Clinical Pharmacy

MSc/PG Diploma/PG Certificate/CPD

Division of Pharmacy and Optometry

PROGRAMME HANDBOOK

2024/25

 

Introduction to MSc/PG Diploma/PG Certificate in Clinical Pharmacy

Welcome to the Division of Pharmacy and Optometry at the University of Manchester. This programme handbook provides details of the University of Manchester Programme leading to the MSc or Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy. It includes information about the aims and learning outcomes, structure, content, assessment and programme management. It should be read in conjunction with related University documentation and the School of Health Sciences Student Handbook.

This handbook contains details of the course structure. Part A provides a summary of the course structure, Part B describes each course unit, and Part C includes information about the dissertation.

We hope that your time studying with Manchester will be productive and enjoyable.

Head of Division:
Prof Kaye Williams

Programme Director:
Dianne Bell
dianne.bell@manchester.ac.uk

Senior Academic Supervisor:
Sarah Knighton
sarah.knighton@manchester.ac.uk

Research Subject Lead
Denham Phipps
denham.phipps@manchester.ac.uk

School of Health Sciences Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Staff :

In order for staff to respond as quickly as possible to your request, and to ensure that your request reaches the correct member of staff, we have set-up dedicated email addresses that serve a different function.  If your query relates to any of the below, please email the relevant email address.

Email Address	Supports queries about:
shs.assessment@manchester.ac.uk	Examination queries Assessment queries Assessment submissions Resit/reassessment queries
shs.attendance@manchester.ac.uk	Attendance monitoring
shs.dc@manchester.ac.uk	Disability support
shs.mitcircs@manchester.ac.uk	Mitigating circumstances
shs.placements@manchester.ac.uk	All placement queries
shs.programmes@manchester.ac.uk	Registration advice and guidance Course unit selection and enrolment Timetable queries Programme content
shs.wellbeing@manchester.ac.uk	Wellbeing student support, appointments and signposting
shs.hub@manchester.ac.uk	Student Support Hub – general queries and advice not covered by the above teams

As these inboxes are associated with staff supporting multiple programmes, please could you ensure that you always include the following details in your email, which will help us to ensure that your message is dealt with promptly:

Full Name

Student ID Number

Year of Study

Programme

General information about the Division of Pharmacy and Optometry are contained in this handbook, but more information can be obtained from the following web sites:

The Pharmacy home page:
https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/pharmacy/

The Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health home page:
https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/

The University of Manchester home page:
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/

Communication with Students

Please note that only Blackboard, the University e-learning platform and your allocated student university email address will be used as official communication by University staff. It is your responsibility to ensure that you can access and read email from this source.

Students are required to keep the University informed of any change to their personal circumstances such as change of name or address. Changes can be recorded by the student via their own personal online record, accessed via the online Student System. It is also essential to inform the Programmes Support Team if you do not intend to return to the next session of the course, if, for example, you are moving away.

Divisional Administration Contacts

Head of Division: Prof Kaye Williams

Head of Divisional Operations: Victoria O’Reilly

The Division address is:

Division of Pharmacy and Optometry
School of Health Sciences
Jean McFarlane Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL

* To access Stopford Building you will need a swipe card. To obtain your student card, please contact the Student Services Centre (+44 (0)161 275 5000 / ssc@manchester.ac.uk).

Section A: Programme Structure

Rationale and General Description

This three year part-time taught programme is suitable for students who wish to improve their knowledge, understanding and research expertise in the field of pharmacy. The MSc level qualification meets the needs of those requiring a higher degree and the programme is designed to provide training, skills and knowledge that would help support the student’s progression to senior positions in pharmacy practice.

The programme is part-time and delivered in 2 semesters per year over a three year period.

During the first two years of the programme, students undertake a number of compulsory and optional course units covering a wide range of clinical topics, prescribing issues and research. This taught element of the course comprises webinars, e-lectures and several forms of independent learning delivered online. Students who opt for the final year of the programme undertake a research project.

A copy of the programme specification can be found on the Clinical Pharmacy Virtual Common Room on Blackboard.

Programme Aims

The Clinical Pharmacy programme aims to produce the pharmacy profession’s clinical leaders of the future.

The course enables you to develop a systematic understanding of disease states, the complex issues involved in their treatment and a critical awareness of current research. You will also be able to apply clinical problem-solving skills to patient care, where decisions must be made in unpredictable situations, using initiative and taking personal responsibility. You will importantly be able to critically analyse and evaluate literature in therapeutics, practice research, medicines management, health economics, education, health-related social sciences and health policy in order to inform pharmaceutical services provision. The course uses innovative online learning approaches to ensure pharmacists can identify their own learning needs and participate in continuing professional development in order to work at the forefront of their profession.

Credit Requirements

To be awarded a post-graduate qualification, you have to accumulate the requisite credits by passing the assessments for course units and thus gaining the credits associated with them. Three awards are available, depending on the number of credits gained. Students must accrue 60 credits for the Postgraduate Certificate, 120 credits for the Postgraduate Diploma, and if students continue on to study for the MSc qualification then they must accrue 180 postgraduate credits to qualify for the degree of MSc. The usual rate of progression is 60 credits per academic year.

Currently, four of the eight taught course units are compulsory, complemented by a further choice of four 15 credit units from 10 available options; students will be advised by the programme team on their choice of optional unit depending on their role and career aspirations.

Students may be permitted to receive an award of credits on the basis of demonstrated learning that has occurred at some point in the past (Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning – APEL) through awards from an educational institution or training provider. Further details on Credit Requirements and APEL can be found in the Postgraduate Taught Regulations Document.

Supervisory Arrangements for the MSc

Should students wish to progress on to MSc dissertation their progress will be ultimately under the direction of the Programme Director. During year 2 all students progressing to MSc must undertake one course unit on Research Methods: either POPH63121 (Qualitative Research Methods) in Semester 1 or POPH60982 (Practical Statistics for Population Health, focussing on quantitative research methods) in Semester 2. It is not possible to choose both research units. Students will receive formative feedback on choice of topic areas and potential projects.

For the research (dissertation) year, students will be encouraged to speak to individual members of staff to discuss more clarify project ideas. Students will be given a few weeks in order to select supervisors/projects/research areas of their choice. Please note: it is not always possible to allocate students to the supervisor of choice, but every attempt will be made to match students to a research area of their choice.

Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations for Students

Postgraduate Taught degrees at the University of Manchester are based on the National Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ). This framework requires students to achieve credit at Masters level in order to get an award. For a standard postgraduate taught Masters programme this will normally mean passing 180 credits. A standard Postgraduate Diploma will normally have 120 credits and a Postgraduate Certificate 60 credits. The way in which you study these credits will be defined later in the programme handbook and the programme specification.

