Overview
- Develop the skills and expertise required to respond to challenges facing our modern day health service and enhance your learning experience through engagement with external practitioners with specialist expertise
- We will provide a strong academic underpinning to the role of the Advanced Clinical Practitioner and encourage you to expand your scope of practice as part of the advanced practice agenda outlined by the Health Education England multi professional framework for advanced clinical practice.
- The MSc Advanced Clinical Practice can be studied as a part-time programme of study, taken over 2 or 3 years, to suit your needs, or learn alongside our MSc Advanced Clinical Practice (Degree Apprenticeship)
- Benefit from Faculty membership of the Association of Advanced Practice Educators (AAPEUK)
- Designed for practitioners from a range of backgrounds including (but not limited to) radiography, nursing, pharmacy, paramedics, occupational therapy and midwifery
We are Top 10 in the UK for our world-leading and internationally excellent research in clinical medicine
Our Public Health research is 11th in UK for Research Power
Major capital investment in new buildings and state-of-the-art facilities
Vibrant and active research student community supported by excellent pastoral and academic staff
Entry requirements
You should hold a minimum 2.2 Honours degree (or for older qualifications a Professional Diploma) in a healthcare related discipline. Relevant clinical experience or previous postgraduate qualifications will also be considered as part of the admissions process. In addition, you should be registered with the appropriate statutory regulatory body for your profession (such as the HCPC or NMC).
Entry requirements for international students
English language requirements:
• IELTS: Overall score 6.5. No less than 6.0 in any section.
• TOEFL: Overall score 90 with minimum scores of 21 for writing, 21 for listening, 22 for reading and 23 for speaking.
Please visit our international equivalency pages to enable you to see if your existing academic qualifications meet our entry requirements.
International students are normally subject to visa regulations which prevent part-time study. It is recommended that international students apply for the level of the final award you intend to complete i.e. PGCert, PGDip or Masters, due to the associated cost and requirements for a Tier 4 student Visa.
Additional Entry Requirements
A personal statement, detailing your reasons for seeking to undertake this subject, will be required.
It is expected that candidates will have a current contract of employment with a healthcare provider and will normally have at least 2 years’ experience of professional practice.
MSc Advanced Practice: You should hold a minimum 2.2 Honours degree (or for older qualifications a Professional Diploma) in a healthcare related discipline. Relevant clinical experience or previous postgraduate qualifications will also be considered as part of the admissions process.
Accreditation of prior learning for Masters courses in Healthcare and Medicine
Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) is a process whereby students, who have already gained relevant skills and knowledge prior to the start of their course, may be granted a partial credit exemption from their programme instead of unnecessarily repeating work. Find out more about APL
Entry requirements for international students
Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and further information on English language requirements.
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Entry requirements for international students
English language requirements
Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and further information on English language requirements.
Course content
This programme will prepare you to develop your clinical practice, enabling you to work autonomously and flexibly in order to make complex decisions about how people should be cared for and treated.
It will provide you with a sound educational grounding that will encourage critical analysis of literature, documents and policies associated with advanced practice, including professional, legal and ethical issues. It will also prepare you to undertake research, audit and evaluative activities that develop your personal knowledge and expertise to help improve evidence-based patient care across systems.
There are three compulsory modules to complete; Principles of Advanced Clinical Practice, Advanced Clinical Assessment and Decision Making and a Research Project.
You’ll also choose from a range of optional modules which align with the 4 advanced practice domains (Clinical Practice, Education, Leadership or Research), such as Care of the Older Adult, Teaching in a Digital World, Leading Change in Health Services, and Statistics as Applied to Health.
Programme Structure
This MSc course can be taken as a full-time course over one year or alternatively spread over two or three years of part time study which may suit applicants who are working full time. It is delivered at National Qualification Framework (NQF) level 7 (as confirmed against the FHEQ).
The programme is divided into units of study called ‘modules’ which are assigned a number of ‘credits’. To gain a Masters qualification, you will need to complete 180 credits at level 7. The credit rating of a module is proportional to the total workload, with one credit being nominally equivalent to 10 hours of work, a 15 credit module being equivalent to 150 hours of work and a full Masters degree being equivalent to approximately 1,800 hours of work.
It is also possible to exit with a PGCert after completing 60 credits of taught modules or a PGDip after completing 120 credits of taught modules. The list of modules below shows which are compulsory.
