PgC - Physiotherapy Musculoskeletal First Contact Practitioner: Practice Development

The programme will enhance your ability to complete a detailed assessment of undifferentiated and undiagnosed primary care presentations and provide you with the appropriate knowledge base to anticipate problems, thus enhancing your ability to manage patients accordingly.

As you develop within the programme you will gain the skills and expertise to critically analyse situations and clinical presentations, approaching the patient holistically in the primary care setting.

You will study this programme over 1 calendar year which equates to one module per semester in addition to a QPU which will run alongside the academic modules across the full programme.

You will be working in the Primary care setting throughout the programme whilst utilising the Qualificatory Practice Unit ‘work-based learning in primary care’ in conjunction with a suitable clinical mentor to develop your practical skills in consultation, examination, and patient management.

Course objectives 

• Develop skills that will allow you to practice as a confident and competent First Contact Practitioner
• Study content which is relevant to the world of work, emphasising problem-solving and the interaction of theory and practice. It will challenge you intellectually, promoting independence and confidence.
• Be involved in a stimulating and challenging academic and scholary environment for you to advance your academic and professional development, with the support of our encouraging team.
• Achieve a recognisable qualification to work as a First Contact Practitioner in primary care.
• Be able to apply for accreditation of prior learning (APL) into the MSc Advanced Clinical Practice. 40 credits from your first 2 modules have been mapped against the MSc ACP programme and can be considered for APL into this programme.

How you will learn

Learning and Teaching Methods will:

• Promote the development of inclusive practice and address a range of learner types
• Use learning technology to promote your learning and achievement, for example through the use of mobile technology, podcasts, webinars
• Provide active learning and social learning opportunities
• Provide appropriate engagement and facilitation models for distance, online and flexible learning students
• Foster aspiration and career readiness through work-based, experiential and inter-professional learning
• Be relevant to the needs of your workplace, emphasising problem-solving and the interaction of theory and practice
• Use research-informed teaching, drawing on health, social care and workplace knowledge and expertise

Scheduled learning and teaching encompasses a variety of approaches to learning and teaching across the framework. Strategies include online and/or class-based workshop activities, facilitated discussion and debate, tutorials, guided study and reading, work-based learning, and reflection on practice.

During the module you will complete assigned formative tasks which will support ECG and cardiac knowledge, completing asynchronous tasks designed to encourage learning and development of practice. Case study review and completion will be undertaken, which supports further study and preparation toward final examination.

The programme will enhance your ability to complete a detailed assessment of undifferentiated and undiagnosed primary care presentations and provide you with the appropriate knowledge base, enhancing your ability to manage patients.

This programme and the modules within it, support self-development whilst meeting the requirements of the capabilities, knowledge skills and attributes set out within Health Education England’s roadmap to First Contact Practitioner in Primary Care.

You will study this programme over 1 calendar year which equates to one module per semester in addition to a QPU which will run alongside the academic modules.

How you will be assessed

Formative assessment throughout the module through use of the University VLE, Blackboard where ongoing individual tutor and peer feedback is given through online tasks. These tasks are the scaffold that builds up the summative assignments at the end of the module.

• Module: Clinical Decision Making in Primary Care: Improving Outcomes in Complex Patients
  Summative Written Assignment (3500 words)
• Module: The Clinical Consultation in First Contact Practice: Integrating Theory and Practice
  Summative Set Exercise, (3500 words)
• Module: Primary Care: Challenges and Innovations in Practice
  Summative Oral Assessment/Presentation
  10-minute oral defence with poster (2500 word equivalent)
• Module: Work Based Learning in Primary Care for Musculoskeletal physiotherapy First contact: Portfolio

You must be a registered physiotherapist working in an environment which has ability to support students at this level.

CPD Pricing Structure

CPD Pricing structure

Tuition Fees Policy

Tuition fees are set annually and are subject to review each year. The University may therefore raise tuition fees in the second or subsequent years of a course, in line with inflation and/or the maximum permitted by law or government policy. Students will be notified of any changes as soon as possible.