The University sets standards relating to your performance on every unit but also on your progression through the programme. Your programme and course unit specifications will set out the requirements for passing the credit on individual units.

The full PGT Degree Regulations can be accessed at:
http://www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate-degree-regulations/.

The following guidance should be read in conjunction with the Introduction to the Postgraduate Degree Regulations for Students:
http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/degree-regulations/

Exemptions to the PGT Degree Regulations:

Please be aware that the Clinical Pharmacy programme has some higher requirements to the University degree regulations and details of these are outlined below.

• The programme operates a 50% pass mark across all levels and pathways – i.e. stand-alone units, Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma and MSc;
• The programmes above will not apply compensation rules to any course units;
• An average mark of 50% must be achieved for each unit, with no individual component mark within that unit below 40%. If any component mark of a unit falls below 40%, this assessment must be referred. This rule applies to all units within the programme.

Criteria for Awards

Award of Masters Degree

The award of Master degree is based upon credit accumulation using a pass mark of 50%.

Distinction

Exceptional achievements over the course of the Programme according to the taught masters marking scheme will be rewarded with the degree of Masters with Distinction.

To obtain a Distinction, students must have:

• accrued 180 credits;
• have passed all units with no referrals;
• have achieved an overall weighted average of 70% or more across the programme;

Students who have compensated or have been referred in any course units are not eligible for the award of Distinction. In addition, the dissertation must be submitted by the end of the period of programme, unless there are significant mitigating circumstances, approved in advance for missing the end of programme deadline.

Merit

To obtain a Merit, students must have accrued 180 credits AND have achieved an overall weighted average of 60% or more across the programme, including any provision made for compensated or referred units.

Pass

To obtain a pass, students must have accrued 180 credits including any provision made for compensated or referred units.

Progression

To progress to the dissertation / research element of the Masters programme, students must have passed all taught units (120 credits).

Award of Postgraduate Diploma

To obtain a Postgraduate Diploma award, students must have accrued 120 credits (as specified by the programme) including any provision made for compensated or referred units.

Award of Postgraduate Certificate

To obtain a Postgraduate Certificate award students must have accrued 60 credits (as specified by the programme) including any provision made for compensated or referred units.

Unless otherwise specified in the exemptions, the awards of Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate degree are based upon credit accumulation using a pass mark of 40% for which there is no classification other than pass/fail.

Exit Awards

Exit awards are available for students who do not satisfy the criteria for the programme they are registered on or who needs to exit the programme early due to unforeseen circumstances.

To be considered for a PG Diploma (120 credits; exit point) students must have accrued 120 credits across the programme.

To be considered for a PG Certificate (60 credits; exit point) students must have accrued 60 credits across the programme.

Deadlines for Assessed Work

You will find deadlines for coursework on the Blackboard space for each unit. WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU TRANSFER SUBMISSION DATES TO YOUR DIARIES AS SOON AS THEY ARE PUBLISHED.

Assessment submissions

Coursework submission deadlines will be published to you through Blackboard at the start of each semester. Please ensure that you make a note of these dates and times, as there are strict rules for the submission of all assessed coursework. The majority of coursework will be submitted electronically via the relevant course unit space on Blackboard, through a system called TurnItIn . Each course unit has an assessment link and instructions on how to submit your work via TurnItIn will be available within each submission area. The TurnItIn software package is used to help markers detect academic malpractice.

Once you have submitted your work, you should immediately receive a TurnItIn electronic receipt. If you do not receive a receipt please follow the instructions within each submission area for downloading your TurnItIn receipt manually. Please keep this receipt safe as it is the only valid form of proof of having successfully submitted your work, without this we will not be able to prove that you submitted your work. If you are certain that you have submitted your work, but you are unable to obtain a receipt, please contact the Assessment & Progression team straight away (shs.assessment@manchester.ac.uk) and before the submission deadline.

Electronically submitted coursework must be prepared using either Microsoft (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, Excel) or Adobe software. Documents submitted using any other packages (including those created using Apple software) cannot be read once uploaded to Blackboard. Submitting work in an unreadable format will result in a mark of zero. Please see the list of acceptable file types and sizes here

YOUR NAME MUST NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE on the coursework, unless you are told otherwise, as it will be marked anonymously. Your Student ID is the number that appears on the front of your library card. All pages should be numbered, starting from the title page.

For some units, you may be asked to submit hard copies of coursework assignments. In such instances, you will be notified of the procedures for this in advance via e-mail.

Please be aware that staff will not read drafts of assessed work. However, you will have opportunities to ask for guidance via dedicated Discussion Boards and/or Drop-In Sessions. You should also take the opportunity to raise any queries or concerns about specific assessments during teaching sessions.

If there is a problem which prevents you submitting the assessment on time you must bring this to the attention of the Assessment and Progression Administrator promptly and before the assessment submission date. Depending on the length of time you require to complete the assessment you will then need to apply for an extension of up to a maximum of one week for circumstances such as acute illness (see paragraph on Extensions for full details). If you are experiencing longer term problems you should follow the mitigating circumstances route.

Our Faculty eLearning team can help you with queries relating to eLearning applications such as Blackboard and Turnitin, and provide support to enhance teaching and student learning. Also see their ‘top guides for students’ at the below link for the following information:

• Introduction to Blackboard
• Accessing Grade and Feedback
• Downloading TurnItIn Feedback
  eLearning support (The University of Manchester)

Formatting

For the main text, double or 1.5 spacing with a minimum font size of 12 must be used; single-spacing may be used for quotations, footnotes and references.

Bibliographic citations and references must be consistent throughout the assignment and in a format appropriate to the field of research.

Page numbering must consist of one single sequence of Arabic numerals, ie, 1, 2, 3, etc, throughout the dissertation. Page numbers must be displayed on all pages EXCEPT the title page, though this is counted as page one. The pagination sequence will include not only the text of the dissertation but also the preliminary pages, diagrams, tables, figures, illustrations, appendices, references etc. Roman numerals must not be used for page numbering.

The main text of the dissertation should be left-justified to aid accessibility and readability.

Figures or images used in the dissertation must be of sufficient size and clarity.

Submitting work

All assignments must be submitted electronically. The published deadlines for assessments all relate to the electronic submission which is done via Blackboard, on the Turnitin system. You must submit by the deadline advertised in your timetable/assessment handbook.

The filename MUST contain your ID number then your assignment title,

e.g. 7123456 Assignment 1.

DO NOT save the work as ‘Essay’ or as the title of the work.

All assignments must include a cover page with the unit title, assignment question and your student number. Do not include your name as assignments are marked anonymously. Please see below for an example:

The University of Manchester

PHAR71010 – Basic Principles

(Assignment title)

(Submission date)

(Final word count)

(Student ID)

DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THIS DOCUMENT.

