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Physician Associate Studies

Overview
Intensive 2-year PgDip/MSc to train Physician Associates to support and work as part of the medical team in the diagnosis and management of patients.

Summary
A Physician Associate is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model to work with the medical team in order to deliver medical care to patients. PAs work under the supervision of a doctor in a range of specialities across medicine in both primary and secondary care. PAs are trained to take medical histories, carry out physical examinations, formulate diagnosis, request and interpret tests and investigations, undertake procedures and develop treatment and management plans.

The PgDip/MSc Physician Associate Studies aims to ensure students receive the required education and training in line with requirements of the Competence and Curriculum Framework, enabling graduates to be successful in completion of the programme and the PA National Exam. It also aims to ensure that graduates are safe and competent clinicians, at the point of qualification.

This intensive programme is delivered over 2 years. Year 1 is mainly theoretical and University based (5 days per week) with 1 day per week in general practice. Year 2 is mainly spent on clinical attachment with one day every 3-4 weeks back in University. Students will develop a sound knowledge base in clinical medicine and develop comprehensive clinical examination skills which form the basis of their generalist medical education enabling them to enter work in any medical speciality. From that point, they develop the specialist knowledge required to progress their careers and care for patients.

Students must pass all elements of the programme to be eligible to sit the National PA Exam for entry into professional practice.

About
The course is designed to ensure that graduates have the relevant clinical knowledge and skills in order to be successful in attaining their professional qualification and in their subsequent professional working life as a Physician Associate.

Please note this information is provisional and subject to change.

Year one specifically concentrates on the basic medical sciences that support the teaching and application of clinical medicine. In conjunction with this, a significant of time is spent on communication and clinical examination skills as these form the basis of the skills that the PA will use throughout their clinical working lives. In addition to this, the PA student will spend 1 day per week in clinical attachment (General Practice) to rehearse and fine tune their skills.

Weeks Theme
3 Introduction
1 Dermatology
2 Ear Nose and Throat/ Ophthol
2 Respiratory
3 Cardiovascular
3 Endocrine
3 Haematology
2 Gastrointestinal
1 Male Health
3 Female/Sexual Health
3 Renal/Urology
3 Neurology
2 Musculoskeletal
2 Mental Health
2 Care of the Elderly
3 Paediatrics

Year two begins with 3 weeks of special topics which are skills and knowledge that you will require prior Acute Hospital Placement. You will spend the majority of this year in clinical placement with 2 days back in University every 6 weeks.

Work placement / study abroad
Clinical placement is a core element of this programme and is delivered over both years. It is fundamental ensuring that students are able to practice application of their newly acquired clinical medical knowledge and skills. In year one students spend one day per week in a general practice environment and in year two will complete the following placements. Please note this information is provisional and subject to change.

Clinical Attachments:
12 weeks Acute Medicine
6 weeks A&E
12 weeks GP
3 weeks Obstetrics and Gynaecology
3 weeks Surgical
3 weeks Mental Health
3 weeks of various clinical settings placement

These placements will be based in and around Northern Ireland and students may be required to travel distances to their placements.

The PgDip consists of 7 taught modules and 2 clinical competence modules which totals 360 credits. These modules occur throughout the PA programme with some modules running over the 2 years.
• Foundations of Clinical Medicine 1 (30 credits)
• Personal and Professional Development 1 (15 credits)
• Applied Pharmacology for Physician Associate Studies (15 credits)
• Research Methods for Physician Associate Studies (15 credits)
• Evidence-Informed Decision-Making for Physician Associate Studies (15 credits)
• Foundations of Clinical Medicine 2 (15 credits)
• Personal and Professional Development 2 (15 credits)
• Clinical Competence in Physician Associate Skills 1 (90 Credits) Pass/Fail assessment
• Clinical Competence in Physician Associate Skills 2 (150 Credits) Pass/Fail assessment.

To exit with the PgDip in Physician Associate Studies, students will be required to pass assignments relating to the modules in Foundations of Clinical Medicine 1, Applied Pharmacology for Physician Associate Studies, Research Methods for Physician Associate Studies and Evidence-Informed Decision Making for Physician Associate Studies in Year 1. Students must also pass the assessments associated with the GP placement and an objective structured clinical examination for the Personal & Professional Development 1 module in order to progress to year 2. In year 2 students will be required to pass the Foundations of Clinical Medicine 2 and Personal & Professional Development 2 modules. The Clinical Competence in Physician Associate Skills module will assess the core competencies and core procedural skills in the Competence and Curriculum Framework for Physician Assistants and has been designated Pass/Fail, rather than having credit value. This competency assessment will be undertaken prior to taking the UK Physician Associate National Certification Examination at the end of Year 2. A pass in all taught modules of the programme and in the UK PA National Certification Examination will be required for the award of the PgDip in PA Studies.