The MSc Advanced Clinical Practice requires you to be clinically engaged in order to fulfil the learning criteria. However, an alternate MSc Advanced Practice full time variant is available for students who are unable to meet the clinical requirements or who wish to study on a full time basis.
Contact Days
View the draft timetable of contact days for 2022/23
Please note: these timetables are draft and may be subject to change.
The last contact day and assessment deadline for the programme will be earlier than the actual end date of your registration with the University, to allow a period of time at the end of your active studies for further support and mitigation, if needed
All compulsory modules during Term 1 will be delivered online with face-to-face contact sessions in term 2 (Covid restrictions permitting). We will be providing students with a range of online activities throughout the modules and there will be opportunity for discussion and virtual seminars.
Modules
The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.
To qualify for the Masters in Advanced Clinical Practice
you must complete three compulsory modules; Principles of Advanced Clinical Practice, Advanced Clinical Assessment and Decision Making and Research Project - literature, plus optional modules to a total of 180 credits.
To qualify for the Masters in Advanced Practice (1 year, full-time)
you must complete two compulsory modules; Principles of Advanced Clinical Practice and Research Project – literature plus 120 credits of optional modules to a total of 180 credits.
To qualify for the PG Diploma
You must complete 120 credits consisting of two compulsory modules; Principles of Advanced Clinical Practice and Advanced Clinical Assessment and Decision Making and further optional modules to achieve 120 credits in total.
To qualify for the PG Certificate
You must complete 60 credits consisting of one compulsory module; Principles of Advanced Clinical Practice, and further optional module/s of 15 credits (or more) lto achieve 60 credits in total.
Four Pillars
Alongside the compulsory modules you are required to study, you will have the opportunity to select from a number of optional modules within our postgraduate taught programmes portfolio. Each module has been chosen for its specific alignment with one of the four pillars of advanced clinical practice and students are encouraged to ensure they select appropriate modules that span each of these pillars in order to align with the Health Education England multi professional framework for advanced clinical practice.
1. Clinical Practice
2. Leadership and Management
3. Education
4. Research
These modules provide you with the opportunity to clinically specialise in your chosen profession. For example, you may wish to develop as a musculoskeletal (MSK) first contact practitioner, the advanced skill development module will allow you to attend to the MSK core capabilities framework. In addition, there is the opportunity to undertake axial and appendicular radiographer reporting or complete an independent prescribing module to support your clinical practice (subject to accreditation).
For module descriptions please see the Course Content section
Clinical Practice
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|
| HPDM064 |
Acute Presentations in practice |
15 |
| HPDM062 |
Long Term Conditions Care 1 |
15 |
| HPDM066 |
Long Term Conditions Care 2 |
15 |
| HPDM063 |
Skills for Patient-centred Care |
15 |
| HPDM130 |
Appendicular Skeletal Reporting |
30 |
|
HPDM129
|
Axial Skeletal Reporting |
30 |
| HPDM065 |
Care of the Older Adult |
15 |
| HPDM102 |
Human Factors - Situational Awareness |
15 |
| HPDM068 |
Independent Prescribing (GPhC, NMC and HCPC accredited) |
45 |
| HPDM132 |
Advanced Skill Development |
45 |
| HPDM127 |
Principles of primary care |
15 |
| HPDM111 |
Health challenges in sport and exercise medicine |
15 |
| HPDM112 |
Orthopaedic challenges in sport and exercise medicine |
15 |
| HPDM138 |
MRI: Integrated Theory and Practice |
30 |
Leadership and Management
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|
| HPDM059 |
Leading change in Health Services |
15 |
| HPDM081 |
Management in Healthcare |
15 |
| HPDM080 |
Leadership in Healthcare |
15
|
Education
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|
| HPDM105 |
Education Essentials |
15 |
| HPDM103 |
Teaching Practitioner |
15 |
| HPDM067 |
Population and Public Health |
15 |
| HPDM060 |
Evidence for Clinical Education |
15 |
| HPDM106 |
Principles of Supervision and Mentoring |
15 |
| HPDM110 |
Teaching in a Digital World |
15
|
Research
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|
| HPDM092 |
Fundamentals of Research Design |
15 |
| HPDM079 |
From Theory to Practice to Quality |
15 |
| HPDM055 |
Qualitative Methods and Process Evaluations |
15 |
| HPDM054 |
Statistics As Applied To Health |
15 |
HPDM083
HPDM031 |
Project Design |
15 |
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Fees
2023/24 entry
Fees are subject to an annual increment each academic year
UK fees per year:
• MSc £4,750pa part-time 2 years, £3,200pa part-time 3 years
• PgDip £3,200pa part time
• PgCert £3,200
Standalone module fees: UK: £950 per 15-credit module
International fees per year:
• MSc £12,500pa part-time 2 years, £8,500pa part-time 3 years
• PgDip £8,500pa part-time
• PgCert £8,500
Standalone module fees: International: £2300 per 15-credit module
MSc Advanced Practice
- UK: £9,500 full-time 1 year
- International: £25,000 full-time 1 year
Scholarships
We invest heavily in scholarships for talented prospective Masters students and have over £2.5 million in scholarships available for students applying to study with us in 2023, including our Global Excellence Scholarships* and Green Futures Scholarships* for international fee paying students.
