INTEGRATED CASE-BASED MEDICINE 2 - 2023/4

Module code: PASM013

Module Overview

Students will be working through Cases 4-8 of the Case sequence that makes up Year 1, covering common respiratory, paediatric and ENT presentations of illness

Module provider

School of Health Sciences

Module Leader

FISHER James (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: 150

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

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

Module content

Indicative content includes:
Cases 4 ¿ 8 of the sequence of cases in Year 1.
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.
The Case-Based learning
Pharmacology and Therapeutics
The core procedural skills listed above

Assessment pattern

Assessment type Unit of assessment Weighting
Examination SINGLE BEST ANSWER EXAM 1HR 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 including 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.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:


  • 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 this Module , students will need to show a mark of 50% or more in the 50 questions relating to Module content.

  • Pass in Professional Behaviour and Clinical Practice (PBCP) portfolio work  (to include Tutor Report, Clinical Skills log, Team Assessment of Behaviour, Coursework). (This is a Pass/ Fail assessment and needs to be passed in order to pass the module, but does not contribute to the module mark)



Formative Assessment and Feedback

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 the module.


  • 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

  • Give students a basic introduction to clinical medicine as applied to the respiratory and ENT systems, and their underpinning basic sciences knowledge.
  • Common patient presentations in these systems will be learnt, with students learning how to perform focussed histories
    and focussed clinical examinations.
  • Basic investigations, differential diagnoses and initial clinical management (including therapeutics) of patients presenting
    with symptoms in these systems will be taught.
  • Core clinical procedures allied to these systems will be taught and practised
  • Students will be able to meet real patients with conditions related to these clinical systems and reflect on what they have
    learnt in their portfolio.

Learning outcomes

Attributes Developed
001 Describe the functional anatomy and physiology of the respiratory and ENT systems, and the pathophysiology and risk factors of common conditions affecting these systems. K
002 Perform a focussed respiratory system examination, tailored to the needs of the patient. P
003 Describe common infections of the upper and lower respiratory tract, and principles of antibiotic use for these infections. K
004 Demonstrate appropriate use of initial and follow- up investigations K
005 Formulate a differential diagnosis based on objective and subjective data, primarily in the 'virtual' cases, but increasingly with real patients seen in Primary Care C
006 Communicate effectively and appropriately with patients and carers T
007 Discuss common drugs used in respiratory and ENT conditions and their side-effects / interactions K
008 Show knowledge of the British National Formulary and how to use it when deciding how to treat the above clinical systems K
009 Maintain an awareness of national and local guidelines K
010 Describe techniques that assess community needs in relation to how services are provided K
011 Discuss public health issues related to the cases studied in this module. K
012 Demonstrate basic ability to use clinical information to put together a likely differential diagnosis and be able to justify it for chest pain, and differential diagnosis of shortness of breath C
013 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
014 Understand and value roles of other members of the health and social care team, especially the Primary Health Care Team P
015 Describe common imaging techniques and their appropriate use in diagnosing disease K
016 Take nose, throat and skin swabs P
017 Undertake respiratory function tests, including peak flow P
018 Explain to a patient how to use a Peak Flow Meter P
019 Explain to a patient how to use an inhaler P
020 Obtain an arterial blood gas sample on a simulator P
021 Describe and demonstrate ability to take a patient-centred, focussed paediatric , respiratory system and ENT histories from a patient P
022 Describe the principles of epidemiology as applied to chronic obstructive airways disease, the evidence base behind current clinical guidelines for these diseases and the National Institute for Clinical Evidence. K
023 Describe why occupational and social histories are important P
024 Understand why good clinician-patient relationships foster informed patient choice and help negotiating care decisions C
025 Identify and understand ethical and legal issues, in particular maintaining patient confidentiality, and obtaining informed consent P
026 Identify relevant psychological and social factors, integrating these perspectives with the biomedical evidence to elucidate current problems T
027 Discuss principles of promoting health and preventing disease, with particular reference to childhood immunisations K
028 Discuss principles of screening with reference to screening for congenital conditions, and how relevance of screening tests for a given condition are determined. K
029 Show understanding of effects of early life influences on health and illness in later life (the Barker Hypothesis). K
030 Be able to describe 'normal' childhood development, and developmental milestones from birth to age 5 years. K
031 Describe the process of haemostasis and clotting K
032 Discuss the benefits and challenges in breast feeding versus bottle feeding C
033 Describe the presentation, diagnosis and management of a number of common childhood illnesses (including respiratory, GI, urinary and viral causes) and what â¿¿red flags' to look out for in the seriously ill child. K

Attributes Developed

C - Cognitive/analytical

K - Subject knowledge

T - Transferable skills

P - Professional/Practical skills

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy:

The building of knowledge and understanding will be achieved by an integrated learning strategy.

In Year 1 this is centred around small group Case Based Learning, following a sequence of virtual cases. Concurrently, they will spend up to 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 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:

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 in GP surgeries selected by HEKSS following GMC guidelines, where students will meet a variety of patients, including patients similar to their virtual cases. 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: PASM013

Other information

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

Programmes this module appears in

Programme Semester Classification Qualifying conditions
Physician Associate Studies PGDip 1 Core A weighted aggregate of 50% overall and a pass on the pass/fail unit of assessment is required to pass the module

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 2023/4 academic year.