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MSc

Physician Associate Practice

Attendance

Campus

Start

Duration

2 Years

Start

September 2023

UCAS Code

BB90

Delivery

Campus Taught

Are you interested in supporting the healthcare team and working alongside doctors? Want to help with the diagnosis and management of patients? Our MSc Physician Associate Practice course opens doors to a rewarding career.

On this rewarding course you’ll train to become a physician associate. This is a growing, in-demand role within the NHS with an attractive starting salary. A physician associate is a medical professional. They provide patient care under the supervision of a consultant or general practitioner. As a physician associate you'll focus on analysing results, diagnosis and management. Your daily activities would include:

Interviewing and examining patients
Ordering tests
Making decisions about patient management
Developing treatment and management plans

You'll need to travel to clinical placement sites throughout Lancashire and Cumbria, with travel of up to 90 minutes both ways. Approximately 50% of the programme is on clinical placement. This will be across urban, rural, specialised hospital and general practice settings. During the rest of the programme you’ll get taught on campus. You'll learn from staff who are highly experienced in the clinical sector. This includes four trained physician associates.

Please note, with the General Medical Council’s (GMC) ongoing regulatory developments, we can confirm this programme (modules and content) will be aligned to the new curriculum for September 2023.

Why study with us

You’ll learn in state-of-the-art facilities. Our clinical skills laboratories have a vast range of equipment. This will help you develop clinical skills in hospital and GP surgery environments.
Develop a comprehensive understanding of the human body in our Human Anatomy Resource and Learning Centres. You'll also use great resources such as our Anatomage table and diagnostic imaging equipment.
You'll spend over 50% of the course on clinical placements with our NHS clinical education partners. This will be across Lancashire and/or Cumbria. You will receive £2,500 per year to support your travel to placements.

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Gallery01 / 07

Tim Smith - School of Medicine Academic Lead at our Westlakes Campus

What you'll do

You’ll be taught in small groups offering unrivalled student support and direct contact hours with staff. You will be timetabled to have over 25 hours per week of direct, interactive teaching.
You’ll have the opportunity to learn from our MSc Physician Associate graduates who regularly attend sessions to share their experiences of working in a professional healthcare environment.
You’ll be exposed to variety of patients and medical conditions during placements in both urban and rural NHS hospitals and GP practices.

Module overview

Course delivery

Following the pandemic, we have found that some courses benefit from a blended learning and teaching approach. Therefore, the majority of your teaching will be face-to-face on campus, with some online teaching where we have learnt it works best.

75%Face-to-face

25%Online

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our published course information. However, our programmes are subject to ongoing review and development. Changing circumstances may cause alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses. Changes may be necessary to comply with the requirements of accrediting bodies or revisions to subject benchmarks statements. As well as to keep courses updated and contemporary, or as a result of student feedback. We reserve the right to make variations if we consider such action to be necessary or in the best interests of students.

Looking to start your postgraduate journey?

Our range of subjects and study modes can support your goals, take your next step with a postgraduate degree.

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View the course facilities

Academic expertise

Accreditations

The centre is accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons, a professional membership organisation and registered charity which exists to advance patient care. The Royal College of Surgeons of England, registered charity number 212808.

Future careers

On completion of the course, you’ll be well prepared to take the Physician Associate National Exam. After completing this successfully you’ll be able to become a physician associate. You can apply to join the profession’s voluntary register. The General Medical Council (GMC) will soon be assuming responsibility for this.

Fees and funding

2022/23

Full-time£9250 per year

International

Full-time£28000 per year

2023/24

Full-time£9,250 per year

International

Full-time£30,000 per year

Scholarships and bursaries

We have a wide range of bursaries, scholarships and funds available to help support you whilst studying with us.

Select your country to see eligibility information and how to apply by selecting more info on the cards below.

Select your country/region

The academic content of this course will give you the clinical competencies required of a physician associate. All our course content is in line with the requirements of the Physician Associate Competence and Curriculum Framework (2012). This is laid out by the Royal College of Physicians Faculty of Physician Associates at the Royal College of Physicians.

You’ll develop in-depth knowledge through a range of lectures and practical activities. You'll spend over 50% of the course on clinical placements with our NHS clinical education partners across Cumbria (and sometimes Lancashire). This will include both GP and hospital environments.

We’ll use various methods to assess you, including:

Written assignments
Practical and theoretical examinations
Workplace-based clinical activity
Portfolio content

We have a close relationship with the local NHS. This includes:

East Lancashire Hospitals Trust
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust
Morecambe Bay Trust
Lancashire Care Foundation Trust

This course runs in partnership with Health Education England North West (HEENW). This is as part of the North West Physician Associate programme.

These organisations provide the clinical placement training which represents 50% of the whole programme. They also offer the main employment opportunities in the North West. This ensures that you receive training which is both nationally accredited and locally relevant. You will be able to transition smoothly from student to graduate physician associate.

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This course is based in the School of Medicine located in the Faculty of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences

For information on possible changes to course information, see our essential and important course information

You can find regulations and policies relating to student life at the University of Central Lancashire on our student contract page