For information on how you can fund your postgraduate degree at the University of Exeter, please visit our dedicated funding page.
*Selected programmes only. Please see the Terms and Conditions for each scheme for further details.
Funding
UK government postgraduate loan scheme
Postgraduate loans of up to £10,609 are now available for Masters degrees. Find out more about eligibility and how to apply.
Funding
There are various funding opportunities available including Global excellence scholarships.
For more information visit our Masters funding page.
Scholarships
Details of scholarships, including our Global Excellence scholarships for international fee paying students, can be found on our dedicated funding page.
Pro Vice Chancellor's NHS Postgraduate Scholarship
The College of Medicine and Health is delighted to offer the Pro Vice Chancellor's NHS Postgraduate Scholarship of £5000 to two NHS staff who accept a place to study on one of our Masters programmes. Please check your eligibility before applying.
Global Excellence Scholarship
We are delighted to offer Global Excellence Scholarships for students of outstanding academic quality applying to postgraduate Taught programmes. Please note that this scholarship isn't offered for all our masters programmes.
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Teaching and research
The Clinical Skills Resource Centre.
Our purpose is to deliver transformative education that will help tackle health challenges of national and global importance.
The foundation of our programme is the four pillars of advanced clinical practice:
- Clinical Practice
- Leadership and Management
- Education
- Research
Teaching
This blended course makes use of contemporary education methods such as case-based learning, small group work and development of communities of practice. The core modules are delivered via blended learning, with a combination of face-to-face teaching and learning activities on campus, and online directed activities, webinars and resources. Our teaching is supported by problem-based learning groups where you can explore cases, develop peer support networks and share clinical experiences.
Teaching methods include:
• Masterclasses from highly experienced clinical teachers and researchers
• Small group simulated learning tasks
• Patient case-based discussions
• Practical workshops for clinical skills development
• Interactive e-learning activities
• Opportunities for practice and receiving feedback
Research
This programme promotes multidisciplinary practice by involving clinicians and practitioners from a variety of disciplines to understand the wider clinical context of health care service needs.
At the University of Exeter, our research is globally recognised and our partnerships with healthcare providers, industry and above all, the public, mean that this work is constantly at the cutting-edge of innovation in improving lives.
Our research is organised within in two Institutes:
Explore some of the many highlights of our research on our research impact page.
Learning
Blended learning will be used to support the face to face education and a range of online resources will be shared with you to support your learning. You will learn alongside our committed academic team who have a range of clinical and academic expertise. Several faculty members continue to work clinically, ensuring an awareness of current challenges and opportunities for Advanced Clinical Practitioners.
Support
Teaching is supported by extensive online University library resources, academic tutor systems, University pastoral support structures and by on-line resources accessed via the University of Exeter’s electronic learning environment (ELE).
You will be allocated an academic tutor, your tutor will be able to provide guidance and feedback on assessment performance, guidance in generic academic skills and pastoral support. They are also able to refer you to more specialist support services, both within the College and elsewhere across the University.
Assessment
Each module will include both formative and summative elements. Formative assessment will involve opportunities for discussion and feedback from peers and tutors. The summative assessment element for each module will provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate achievement of the intended learning outcomes. Elements of assessment will include:
• Development of Knowledge and Understanding
• Cognitive and Intellectual skills
• Key/Transferable Skills
Assessments will be multi-modal (such as portfolios, presentations and OSCEs) and will enable demonstration of alignment with the four pillars of advanced clinical practice.
