ADVANCED MEDICINES MANAGEMENT - 2025/6

Module Overview

This module aims to enable healthcare practitioners working in specialist and/or advanced roles to significantly expand their knowledge of pharmacology, related clinical sciences and the practice of medicines optimisation.

Module provider

School of Health Sciences

Module Leader

DRUMMOND Corinne (Health Sci.)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

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

Module Availability

Year long

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

Students should be registered with the NMC or HCPC and currently employed within a practice area working with service users. Students should have been qualified as a health care professional for at least 3 years and have been in a post for at least one year.

Module content

Indicative content reflects the report of the Department of Health & Social Care (2021) and the guidance of the NMC (2006) NICE (2009, 2012) and the RPS (2013 & 2016) on medicines optimisation

Module content includes:

• Consultation, decision-making and therapy, including onward referral where appropriate


• Models of consultation - accurate assessment, history taking, communication and consultation with patients/clients and their parents/carers


• Concepts of working diagnosis or best formulation; confirmation of diagnosis/differential diagnosis - further examination, investigation, referral for diagnosis


• Medicines review of prescribed and other medication as part of every consultation


• Anatomy and physiology as applied to prescribing practice. Impact of physiological state on drug responses and safety, for example, in elderly people, neonates, children and young people, pregnant or breast feeding women.


• Clinical pharmacology, including the effects of co-morbidity, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics and pharmacotherapeutics, including those related to controlled drugs


• Sources of knowledge of drugs to be prescribed, eg. Where to find details of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion, including adverse drug reactions (ADR) interactions and therapeutic responses.


• Patient/client compliance, concordance and drug response


• Evidence-based practice and clinical governance in relation to prescribing rationale, adherence to and deviation from national and local guidelines, protocols, policies, decision support systems and formulae.


• Reflective practice, critical appraisal skills, scrutinising data.


• Medicines Management in the public health context including policies regarding the use of antibiotics and vaccines; inappropriate use of medication including misuse, under- and over-use and inappropriate prescribing, over- and under-prescribing.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate a depth and breadth of knowledge that they can apply to their professional role and participation in medicines management at an advanced level.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• A 3000 word critical analysis of a patient/client case study demonstrating advanced decision making in medicines management in their clinical practice area.

As per the NMC Code (2018) & HCPC Standards (2016, updated with effect from 2024) note that any evidence of unsafe practice or breach of confidentiality will result in an automatic refer for the module.

Formative Assessment and Feedback:

Draft essay plans will be discussed with module tutors and verbal feedback given to develop the writing.

Written feedback will be given by module tutors after receipt of drafts prior to submission of the summative essays.

Module aims

• Enable students to demonstrate knowledge, skills and understanding required to underpin medicines optimisation.
• Specifically in the domains of pharmaceutical knowledge; principles of drug dosage, side effects, reactions and interactions; communication and concordance; philosophy and psychology of medicines management.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Help students meet the learning outcomes of the module, therefore the learning and teaching methods include a variety of strategies including the following:

• Enquiry-based learning, to develop critical thinking in e.g. legal, ethical and professional issues


• Lectures by specialist professionals


• Case studies/scenarios, to show the application of knowledge of drugs to clinical practice


• Student-led seminars, to show the application of knowledge of drugs to clinical practice


• Self-directed workbooks for anatomy and physiology and specialist pharmacology

Online resources linked to students’ practice area(s)

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: HCRM033

Other information

The school of Health Sciences is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:

Digital capabilities: Students will develop their digital capabilities by the use of online resources to aid sound, current and evidenced based medicines management decisions and a good understanding of key technologies and digital tools which can be used in the context of their professional role.
 

Employability: Students are all registered healthcare professionals and will be developing skills and knowledge that will help them develop in their current role and will enhance their future employability. Students will develop a critically inquiring attitude and professional curiosity regarding their role in medicines management and how they network with other professionals for best patient outcomes.
 

Global and cultural capabilities: Module content incorporates perspectives and practices from a range of cultures; through conversations around culture, faith, religion and socio-economic factors, students are encouraged to diversify their knowledge and reflect on different experiences. This will support the development of cultural competence to support the diverse range of communities engaging with services. Students will reflect on cultural practices and the impact of judgements in relation to this on prescribing practices and medicines management.

Sustainability- Students will develop their skills in appropriate medicines management to support the sustainability of future populations and the environment, by learning how inappropriate prescribing and medicines use can increase waste in healthcare and lead to disease-resistance.
 

Resourcefulness and Resilience: Students are guided to develop the ability to reflect, evaluate, adapt, and respond flexibly to the information they gather as part of medicines management consultations throughout the module and in the practice environment. This pillar is fundamental to the development of safe and effective advanced practice in the management of medicines. Case-based learning & scenario examples are used to develop students’ ability to respond confidently within their professional field to service users and carers needs and manage service user expectations of medicines and their part in health management.

Programmes this module appears in

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 2025/6 academic year.