This is a complex and very intensive programme and involves the establishment of a new suite of student placements and assessments, therefore, in the first instance, the course team do not intend to offer the masters programme and only intend to offer the PgDip. Once the programme has been established then the team will roll in the possibility to complete the masters by completion of the 60 credit Service Improvement Project module. This 60 credit module can either be taken alongside the second year of the full-time taught modules that comprise the PgDip or it can be taken part time over 3 semesters of a third year as a top-up.

Students who fail the assessment associated with the Personal & Professional Development 1 module but who have passed the module Foundations in Clinical Medicine 1 and passed other modules totalling at least 30 academic credits may exit with the lower award of Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Sciences (noting that students must pass all modules in year 1 to progress to year 2). A student who fails the Clinical Competency assessment/UK PA National Examination but who has passed all of the other elements of the programme can exit with a PgDip in Medical Sciences or if they have successfully completed the Service Improvement Project, an MSc in Medical Sciences.

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements
Applicants must be graduates with at least a 2:2 degree classification (or equivalent overseas qualification) in a life science or health-related subject (which must contain significant elements of basic medical sciences), normally obtained within the last five years. Applicants must also have experience of paid or voluntary work with people, preferably in a health or social care context; a pass in GCSE Maths and English Language grades A-C; evidence of English language attainment if English is not the first language.

Applicants with non-standard entry qualifications which do not meet all the above criteria may be considered for entry at the discretion of the Course Director/Committee. These potential applicants may be asked to submit a transcript from their undergraduate degree programme or asked to take some further modules in basic medical sciences to meet the required levels of sciences required for application to the PA programme.

Offers are made on the basis of the written application and an interview/assessment process held on campus in Northern Ireland. You will also be required along with your application to submit a short personal statement outlining why you are applying for the course. Due to the nature of the programme you will be expected to undergo an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, police checks in line with NI law and occupational health screening. Offers are conditional, based on the successful completion of these processes.

Applicants must declare if they have been on another PA programme or a medical/healthcare professional register as per the application form and reasons for leaving the programme or register (where applicable). Failure to declare this will result in termination of the application or place on the programme. If you are already a registered healthcare professional you will be required to provide details of your registration.

English Language Requirements
English language requirements for international applicants
The minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 7.0 with no element score less than 7.0.

Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.

Exemptions and transferability
There is no accreditation of prior learning (APL) or accreditation or prior experiential learning (APEL) for this programme.

Duration

Attendance
This is a full-time 2-year intensive programme running over 90 weeks from January to December in both year one and year two of the programme. Students are expected to attend 100% of the time to all sessions both in University and when on clinical attachment.

Careers or further progression

Career options
Whilst the PA profession is established and growing rapidly in the UK with a variety of jobs across a range of primary and secondary care specialities, this is the first PA programme in Northern Ireland. As such it presents its own challenges in the form of employment opportunities. However there have already been jobs advertised in Northern Ireland for PAs and in preparation for the programme the University have been working with the local Trusts seeking clinical attachments and scoping the potential for employment of PAs. The evidence from early PA programmes in England indicates that all of their students secured employment as PAs with many offered jobs before qualification. This continues to be the trend in the UK and the University are confident that this will be the same in Northern Ireland.

Once qualified, PAs can work across a range of specialities throughout medicine. There are also opportunities to work in education and as potential future leaders of the PA profession.

The qualification is not recognised in the USA and currently graduates who train in the UK may only be able to work in the UK. This may change in time.

Further enquiries

Course Director: Mrs Anne Marie Buchanan
T: +44 (0)28 7012 3408
E: a.buchanan@ulster.ac.uk 

For admissions and application enquiries contact the Faculty Office:
E: science@ulster.ac.uk 
T: +44 (0)28 7012 4159

Subjects taught

Year one
Personal and Professional Development 1 (PPD1)
Year: 1
Status: C
This module facilitates personal and professional development providing opportunities for participants to develop both personally and professionally through a variety of activities including reflection, self-directed study, group work, analysis of situations and synthesis. At the end of the module the student will be able to demonstrate their appropriateness for working as a Physician Associate in a variety of settings.

