INTRODUCTION TO CASE BASED LIFE COURSE MEDICINE - 2021/2

Module code: PASM001

Module Overview

Students will receive a basic introduction to learning clinical medicine, with and individual student needs assessment, and induction to the University and its student support services. They will then start the case based learning section of Year 1, undertaking the first four cases.

Module provider

School of Health Sciences

Module Leader

DOULTON Jia (Health Sci.)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Overall student workload

Lecture Hours: 320

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

A student has to complete module 1 before being able to sit the relevant section of the SBA paper at the end of the first semester.

Module content


  • Introduction to the Physician Associate programme and to Surrey University (including introduction to student support systems at Surrey), an overview of the course, initial needs assessment of new PA students, and introductions to professionalism, ethics and law, therapeutics and pharmacology and the clinical method

  • Courses on Manual Handling, Basic Life Support and Child Protection.

  • First three cases of the sequence of 18 cases in Year 1: Childhood development, Common childhood complaints, Teenage and Adolescence, with musculoskeletal injury.

  • Students will learn:



Professional Values

Public Health and Epidemiology

Ethical and legal issues

Basic sciences relating to the cases in the module

Communication and development of interpersonal skills

The Clinical Method – taking focussed histories and performing clinical examinations in the systems identified by the cases in the module

Start on the life-course case-based learning, from childhood to young adulthood

Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Assessment pattern

Assessment type Unit of assessment Weighting
Examination SINGLE BEST ANSWER EXAM 100
Coursework PBCP PORTFOLIO Pass/Fail

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate progression in their learning in three domains of learning:



  • Knowledge and Applied Knowledge of Clinical Medicine and the Basic Biosciences that underpin Clinical Medicine


  • Clinical Skills, in both core procedural skills, and consulting with patients


  • Professional Behaviour



Because this is an integrated course, many of the learning outcomes listed above are tested by more than one type of assessment method.

Knowledge and applied knowledge will be tested mainly by the SBA paper, Clinical skills by the

Clinical Skills log, the portfolio and the end of year OSCE examination, and Professional Behaviour by the SBA paper, the portfolio and the OSCE examination

Students will receive frequent formative assessment, with rapid feedback and remediation as needed. This will take place at the end of each section of the module, ie induction, and the end of each Case.

At the end of the module, students will need to show that they have attained the learning outcomes for Module 1.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:



  1. 50 questions from a 100 question Single Best Answer (SBA) paper at the end of Semester 1 (2 hour paper, 120 minutes). In order to pass Module 1, students will need to show a mark of 50% or more in the 50 questions relating to Module 1 content.


  2. Pass in Professional Behaviour and Clinical Practice (PBCP) portfolio to end of Case 3 (to include Tutor Report, Clinical Skills log, engagement with Coursework), successful completion of BLS course and manual handling course, Child Protection course levels 1 and 2). (This is a Pass/ Fail examination and needs to be passed in order to pass the module, but does not contribute to the module mark).



Formative assessment

Quizzes at the end of each Virtual Case, and formative SBA paper in Week 10 (30 questions, 45 minutes).

Coursework as determined by module content (case studies, short essays on topical related issues in health etc)

Clinical Skills log (formative section with feedback)

Reflective diaries and short essays based on clinical placements Patient feedback (simulated and real patients)

Feedback

Students will receive rapid feedback from their frequent formative tests, and from the eportfolio marking.

Module aims

  • Introduce students to learning clinical medicine, the medical method of consulting with patients, professional conduct as a clinician and the NHS structure and function
  • Introduce students to some essential clinical skills including a Basic Life Support Course and Manual Handling course
  • Start students on the clinical life-course case based learning, completing the first of three cases in an 18 case life-course sequence