When creating your document please ensure your ID number is on each page (in the header or footer) and your name does not appear on the document.

To submit an electronic copy of the work:

• Log onto Blackboard: http://online.manchester.ac.uk/
• Click on the relevant course unit
• Navigate to the Assessment folder from the left sidebar menu
• Locate and click the relevant “submission” area
• Follow the submission process
• An on-screen receipt for your assignment will be shown once submitted
• For a how-to video on submitting via Blackboard, please follow this link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_913066741&feature=iv&src_vid=7ZuZW9-KAjY&v=oI3X0XW-xkI
• If you have any problems accessing the student portal contact http://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/contacts

Please remember you can only upload one document so you cannot save your references as a separate document.

The electronic copy is your official record of submission.

Monitoring Progress

For students progressing on to study for the MSc, further information regarding supervision will be on the PHAR62230 Dissertation space on Blackboard. In order to monitor their progress, students will have regular, scheduled meetings with their dissertation supervisor. Progress forms should be completed at these meetings.

Role and Responsibilities of Unit Leaders

• To develop and update the unit specification in consultation with specialists and programme directors, ensuring a coherent selection of teaching material and assessments to fit with the overall aim of the programme and its specifications
• To liaise with a programme administrators and the specialists on their unit to ensure that the information on their unit in the programme handbook is accurate
• To liaise with programme administrators and specialists to organise examining, marking and student feedback
• To develop and monitor the Blackboard e-Learning site for their unit, in liaison with specialists for the sessions in their unit
• To liaise with students concerning queries relating to teaching and assessments for the unit that are not specific to an individual teaching session
• To attend programme meetings and the programme exam board in order to liaise with programme directors and student representatives
• To consider and act upon student feedback, staff feedback, and external examiner feedback, in order to modify the structure, content and processes within their unit, in discussion with the programme team.

Role of the External Examiner

External Examiners are individuals from another institution or organisation who monitor the assessment processes of the University to ensure fairness and academic standards. They ensure that assessment and examination procedures have been fairly and properly implemented and that decisions have been made after appropriate deliberation. They also ensure that standards of awards and levels of student performance are at least comparable with those in equivalent higher education institutions.

External Examiner’s reports

External Examiner’s reports relating to this programme will be shared with student representatives and details of any actions carried out by the programme team/School in response to the External Examiners’ comments will be discussed. Students should contact their student representatives if they require any further information about External Examiners’ reports or the process for considering them.

The External Examiner for this programme is: Dr Simon White

Name of Institution: Keele University

Position at current Institution: Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy,
Director of Postgraduate Education
Reader in Pharmacy Practice

Please note that it is inappropriate for students to make direct contact with External Examiners under any circumstances, in particular with regards to a student’s individual performance in assessments.  Other appropriate mechanisms are available for students, including the University’s appeals or complaints procedures and the UMSU Advice Centre. In cases where a student does contact an External Examiner directly, External Examiners have been requested not to respond to direct queries. Instead, External Examiners should report the matter to their School contact who will then contact the student to remind them of the other methods available for students. If students have any queries concerning this, they should contact their Programme Office (or equivalent).

Section B: Syllabus, Course Units and Route through the Programme

Syllabus

Year One: Compulsory Units

Semester 1

PHAR63001: Foundations of Clinical Pharmacy (15 credits)

PHAR60411: Medicines Optimisation and Therapeutics 1 (15 credits)

Semester 2

PHAR63002: Evidence Based Practice (15 credits)

PHAR63012: Medicines Optimisation and Therapeutics 2 (15 credits)

Year Two: Optional Units

Semester 1

PHAR61001 Independent Prescribing (30 credits)

PHAR63021 Specialist Medicines Optimisation and Therapeutics (15 credits)

PHAR63041 Paediatrics (15 credits)

PHAR63031 Mental Health (15 credits)

PHAR60431 Education and Training (15 credits)

PHAR65001 Medicines Management (15 credits)

POPH63121 Qualitative Research Methods (15 credits)

Semester 2

PHAR61002 Independent Prescribing (30 credits)

POPH60092 Economic Evaluation in Healthcare (15 credits)

PHAR62261 Leadership and Management (15 credits)

PHAR62252 Surgery (15 credits)

PHAR63052 Pharmacy Public Health (15 credits)

POPH60982 Practical Statistics for Population Health (Quantitative Research Methods) (15 credits)

Year Three

PHAR62230 Research dissertation (60 credits)

Course Units

Course Unit: Foundations of Clinical Pharmacy (PHAR63001)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leader: Esnath Magola-Makina

Year: 1

Aims:

To foster the skills, knowledge and behaviours of a clinical pharmacist through a range of essential skills. Introduce the concept of pharmaceutical care and medicines optimisation. To develop clinical problem-solving skills in a range of patient groups (elderly, paediatrics, renal, liver and surgical patients), develop advanced consultation skills and behaviours, reporting of adverse drug reactions, responding to medicines related enquiries, and resolving medicines related incidents. These skills are underpinned by developing and understanding the benefits of reflection on practice.

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should:

• Demonstrate competency in consultation skills
• Demonstrate the skills required to deliver effective clinical care in a variety of settings working as part of the multidisciplinary healthcare team.
• Describe the concept of pharmaceutical care and medicines optimisation
• Demonstrate systematic understanding of specific common patient groups and the issues involved in therapeutic optimisation in these groups
• Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of best clinical practice and its application to clinical practice and the pharmaceutical care of patients
• Integrate theory and research of disease pathology and disease management with patient information to apply best evidence to practice in a clinical problem-solving context.
• Safely and competently carry out a range of patient-based clinical skills
• Use resources to collect and select information about the optimal clinical management of a patient
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development and in a wider context throughout their career
• Evaluate their own academic and personal progression

Description:

This compulsory unit provides students with a baseline skillset to be able to review patients and optimise their therapy. It will cover the fundamentals of communication and patient management for a range of commonly encountered patient groups, and will also highlights the role of the pharmacist in patient care. The following key clinical skills will be developed:

• problem identification
• taking and evaluating a medication history
• patient counselling
• interpretation of laboratory data
• understanding the relationship between different patient groups and drug handling
• consultations skills and behaviours
• responding to medication-related enquiries
• reporting adverse drug reactions
• responding to medication errors that compromise patient safety
• reflection on practice

The unit will combine e-lectures, webinars and tutorials, reading and practical work-based tasks to develop these skills which will be assessed using a practice portfolio.

