Master Advanced Clinical Practice - Máster Avanzado en Clínica Práctica

This three-year part-time programme will support you to gain the capabilities required for development as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner.

A Bachelors Honours degree with minimum 2:2 in any subject, or equivalent.

You must have been registered with your respective statutory regulator of health and care professions (i.e. NMC, HCPC, GPhC), for a minimum of 3 years and provide proof of current registration.

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide evidence that you can understand English to a satisfactory level. English language requirements for this course are normally IELTS (academic) 6.5 or above with minimum 6.0 in writing and 6.5 in speaking, listening, and reading. PSRB registration will normally be accepted as evidence for the English language requirement if the PSRB requirements were at or above the University requirements for postgraduate study.

Advanced Clinical Practitioners are experienced clinicians with expertise in their scope of practice, managing defined episodes of clinical care independently, from beginning to end
Build on your current registrant level of practice through academic and workplace-based learning, to attain advanced clinical practice competencies and capabilities, in-line with nationally recognised advanced level criteria (NHS England)

Extend your critical thinking, analytical and reflective skills, and integrate new, as well as enhance existing clinical practice skills, knowledge and competence, within your practice setting

Gain the skills to support the provision of high-quality healthcare through a more autonomous, independent practice role within the multidisciplinary healthcare team

The MSc Advanced Clinical Practice is open to registered nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and pharmacists. There is a route available for both prescribers and non-prescribers.

YEAR 1

Advanced Practice: Contextual Issues and Professional Development:The aim of this unit is to enable you to explore the contextual aspects surrounding the development of your advanced clinical practice role and provides an opportunity to analyse and debate recent developments relevant to your clinical practice.

History Taking and Physical Examination for Advancing Practice:This unit advances your skills, knowledge and competence, for you to be able to proficiently conduct safe and effective, evidence-based, holistic patient assessments. You will develop knowledge and skills to enable you to competently elicit comprehensive patient histories through a structured consultation process and using high level therapeutic communication and consultation skills.

Assessment, Critical Reasoning and Decision Making for Advancing Practice:This unit will enable you to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to identify problems, formulate differential diagnoses and develop action plans, in respect of your own patient caseload within the clinical practice setting. It will develop your critical thinking, clinical and diagnostic reasoning and decision-making skills, aimed at meeting patients’ health care needs and managing complex presentations and conditions. A prerequisite for undertaking this unit is successful completion of History Taking and Physical Examination for Advancing Practice.

YEAR 2

Optional units

Independent and Supplementary Prescribing: This unit is to prepare you to prescribe safely, appropriately, and competently. In doing so you will be required to evaluate the evidence underlining the practice of prescribing, critically reflect on your competency in respect of prescribing and evidence knowledge of the products you will prescribe. For NMC or HCPC registrants who are permitted to be independent and supplementary prescribers.

OR
Supplementary Prescribing: To prepare you to prescribe safely, appropriately, and competently. In doing so you will be required to evaluate the evidence underlining the practice of prescribing, critically reflect on your competency in respect of prescribing and evidence knowledge of the products you will prescribe. For HCPC registrants who are permitted to be supplementary prescribers.

OR
Evidencing Professional Learning 1 and Evidencing Professional Learning 2: All health professionals are required to continuously engage in professional development with a feature of this being whether you are able to identify and meet learning needs and apply the learning to practice. The professional development can be achieved either through work related courses or activities, attendance at conferences/masterclasses, courses outside the university, sessions within the university or self-study. The aim of this unit is to provide a structure through which the learning gained can be acknowledged and you can critically reflect on the impact of the learning on both you and your workplace.

Core units

Preparing for your Service Improvement Project: In this unit you will explore a range of relevant knowledge, skills, and attributes to enable the preparation of a Service Improvement Project (SIP).

YEAR 3

Core units

Service Improvement Project (SIP): The project embraces both traditional and non-traditional forms of intellectual inquiry and relevant and effective practical management. It demonstrates your autonomous and independent ability, within a complex professional context, to create knowledge which expands or redefines existing knowledge and/or develops new approaches to service improvement. A prerequisite for undertaking this unit is successful completion of Preparing for your Service Improvement Project.

Advanced Clinical Practice Portfolio (across years 1 – 3 of study): This final unit of the MSc represents a culmination of learning and professional development, through critical exploration, reflection and demonstration of knowledge, understanding and skills for the Advanced Clinical Practitioner role. This is enabled by parallel progression of the Advanced Clinical Practice portfolio, alongside all other units of the MSc culminating in production of your own personal portfolio of evidence of academic and professional development mapped against the four pillars of advanced practice.

After completing this course you will have met the nationally recognised advanced practice criteria and will be in a position to practice as an advanced clinical practitioner. Future career progression could include transitioning into consultant level practice. Alternatively, you could pursue a career as a clinical academic.

Industries you could work in include:

NHS (hospital and community)
Private and independent healthcare sector (nursing homes and private hospitals)
Education
Academic research.