Learning outcomes

Attributes Developed
1 Define and describe aspects of professional behaviour and probity, such as awareness of own limits of professional competence, importance of team working, and importance of good communication with patients and colleagues P
2 Describe the special aspects of the clinician-patient relationship P
3 Show understanding of the basic structures and function of the NHS, and its guiding principles K
4 Show understanding of the purpose and use of clinical guidelines in general, and where to find them. K
5 Describe and demonstrate effective communication and engagement with children and young people T
6 Describe the consulting skills required to consult with children and their carers, compared with adult patients.
7 Value the roles fulfilled by other members of the health and social care team T
8 Recognise when to take appropriate action in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child P
9 Undertake and complete Child Protection Courses at Level 1 during Induction period, and Level 2 during Cases 1 & 2. P
10 Show understanding of appropriate care for vulnerable patients (in this case, children and young adults), and of children's rights (including Gillick competency). C
11 Identify when to share information in a timely and accurate manner while respecting legislation on the control and confidentiality of information C
12 Discuss principles of promoting health and preventing disease, with particular reference to childhood immunisations K
13 Discuss principles of screening with reference to screening for congenital conditions, and how relevance of screening tests for a given condition are determined. K
14 Show understanding of effects of early life influences on health and illness in later life (the Barker Hypothesis). K
15 Be able to describe ‘normal' childhood development, and developmental milestones from birth to age 5 years. K
16 Describe the process of haemostasis and clotting K
17 Discuss the benefits and challenges in breast feeding versus bottle feeding C
18 Describe the presentation, diagnosis and management of a number of common childhood illnesses (including respiratory, GI, urinary and viral causes) and what ‘red flags' to look out for in the seriously ill child. K
19 Describe and demonstrate ability to take a patient-centred, focussed musculo- skeletal system history from a patient P
20 Demonstrate basic ability to use clinical information to put together a likely differential diagnosis P
21 Introduction to radiology and XRay interpretation.
22 Identify relevant psychological and social factors, integrating these perspectives with the biomedical evidence to elucidate current problems T
23 Perform a focussed musculo-skeletal consultation (history and examination), tailored to the needs of the patient. P
24 Show basic ability to interpret evidence/ findings from the consultation T
25 Discuss common drugs used in musculo-skeletal conditions and their side-effects/ interactions K
26 Show knowledge of the British National Formulary and how to use it. K
27 Show ability to use reflective thinking and writing to critically evaluate own practice to identify learning/ developmental needs and identify and utilise learning opportunities C
28 Show knowledge of other musculoskeletal presentations and their investigation and management in Section 1A of the matric specification (Appendix 1). K
29 Core Procedural Skills: Measure body temperature
30 Core Procedural Skills: Measure pulse rate
31 Core Procedural Skills: Draw up and give intra muscular, subcutaneous, and intra-dermal injections
32 Core Procedural Skills: Take a venous blood sample on a simulator, using appropriate tubes for required tests
33 Core Procedural Skills: Successful completion of manual handling course
34 Core Procedural Skills: Successful completion of Child Protection Course Level 2

Attributes Developed

C - Cognitive/analytical

K - Subject knowledge

T - Transferable skills

P - Professional/Practical skills

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Allow students an opportunity to learn about facilities and support structures available at the University of Surrey, and to settle into a new learning environment. They will be introduced to the principles of adult and reflective learning, an overview of the integrated nature of the course and its assessment methods. The building of knowledge and understanding will be achieved by an integrated learning strategy in Year 1, centred around small group Case Based Learning, following a sequence of 18 virtual cases, that between them deliver the ‘life course’ from cradle to grave. Concurrently, they will spend one day/ week on clinical placement in a carefully selected GP surgery, learning in the workplace and meeting patients who illustrate and add to their learning from the virtual cases.

In Year 2 a spiral curriculum design will ensure that learning from the cases and 1 day clinical placements in Year 1 is consolidated through a range of longer clinical placements in both Primary and Secondary Care, to include: Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Acute Medicine, Surgery, Care of the Elderly, Psychiatry and General Practice.

The learning and teaching methods include:



  • Small group case based learning in Year 1 – each case lasts for 2 weeks. (4.5 hours/ week x 7 week)


  • Lectures (3-4 hours/ week x 10 weeks)


  • Practicals in Year 1, to revise and refresh biosciences learning in physiology (1.5 hours/ week x 10 weeks)


  • Clinical Anatomy teaching based on models, clinical demonstrations, imaging and e learning. (1.5 hours/ week x 10 weeks)


  • Clinical Skills sessions in the Simulations Suite, to learn consultation skills as well as core procedural skills (3 hours/ week x 36 weeks)


  • Clinical Placements – in Year 1, these will be 1 day/ week in GP surgeries selected by HEKSS following GMC guidelines, where students will meet a variety of patients, including patients similar to their ‘virtual’ cases. (8 hours/ week x 7 weeks)


  • Independent study, guided by the small group case based learning (9 hours/ week x 10 weeks)


Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: PASM001

Other information

This module is only available to students undertaking the Physician Associate programme.

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.