Assessment:

Submission of Clinical Skills Practice Portfolio. This includes the following, mapped against the professional competency framework: PDP reflection against RPS Framework Completion of the Consultation Skills for Pharmacy Practice e-assessment [not required for international students] Consultation Skills (2023) (cppe.ac.uk) A medication history Provide a patient with information An adverse drug reaction A medication error  Responding to an  inquiry from another healthcare professional Items 1- 4 to be submitted in week 7 Items 4-6 to be submitted in week 15

2,500 words

Summative

100%

Course Unit: Medicines Optimisation and Therapeutics 1 (PHAR60411)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leader: Stan Houghton

Year: 1

Aims:

To develop the knowledge and skills required to deliver medicines optimisation and demonstrate clinical problem-solving skills in a range of specific disease states, ie,  asthma, COPD, hypertension, heart failure, peptic ulcer disease (PUD), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), diabetes, depression, dementia and infection).

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should:

• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of specific disease states and the complex issues involved in therapeutic optimisation and individualising care for patients with these diseases (namely asthma, COPD, hypertension, heart failure, PUD, IBD, diabetes, depression, dementia and general infection)
• Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of best clinical practice/national guidance and application to clinical practice and pharmaceutical care of patients with these specific disease states
• Integrate theory and research of disease pathology and disease management with patient information to apply best evidence to practice in a clinical problem-solving context.
• Critically analyse and evaluate the relevant scientific literature in therapeutics and practice research
• Use critical reasoning to synthesise, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources of data from clinical and health services areas in order to apply these to resolve individual patient drug-related problems Apply these skills to pharmaceutical care planning
• Safely and competently carry out a range of patient-based clinical skills: taking a drug history from a patient, evaluating individual patients’ pharmaceutical care needs, identifying, prioritising and resolving drug relating problems, ensuring drug prescriptions and regimens are safe, effective, discharge planning and patient advise provision
• Use library, electronic and online resources to collect and select information about the optimal clinical management of a patient
• Carry out constructive peer review
• Develop oral presentation skills [blended option only]
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development and in a wider context throughout their career
• Learn to manage effective team working by carrying out tasks within a small group in a structured situation, and by preparing and giving a presentation of data, information or the solution to a team task
• Evaluate his/her own academic and personal progression
• Identify and develop learning needs through CPD and mapping competency against a professional competency framework

Description:

This unit is compulsory for students registered on the MSc/PGDip Clinical Pharmacy.

This unit will develop students’ knowledge in commonly encountered chronic disease states. Students will apply this knowledge to review patients and optimise their therapy through a series of case study and wiki exercises, and for assessment.

The unit will cover the fundamentals of patient management for a range of disease states, and will also highlight the role of the pharmacist in patient care, and emphasise the following key clinical skills:

• Apply a systematic approach to clinical problem solving through pharmaceutical care planning for patients with particular diseases
• Preparation of pharmaceutical care plans
• Critically review the evidence for the treatment of commonly encountered disease states in its application to pharmaceutical care
• Understand the relationship between individual patient needs and therapeutics in different disease states
• Apply current therapeutic principles of treating particular disease states and incorporate into working practice
• Develop the principles of individualising patient care within specific disease states
• Utilise the principles of CPD to further enhance their professional development in line with a professional competency framework

The unit will be assessed using an online examination (MCQ and case-based questions) and a pharmaceutical care plan.

Assessment:

Pharmaceutical care plan (1 individual plan)	Suggested no longer than 2,000 words	Formative Pass / Fail	0%
Assessed pharmaceutical care plan	Suggested no longer than 2,000 words	Summative	30%
Examination (MCQ and case-based questions – two compulsory)	2 hours	Summative	70%

Course Unit: Evidence Based Practice (PHAR63002)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leaders: Dr Li-Chia Chen

Year: 1

Aims:

The unit aims to:

Enable students to evaluate the healthcare literature and understand the types of studies used to  assess prescribing, medication utilisation, clinical outcomes and adverse frug events.

Support students in analysing evidence and using  evidence-based information to effectively manage medicines in  prescribing, formulary decisions and patient access to new medicines.

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should:

• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of clinical and health services research design and statistical and ethical issues.
• Demonstrate a conceptual and critical understanding of medicines management methods in use in healthcare and pharmaceutical care that inform formulary decisions and introduction of new medicines
• Critically analyse and evaluate the relevant scientific literature in therapeutics, practice research, medicines management, health economics, health-related social sciences and health policy to inform decisions in practice such as prescribing, medicine selection and formulary management
• Use critical reasoning to synthesise, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources of data from clinical and health services areas and apply these to individual patient problem-solving and wider policy decision-making prescribing, medicine selection and formulary management
• Analyse  quantitative data to determine their strength and validity
•  Interpret results from primary and secondary clinical and health services data.
• Manage effective team working by carrying out tasks within a small group and by preparing and presenting data, information or the solution to a team task
• Manage change effectively and respond to changing demands
• Evaluate their own academic and personal progression
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development and in a wider context throughout their career including identifying competency against a professional competency framework

Description:

This unit will provide students with a baseline skillset to be able to analyse and utilise healthcare literature.

Students will use systematic frameworks (eg, the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklists) to analyse, appraise, and evaluate various types of original studies in the clinical and health services areas during this unit. Besides, students will take the person-centred approach and critical reasoning to apply the literature evidence to clinical practice case scenarios, thus enhancing their problem-solving skills. Furthermore, this unit promotes broader policy decision-making skills to inform prescribing analysis, formulary decisions and medicines access, such as introducing new drugs within the local practice.

This unit consists of nine lectures on core methodology and three special topics over the twelve weeks. The core lectures include concepts of evidence-based medicine and an overview of different types of clinical research, ie, randomised controlled trials, systematic review and meta-analysis, epidemiological (case-control, cohort, cross-sectional) and health economics studies. The lectures on special topics cover the application of evidence to pharmacovigilance for evaluating medication safety, drug utilisation research for influencing policy and the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of clinical guideline-making. Each lecture includes video clips, quizzes and recommended reading to facilitate students’ learning.

There are also five webinars, including three journal clubs, to guide students through critiquing different types of articles. Moreover, two webinars will be arranged as the interim review (synopsis and critical appraisal report writing) and final assessment review (examination briefing) to help students prepare for the assessment. Besides, the weekly discussion forum (a selected question) and discussion board (for questions and answers) will be open until the examination period starts.

By the end of this unit, students should be able to:

• Understand the critical principles of epidemiology and health economic study designs, key outcome measures, analytical principles, result presentations and interpretation.
• Critically appraise literature to identify critiquing points or conflicts relating to the quality of study design and results.
• Validate calculation for various measures of risk (eg, OR, RR, NNT, AR) for clinical effectiveness and economic outcomes (eg, QALY and ICER) for the cost-effectiveness of interventions and interpret the implications of these outcomes to clinical or policy decision-making.
• Apply evidence to patient care, such as selecting medicines based on evidence and how formulary decisions are made.
• Analyse and present the critical evaluation in a synopsis to inform clinical decision-making.