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Lucy Banfield
Programme lead
Sarah Bradley
Senior Lecturer
Dr Rob Daniels
Senior Clinical Lecturer
Dr. Katarina Kos
Senior Lecturer
Dr Mike Eaton
College of Medicine and Health Director of Faculty Development, Director of Professional Development
Lucy Banfield
Programme lead
Lucy is a radiographer and Senior Lecturer. She leads the MSc Advanced Clinical Practice and the new Advanced Clinical Practice degree apprenticeship. Lucy joined the University in 2013 and has been leading on developing, gaining accreditation for and running masters programmes.
The latest developments ensure that the programme encompasses a range of modules, including new and clinically relevant modules in order to support the development of advanced clinical skills in the healthcare community.
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Sarah Bradley
Senior Lecturer
Sarah is a registered nurse, previously specialising in Coronary Care and Research Nursing, and Senior Lecturer in the College of Medicine and Health. She is Programme lead for the Masters in Healthcare Leadership and Management and module lead for a number of modules on the Masters in Clinical Education and Advanced Clinical Practice. Previously, as Senior Clinical Skills Tutor for the undergraduate Medicine programme, she had responsibility for a range of Clinical and Communication Skills teaching and assessment. She has 18 years’ experience as a health professions educator and has a particular interest in clinical communication, skill development, assessment of clinical competence and curriculum design and evaluation. Her research interest is in qualitative assessment methods and she is currently working towards a doctorate.
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Dr Rob Daniels
Senior Clinical Lecturer
Rob is a GP and Senior Clinical Lecturer in the College of Medicine & Health. He is module lead for ‘Advanced Clinical Assessment and Decision-Making Skills’, ‘Acute Presentations in Practice’, and ‘From Theory to Practice to Quality’, and module Co-Lead for ‘Independent Prescribing’. In addition to general practice he works in Ear, Nose and Throat medicine and urgent care, and has an interest in expedition medicine and global health, being one of the faculty on the International Principles of Primary Care course and an academic tutor on the MSc in Extreme Medicine.
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Dr. Katarina Kos
Senior Lecturer
Katarina is a Senior Lecturer with a key interest in the field of Type 2 diabetes and its link with obesity and its complications. She is passionate about prevention of diabetes and obesity and collaborates with many teams across disciplines in studies surrounding healthy lifestyle in obesogenic and adverse environments.
Alongside her academic role, Katarina is a clinical academic, a physician in Diabetes and Endocrinology.
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Dr Mike Eaton
College of Medicine and Health Director of Faculty Development, Director of Professional Development
Mike teaches on various postgraduate modules, including Principles of Curriculum Design and Evaluation and Principles of Supervision and Mentoring.
He is the Director of Faculty Development in the College of Medicine and Health and Director of Professional Development at the University of Exeter Medical School. His educational focus is on the development of "professional identity", for undergraduates through facilitated small groups and postgraduates through supervision and mentoring.
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Facilities
The Exeter resource centre is located at the St Luke’s Campus in the Heavitree Hospital site. Facilities include large teaching rooms, models for learning all practical aspects of medicine required in the clinical environment and dedicated communication skills rooms with video capability. We have simulation suites fitted with equipment to run a wide variety of scenarios designed to teach and test students in a safe environment.
The CSRC also contains state-of-the-art electronic patient simulators, mock NHS wards and emergency departments.
For students following the reporting or image interpretation pathway, there is a suite of PACS monitors allowing for very high resolution viewing of images, as well as low-intensity lighting to optimise viewing conditions. Find out more about our Medical Imaging Suites.
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Careers
Who is this course for?
Demand for healthcare services, intensifying workforce pressures and a growing consensus of the vastly untapped potential of Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Professions has led to the continued growth of the advanced practice agenda within the NHS.
This course is for registered practitioners such as paramedics, nurses, radiographers and other healthcare professionals who aspire to develop and work at an advanced level of clinical practice.
Employer-valued skills this course develops
Develop your clinical practice, your understanding of professional, legal and ethical issues and your ability to critically analyse literature, documents and policies associated with advanced practice. Undertaking a research project will also help you to undertake research, audit and evaluate activities that develop your personal knowledge and expertise.
Career paths (graduate destinations)
Studying towards advanced clinical practice aims to enable clinicians to practice to their full potential, meeting the healthcare needs of the population through innovative, collaborative and autonomous working. There are a multitude of career opportunities within the advanced clinical practice sphere and these continue to grow on a yearly basis.
Careers support
All University of Exeter students have access to Career Zone, which gives access to a wealth of business contacts, support and training as well as the opportunity to meet potential employers at our regular Careers Fairs.
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