THE COURSE DIRECTOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE REVISIONS TO THIS SYLLABUS AT ANY TIME

Foundations of Clinical Medicine 1
Year: 1
Status: C
This module advances student knowledge and skills of students in relation to fundamental elements of clinical medicine, specifically the presentation, diagnosis and management of disease and health conditions with a focus on pathophysiology and clinical reasoning. The module serves as an arena in which the students integrate the learning from other modules of study, providing developing practitioners with an in-depth level of knowledge across the life span complemented by clinical experiences, theoretical knowledge, and clinical skills.

Research methods and evidence based medicine
Year: 1
Status: C
This module will support acquisition of knowledge and understanding of evidence-based health care and research methodology and should provide the Physician Associate students with the ability to facilitate, source, appraise and integrate research evidence into medical decision making. It should also provide them with the basic tools to conducting their own research relevant to the Physician Associate role.

Evidence-Informed Decision Making for Physician Associate Studies
Year: 1
Status: C
This module helps enable students to further develop a critical understanding of the role that research can play in health care evaluation and quality assurance, alongside professional expertise, theory, values and contextual constraints.

Applied Pharmacology for Physician Associate Studies
Year: 1
Status: C
This module considers in-depth some of the most important groups of drugs encountered by healthcare practitioners including drug actions, therapeutic and adverse effects, important interactions, and examination of individual drug responses.

Clinical Competence in Physician Associate Skills 1
Year: 1
Status: C
This module facilitates personal and professional development providing opportunities for participants to develop both personally and professionally through a variety of activities including reflection, self-directed study, group work, analysis of situations and synthesis. This builds upon module "Foundations of Clinical Medicine 1", and "Pharmacology" with an emphasis on Clinical Therapeutics. At the end of the module the student will be able to demonstrate their appropriateness for working as a Physician Associate in a variety of settings, supporting the assessment of personal skills and competencies.

THE COURSE DIRECTOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE REVISIONS TO THIS SYLLABUS AT ANY TIME

Year two
Personal and Professional Development 2
Year: 2
Status: C
This module builds on learning from module "Personal and Professional Development 1", facilitating personal and professional development providing opportunities for participants to develop both personally and professionally through a variety of activities including reflection, self-directed study, group work, analysis of situations and synthesis. At the end of the module the student will be able to demonstrate their appropriateness for working as a Physician Associate in a variety of settings.

Foundations of Clinical Medicine 2
Year: 2
Status: C
This module builds on Foundations of Clinical Medicine 1, further advancing student knowledge and skills of students in relation to fundamental elements of clinical medicine, specifically the presentation, diagnosis and management of disease and health conditions with a focus on pathophysiology and clinical reasoning. The module serves as an arena in which the students integrate the learning from other modules of study, providing developing practitioners with an in-depth level of knowledge across the life span complemented by clinical experiences, theoretical knowledge, and clinical skills.

Clinical Competence in Physician Associate Skills 2
Year: 2
Status: C
This builds upon modules "Personal and Professional Development for the Physician Associate 1 and 2", and "Foundations of Clinical Medicine 1 and 2", and supports the assessment of personal skills and competencies in a clinical placement practice context.

Service Improvement Project (SIP)
Status: O
Year: 2
This module is optional
This module provides a level 7 research project for the Physician Associate Studies programme where students use knowledge acquired by study of other modules on the course in order to perform critical analysis of a specific topic or work-based scenario. Students undertake a service improvement complete audit cycle, identifying a clinical problem, undertake an audit, put in place an intervention with subsequent re audit to assess impact. They submit a report outlining the Service Improvement Project completed in their workplace.

Assessment method

Teaching and learning assessment
The programme uses a variety of teaching methods to deliver the curriculum. Students will learn through classroom, problem, peer assisted and practice based learning. Students will also be expected to be independent and self-directed in their studies using all of the opportunities available to practice and revise. Students are required to participate in sessions particularly clinical exam skills and must be motivated to engage.

The programme uses both formative and summative methods to assess students. These are in the form of essays, reflections, case histories, single best answer MCQs, short answer questions, and OSCE examinations.

The course content will be delivered by appropriately qualified healthcare professionals who are expert in their fields and understand the role of the PA.

Enrolment and start dates

Start Date: January 2019.

How to apply online
All applications are made online - competition for funded entry is high and applicants are advised to discuss their application prior to submission with relevant staff.

In order to be considered, your application must be completed in full, including: 

- all information on existing qualifications and transcripts
- funding details or requirements
- evidence of English language proficiency
- names and addresses of referee

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