The unit will be assessed through an online written examination (multiple choice questions) and a critical evaluation report. Sample examination papers and past sample reports are provided to help students prepare for the assessments.

Assessment:

Report of critical evaluation of two studies	1,500 words	Summative	50%
MCQ examination	1.5 hours	Summative	50%

Course Unit: Medicines Optimisation and Therapeutics 2 (PHAR63012)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leader: TBC

Year: 1

Aims:

To further develop the knowledge and skills required to engage in medicines optimisation and apply clinical problem-solving skills to complex chronic disease states, namely, vascular disease, kidney disease, hepatic disease, musculoskeletal (rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis), Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and palliative care.

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should:

• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of specific disease states and the complex issues involved in therapeutic optimisation and individualising care for patients with these diseases.
• Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of best clinical practice and its application to clinical practice and pharmaceutical care of patients with specific disease states
• Integrate theory and research of disease pathology and disease management with patient information to apply best evidence to practice in a clinical problem-solving context.
• Critically analyse and evaluate the relevant scientific literature in therapeutics
• Use critical reasoning to synthesise, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources of data from clinical areas and apply these to individual patient problem-solving
• Apply these skills to pharmaceutical care planning
• Safely and competently carry out a range of patient-based clinical skills; taking a drug history from a patient, evaluating individual patients’ pharmaceutical care needs, ensuring drug prescriptions and regimens are safe, effective and legal, identifying pharmaceutical care issues with resolutions and care planning
• Use resources to collect and select information about the optimal clinical management of a patient
• Manage effective team working by carrying out tasks within a small group in a structured situation, and by preparing and giving an oral presentation
• Evaluate their own academic and personal progression
• Manage effective team working by carrying out tasks within a small group in a structured situation
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development and in a wider context throughout their career including identifying competency against a professional competency framework.

Description:

This unit is compulsory for students registered on the MSc/PGDip Clinical Pharmacy.

This unit will develop students’ knowledge in complex chronic disease states. Students will apply this knowledge to review patients and optimise their therapy through a series of case studies, self-directed online activities and pharmaceutical care plans.

The unit will deliver learning on:

Therapeutic options for complex disease states including vascular disease, kidney and complex gastroenterology/hepatic disease, musculoskeletal disorders e.g. rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and palliative care.

Critical evaluation of primary evidence and national guidelines relating these to the individual patient needs.

Medicines optimisation issues including patient safety and wastage of medicines, which will include relevant national policy and guidelines.

Patient-centred care including patient and health care professional communication and consultation skills

Critically review the therapeutic options in the management of specific disease states

Identify how to monitor the desired outcomes and adverse effects of drug therapy

Discuss the complexities of therapeutic decision making in complex disease states and patient groups

Present pharmaceutical care plans for an individual patient’s management, explaining all the patients pharmaceutical care requirements and identifying the role of the pharmacist in medicines optimisation

Utilise the principles of CPD to further enhance their professional development in line with a professional competency framework.

The unit will be assessed using an online examination (MCQ and  scenario-based  short answer questions) and a pharmaceutical care plan.

Assessment:

Pharmaceutical care plan (1 individual plan)	Suggested no longer than 2,000 words	Formative Pass / Fail	0%
1 assessed pharmaceutical care plan	Suggested no longer than 2,000 words	Summative	30%
Examination (MCQ and case-based questions – two compulsory)	2 hours	Summative	70%

Course Unit: Specialist Medicines Optimisation and Therapeutics (PHAR63021)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leader: Marwah Zaki

Year: 2

Aims:

To further develop the knowledge and skills required to engage in medicines optimisation and engage in clinical problem-solving skills in complex disease states including the critical care patient and advanced and complex disease states (HIV, TB, nutrition, cancer, critical care and biological therapies).

Students will apply this knowledge to review patients and optimise their therapy through a series of case study and online exercises.

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should:

• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of specific disease states (HIV/TB, hepatitis, nutrition, critical care, biologic therapies and cancer) and the complex issues involved in therapeutic optimisation and individualising care for patients with these diseases.
• Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of best clinical practice and its application to clinical practice and pharmaceutical care of patients with specific disease states (as above)
• Integrate theory and research of disease pathology and disease management with patient information to apply best evidence to practice in a clinical problem-solving context.
• Use critical reasoning to synthesise, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources of data from clinical areas and apply these to individual patient problem-solving
• Safely and competently carry out a range of patient-based clinical skills(pharmaceutical care planning, case-based analysis of patient management)
• Use resources to collect and select information about the optimal clinical management of a complex patient
• Develop presentation skills
• Carry out constructive peer review
• Learn to manage effective team working by carrying out tasks within a small group in a structured situation, and by preparing and giving an oral presentation (blended only)
• Evaluate their own academic and personal progression
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development and in a wider context throughout their career, including demonstrating competency against a professional competency framework.

Description:

This unit builds upon the knowledge and skills gained in prior units to further develop the student’s professional practice in managing patients with complex disease states, including those with HIV, TB, cancer and patients requiring intensive care, clinical nutrition or biological therapies.

Depending on the student’s area of practice there will be an opportunity to choose appropriate case studies to meet their professional needs.

The unit will be assessed using a case-based discussion and a pharmaceutical care plan.

Assessment:

Case-based discussion (based on a different patient and condition than the pharmaceutical care plan)	30 mins	Summative	50%
Pharmaceutical care plan (based on a different patient and condition than the case-based discussion)	2,000 words	Summative	50%

Course Unit: Paediatrics (PHAR63041)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leaders: Chris Paget

Year: 2

Aims:

To develop student’s knowledge of commonly encountered paediatric conditions, general and specialist management of paediatric patients.

To develop skills in the practice of pharmaceutical care to children and their carers.

To improve students’ clinical practice regarding the management of the unwell child.

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should:

• Describe the legal and ethical framework that supports children and young people in their encounters with healthcare
• Explain the differences between children and adults in terms of drug handling, adherence issues and communication
• Describe and demonstrate the pharmacological and nonpharmacological management of commonly encountered conditions in children and young people
• Describe and demonstrate, using advanced clinical decision-making skills, the specialist management of children and young people
• Discuss the contributions that the pharmacy team can make to the care of children and young people with acute and long term conditions
• Integrate theory and research of disease pathology and disease management in children and young people with patient information to apply the best evidence to practice
• Critically analyse and evaluate clinical literature in therapeutics relevant to paediatrics
• Use critical reasoning to synthesise, analyse and evaluate clinical and contextual data in order to apply this to resolve individual patient drug-related problems
• Evaluate and critically analyse the ethical and legal implications of treatment options in children and young people
• Facilitate continuity of care for children moving between primary, secondary and tertiary care
• Use a range of electronic resources to identify and select appropriate information about the optimal clinical management of a paediatric patient
• Carry out constructive peer review
• Demonstrate competency in consultations with children
• Evaluate their own academic and personal progression
• Manage effective team working by participating in small group tasks
• Communicate effectively with paediatric patients and their carers
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development and in a wider context throughout their career including identifying competency against a professional competency framework.

