apply evidence-based material to solve problems. 
6. Carry out clinical calculations and interpret clinical and scientific data accurately and safely. 

Module content

This module covers the following topics: 

• Developing patient-centred communication skills 
• Interprofessional-education sessions – decision making skills within an interdisciplinary team 
• Problem based workshop sessions exploring various themes relevant to clinical conditions and developing research and enquiry skills 
• Developing skills covering approaches to history taking 
• With a focus on specific themes/health conditions, developing skills in diagnosis, awareness of red flags and recognising own limitations in knowledge and skills 
• Structured placements in real and simulated clinical settings 
• Developing clinical calculations, numeracy and data handling/interpretation skills 
• Reflective skills development and generation of a personal and academic portfolio.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

You will be taught using a variety of teaching and learning methods that include lectures, flipped-classroom, problem-based learning, case-based learning, workshops, learning in simulated and real clinical settings and via inter-professional education.

Study hours

At least 120 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve all of the following to pass this module:

1. A mark of 50% in the Portfolio
2. A mark of 50% in the Multi Component Professional Skills Assessment (MCPSA). Four out of five stations must be passed. There will be five separate stations, each examining specific areas relevant to the skills acquired during the module.  Four out of five MCPSA stations must be passed for progression. The pass mark is 70% for the calculations station and 50% for all other stations.
3. A mark of 40% in the written coursework
4. An overall module mark of 40%

The Portfolio and MCPSA assessments each form the competence (k-element) to determine progression through the Physician Associate programme.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

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

Assessments with numerical marks

• 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 three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/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.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Students receive formative feedback on written and oral communication skills throughout year. Students receive individual feedback after mock MCPSA.

Students have the opportunity to review their portfolio contents before submission.

Reassessment

Additional costs