Description:

This unit will enhance students’ practice in paediatrics through developing both knowledge of common disease processes and paediatric drug handling in addition to broader skills essential to providing paediatric pharmaceutical care in a safe and effective manner. The unit covers basic, general and specialist management of paediatric patients.

The unit will combine e-lectures, reading and practical work-based tasks to develop this knowledge and skills which will be assessed using self-assessment, reflective practice and in-depth case study review.

Assessment:

3 x MCQ self-tests	30-60 minutes each	Formative	0% Pass/fail only – 70% required to pass each self-test.
“Consulting with children and young people” CPPE e-learning package: E-learning completion Self-reflection checklist CPD record	2 hours 30 minutes 30 minutes	Formative	0% Pass/fail only
Pre-set case study: Written account Oral presentation	Suggested max. 1,000 words Max. 20 minutes	Summative	100% Written account (30%) Oral presentation (70%) Both elements of the assessment must be passed.

Course Unit: Mental Health (PHAR63031)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leaders: Dr Richard Keers & Joanne Nguyen

Year: 2

Aims:

Develop student’s knowledge of commonly encountered mental illnesses, including their epidemiology, presentation and management.

Develop knowledge and skills in the practice of pharmaceutical care to patients with mental illnesses.

Improve students’ mental health clinical practice with regard to holistic approaches to improve communication, optimise therapy and improve outcomes in collaboration with patients and other healthcare professionals.

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should:

• Describe the epidemiology, presentation and management of at least five mental health illnesses
• List the main classes of medicines used in the management of commonly encountered mental illnesses and explain how and when they should be used
• Describe the non-pharmacological approaches used in the management of mental illness
• Evaluate the role, risk profile and effective management in practice of the high-risk mental health medicines lithium and clozapine
• Discuss the key role the pharmacy team has in supporting people with adherence and helping them to make decisions about their medicines to improve their outcomes
• Discuss interface issues that occur when people with mental illness move between secondary and primary care
• Integrate research findings on disease management in mental health with patient specific information to apply the best evidence to individual patients
• Critically analyse and evaluate clinical literature in therapeutics relevant to mental health
• Use critical reasoning to synthesise, analyse and evaluate clinical and contextual data in order to apply this to resolve individual patient drug-related problems
• Access and effectively use the relevant National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and where appropriate the British Association of Psychopharmacology (BAP) and Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines resources to recommend the optimal clinical management of a patient with mental illnesses
• Explore new ways to improve outcomes for people with mental illness using a holistic and person-centred approach
• Carry out constructive peer review
• Demonstrate consultation skills for people with mental health conditions
• Evaluate their own academic and personal progression
• Manage effective team working by participating in online discussion forums and webinars
• Identify and use approaches to improve communication and consultation with people with mental health illness
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development and in a wider context throughout their career including identifying competency against a professional competency framework.

Description:

Early in the course students will be introduced to the mental health unit and assessment strategy, followed by learning about the Mental Health Act, substance misuse and mental health, the relationship between mental health and physical health, revisiting psychopharmacology, and guidance on completing pharmaceutical care plans.

Following these introductory topics, the unit will concentrate on six main areas: depression, anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and dementia.

The unit will conclude by exploring the role of mental health pharmacists in more specialist settings using journal articles and where possible short videos of advanced practitioners in these fields. Specialist settings may include substance misuse, A&E liaison, mother and baby units, learning disabilities and adolescent care.

Students will develop skills in consulting with and providing advice to people with mental illness and be able to utilise information from a variety of sources in order to optimise patients’ care.

The unit will combine e-lectures, reading, case studies, online discussion forums, online Webinars, short videos and practical work-based tasks to develop these knowledge and skills, which will be assessed using a pharmaceutical care plan, oral case-based discussion and the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) e-learning programme ‘Consulting with people with mental health problems’.

Students will also have the opportunity to discuss and receive feedback on a formative pharmaceutical care plan during the second scheduled unit webinar.

Assessment:

Pharmaceutical care plan (based on different patient and  a different mental health disorder than the case-based discussions). Submitted  in week 10.	Case dependent (suggested limit 1,000 words)	Summative	50%
Completion of Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) e-learning course ‘Consulting with people with mental health problems’. ** https://www.cppe.ac.uk/programmes/l/mentheal-e-01	CPPE e-learning course (Takes ~3 hours to complete)	Formative	Pass/Fail (Students should submit evidence that they have completed this e-course by Monday, week 13)
Oral case-based discussion (based on different patient and focus on different mental health disorder than the pharmaceutical care plan). During the semester 1 assessment period. Oral presentation carried out in January examination period.	30 mins	Summative	50%

** If students are unable to complete this CPPE e-learning course (e.g. lack of access) an alternative ‘Reflective Account’ assignment will be set. This will be capped at 500 words and will ask students to reflect upon and discuss the main areas of learning and development arising from studying on this unit, and how this will be/has been applied in their area of practice to benefit their patients and/or colleagues.

Course Unit: Education and Training (PHAR60431)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leader: Andrew Mawdsley

Year: 2

Aims:

To develop the skills required for the development of people and teams, including coaching and mentoring skills, and introduce the students to the concepts of educational theories for the purpose of teaching healthcare teams.

Description:

• This unit will promote the student’s skills and behaviours required to advance their own, and their teams’, professional development.
• The principles of teaching and learning will be explored with particular reference to the development of the pharmacy team; this will include the evaluation of educational interventions and their application.
• The process of assessment and feedback and the skills required to deliver quality teaching sessions and meet learning objectives will be explored, with the student being encouraged to design and deliver appropriate teaching sessions within their workplace.
• Models of behaviour will be discussed and the impact of personality types on team dynamics and learning.
• Students will be encouraged to reflect upon their own personality types and learning styles and those of their team.

The unit will be assessed through an extended CPD reflective report and a teaching and learning portfolio.

On completion of the unit students will be able to:

• Discuss the key skills and behaviours required for the roles of mentor, coach and tutor.
• Evaluate educational interventions and their use in pharmacy practice.
• Develop teaching plans using a variety of educational methods.
• Discuss the use of assessment methods and their application to pharmacy practice.
• Demonstrate their ability to provide feedback to learners.

The unit is assessed using submission of a teaching portfolio and a reflective account of educational practice.

Objectives:

• Demonstrate conceptual and critical understanding of educational issues in healthcare
• Describe the key skills and behaviours required for the roles of mentor, coach and tutor
• Critically evaluate the use of a variety of assessment methods and their application to pharmacy practice
• Critically appraise key learning theories and their implications for clinical education
• Discuss and demonstrate teaching methods, evaluation of teaching, and assessment methods
• Critically analyse and evaluate the relevant educational literature
• Evaluate educational interventions and their use in pharmacy practice
• Carry out constructive peer review
• Develop teaching plans using a variety of educational methods
• Demonstrate their ability to provide feedback to learners (which involves the gathering and synthesis, analysis and evaluation of objective data in order to provide meaningful constructive feedback)
• Demonstrate teaching others
• Evaluate their own academic and personal progression
• Engage in reflective practice to drive further learning
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development and in a wider context throughout their career including identifying competency against a professional competency framework.

Assessment:

Teaching Portfolio

2,000 words total

Summative

100%

Course Unit: Medicines Management (PHAR65001)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leader: Joseph Williams

Year: 2

Aims:

The unit aims to:

Improve pharmacists’ practice through developing knowledge and its application in the following areas:

NHS structure, commissioning of services and funding; clinical governance; medicines access decision-making and e-technology in medicines management.

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should be able to:

• Demonstrate the ability to understand the principles governing patient care in the NHS in the context of policy and governance
• Understand and critically analyse the underpinning professional, ethical and legal aspects of medicines management
• Demonstrate the ability to define what constitutes a risk to patient safety
• Understand local and national reporting mechanisms for patient safety issues
• Understand the principles of clinical audit
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of the responsibility of an independent prescriber, be aware of their own limitations and work within their professional competence
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the legal, ethical and professional framework for accountability and responsibility in relation to prescribing, dispensing, administration and management of medicines
• Demonstrate an understanding of the Caldicott guidelines and define the principles of patient confidentiality and data security
• Demonstrate an understanding of the legal and professional responsibilities of prescribing unlicensed medicines
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the impact of prescribing practice on public health priorities
• Critically appraise the impact on prescribing of the local health economy, primary and secondary care guidelines and health improvement priorities
• Critically review the framework for prescribing budgets and evaluate the criteria required for cost effective prescribing
• Demonstrate an understanding of managing medicines access through formularies, interface prescribing, RAG lists etc, and how decisions are made with regards to medicines access
• Discuss how prescribing guidelines are developed and cascaded with critical thought to the impact on practice
• Demonstrate how developments in practice may be disseminated to the multidisciplinary team
• Recognise when an error has occurred and to understand the principles behind reporting and investigating this
• Contribute to strategies to improve patient safety (eg checklist development, IT systems)
• Be aware of and keep up to date with national and local patient safety initiatives
• Recognise, critically evaluate and respond to influences on prescribing practice at local and national levels
• Identify and critically appraise relevant sources of information, advice and decision support including research
• Critically evaluate the difference between professional accountability and responsibility for medicines use
• Recognise internal and external factors that influence prescribing decisions and consider management strategies for these
• Explain how budgets are held and how decisions are made and managed around switching prescribed drugs
• Understand to clinical governance frameworks through quality assurance and audit of prescribing practice
• Explain prescribing safely, rationally and cost effectively taking into account evidence-based practice at an individual patient level
• Demonstrate the ability to contribute where appropriate to the investigation of patient safety incidents, particularly in areas where medicines have played a role in either causation or by omission
• Demonstrate reflective practice and identify learning opportunities to fulfil CPD needs and maintain a critical and reflective record of CPD activity
• Demonstrate working in partnership with care team members and an advanced level of understanding of the roles of other
• Demonstrate the ability to interface effectively between multiple care sectors
• Evaluate their own academic and personal progression in line with a recognised professional competency framework.

Description:

This unit has three themes which focus on:

• Understanding medicines use and medicines access across care settings, including the organisation structures of differing care sectors
• Explaining structures which influence prescribing and medicines spend, and
• Patient safety, risk management and governance within the NHS

The unit will cover understanding the organisational structure of primary and secondary care, and how budgets, transfer of care etc interface across care boundaries. Students will develop skills, knowledge and attributes required for understanding and evaluating safe and effective prescribing, dispensing, administration of medicines in terms of ethical, legal and financial frameworks and structures.

Assessment:

Medicines management report on managing the entry of a new drug

3,000 words

Summative

100%

Course Unit: Qualitative Research Methods (POPH63121)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leaders: Veronique Griffith

Year: 2

Aims:

To enable students to develop the skills to use qualitative methodology in public health and primary care research.

Objectives:

On completion of this unit, successful students will be able to:

• Understand the philosophical principles of undertaking qualitative research applied to health settings.
• Explain and critically discuss the principal qualitative methods that can be deployed to undertake research as a means of exploring a range of important public health and primary care issues.
• Compare and contrast the ways in which qualitative data may be collected and used in primary care and public health research.
• Identify, synthesise and conduct secondary analysis of qualitative data on topics relevant to primary care, public health or health services research.

At Master’s level, we expect students to be able to apply what they know to other contexts, often their own. In this unit, students will have the opportunity of practically applying the material the unit covers through their assessments. Students will develop their skills in qualitative data collection (e.g. interviews) and data analysis (e.g. thematic analysis)

Team working is important for all health professionals and especially Public Health specialists. This unit requires students to work together in small groups to design and plan a qualitative research project.

Reflexivity – Given the subjective nature of qualitative data and methodology, there are so many ways in which researcher bias could influence the study. This can range from the study design, to data collection, data analysis and even data interpretation and reporting. Consequently, this unit allows you to examine, judge and reflect on your own practices and to explore the implications of your role in producing certain kinds of knowledge.

Description:

This unit is suited to anyone working as a health worker or researcher who is interested in learning about qualitative research methods. Some students take this unit to better understand published research. Others who have previously only studied quantitative research methods take this unit to gain an insight into different ways of thinking about research. For students who are planning a career or substantive research using these methods, this unit is an excellent starter.

This unit is designed to introduce students to the theory behind qualitative research and a number of qualitative research methods. On completion, students should be able to understand and appreciate qualitative research and undertake basic research.

This is an interactive online course. 10% of the total marks for this course will be awarded to an assessed online group task. Students are therefore expected to engage with one another.

Assessment:

Midterm assignment	1,500 words	Summative	35%
Final assignment	2,500 words	Summative	55%
Online assessments	500 words	Summative	10%

Course Unit: Economic Evaluation in Healthcare (POPH60092)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leader: Gemma Shields

Year: 2

Aims:

To enable participants to: understand the principles of health economics, structure an economic evaluation and appraise and apply economic evaluation evidence to decision-making in practice.

Objectives:

On completion of this unit successful students will be able to:

• Describe key health economic concepts
• Appraise the need for and relevance of economic evaluation in health care
• Explain the key principles, components and design choices of economic evaluations
• Apply guidelines to published economic evaluations and appraise the validity and relevance of that research
• Interpret published economic evaluations and assess their role in decision-making, and barriers to their use
• Analyse cost and outcome data to complete a simple economic evaluation
• Apply the use of decision analysis to the design of economic evaluations
• Produce a focused and answerable economic question that can be addressed using primary or secondary data sources

Students will demonstrate analytical skills through their ability to cost and use outcome data in example economic analyses

Students will be equipped with the knowledge and skills required to enable them to understand how researchers collect and use economic evidence for economic evaluation. They will plan an economic evaluation and will formulate ideas to build on existing research

Students will critically appraise economic evaluations to assess the strengths and limitations of studies, as well as to consider the generalisability of studies to other settings

Description:

The demand for healthcare is rising for many reasons, and mostly outstrips supply. This means hard choices have to be made about how to distribute resources in health care. Economic evaluation provides information to support decision makers in allocating resources to improve efficiency. The course unit benefits anyone with an interest in planning or managing health services or involved in health services research.

This is an interactive online course. Students must work through the online course material. Students are encouraged to use the Blackboard discussion boards to ask questions and check their understanding of the course material

The unit will be assessed through an extended reflective report and a teaching and learning portfolio.

Assessment:

Midterm Assignment	1,000 words	Summative	30%
Final Assignment	3,000 words total	Summative	70%

Course Unit: Leadership and Management (PHAR62261)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leaders: Dr Jenny Silverthorne

Year: 2

Aims:

Introduce students to core strategic and organisational behaviour principles and tools. Enable students to develop personal leadership skills and behaviours, and enable students to develop a business and marketing plan for a priority area in their workplace. This includes developing knowledge of the management, sociological and organisational influences on the provision of healthcare and critically analysing their impact on pharmaceutical service provision.

To promote the development of leadership skills and apply these to the healthcare environment.

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should:

• Recognise their own values and principles and understand how emotions and prejudices can affect judgement and behaviour
• Recognise team roles and different perspectives and their impact on effective working relationships
• Critically examine personal and professional ethics
• Critically evaluate information to challenge existing practices and processes
• Apply investigation tools to encourage innovative thinking and approaches to leadership
• Design a framework for giving, receiving and learning from feedback
• Employ strategies to provide encouragement and manage differences of opinion
• Apply the appropriate leadership style and team working approaches to different situations and people
• Access and critically evaluate a variety of sources of information to inform service improvement
• Contribute to organisational decision making via the synthesis of contextualised evidence-based recommendations
• Explain the need for change to colleagues and patients using a recognised change-management model
• Identify their strengths and limitations and understand the impact of their behaviour on others
• Assess personal development needs and plan development activities
• Identify and create opportunities to work in collaboration with healthcare colleagues
• Manage change effectively and respond to changing demands
• Acquire an open-minded and creative attitude tempered with scientific discipline and social awareness
• Evaluate his/her own academic and personal progression
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development and in a wider context throughout their career including identifying competency against a professional competency framework.

Description:

The leadership and management unit offers pharmacists the opportunity to develop personal leadership skills and behaviours and apply them in their workplace. This unit has three components: orientation activities, materials to facilitate five online learning community sessions, and a follow-up event to apply learning to practice.

The unit is assessed using submission of a personal development plan, business and marketing plan for a new pharmacy service plus associated oral presentation for all options.

Assessment:

Personal development plan	1,200 words	Summative	20%
Oral presentation of personal development plan	30 mins	Formative	0%
Business plan for a new pharmacy service	2,000 words	Summative	80%

Course Unit: Pharmacy Public Health (PHAR63052)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leader: Emma Wright

Year: 2

Aims:

• Acquire and develop an advanced knowledge and in-depth understanding of the background to public health, the current public health agenda and public health policy and apply this at local level to inform high quality pharmacy public health services
• Acquire and develop the advanced skills to source and critically evaluate best practice and evidence of the contribution of pharmacy to improving public health.
• Attain and develop a systematic understanding and a critical awareness of public health management, strategy and policy in the current context of healthcare delivery.
• Identify their own learning needs with an emphasis on planning their progress through this course unit, develop themselves as critically reflective practitioners in order to work at the forefront of their profession
• Acquire and develop an advanced knowledge and in-depth understanding of the national strategy and local policies relating to one of the following public health areas:
  • Substance misuse (illicit drugs, alcohol, tobacco)
  • Cancer (awareness / prevention and detection / screening)
  • Sexual and reproductive health
  • Weight management
• Acquire and develop the advanced skills to make an effective contribution to the delivery of public health services in one of the above areas.

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should:

• Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of the origins of public health and the current public health agenda including:
  • • Current public health policy
    • Health inequalities
    • Determinants of health
• Individual versus population approaches to public health and how these are influencing the development of the extended role of the pharmacist
• Explain how the principles of epidemiology and health economics apply to public health
• Interpret the key drivers presented in public health policy documents and illustrate the application of these to pharmacy public health
• Describe the key communication skills required for the delivery of pharmacy public health services:
  • Communication skills
  • Consultation skills
  • Essential skills for brief interventions/advice
  • Behaviour change
• Demonstrate an advanced knowledge and critical awareness of the following in chosen area:
• Current national public health strategy, management structure and policy framework.
• The principles of clinical governance and its role in public health services (by application of theory to practice).
• Human behaviour theories and psychology, socio-political influences and the wider consequences on society.
• The range of qualitative and quantitative surveillance data sources and methods for measuring, analysing and interpreting prevalence.
• Local policies and strategies to effect change.
• Critically analyse, evaluate and where appropriate formulate an informed opinion about:
• Public health, wellbeing and population needs, information and data used to formulate recommendations for action, policy decisions and service commissioning, delivery and provision.
• National public health policy, strategy and legislation including how to appropriately apply these at local and regional level.
• The effectiveness of pharmacy public health programmes and services through the integration of theory and evidence based practice.
• Demonstrate self direction and originality in problem solving by acting autonomously in planning a pharmacy based public health service.
• Critically reflect on current practice and apply the learning from this course unit to develop a personal development plan in relation to pharmacy public health services in chosen area
• Analyse qualitative and quantitative public health data to determine their strength and validity.
• Present primary and secondary public health data in written work.
• Carry out constructive peer review
• Demonstrate innovative problem-solving skills whilst planning or evaluating a pharmacy based public health service
• Contribute to and work effectively within an e-community in discussion forums and a student-led peer review seminar.
• Utilise a full range of learning resources including e-learning and open-learning packages.

Description:

This unit delivers fundamental principles of advanced level learning in relation pharmacy public health services. The knowledge and skills in the first 6 weeks of this 12-week course unit will underpin those delivered in the following 6 weeks of specialisation.

The unit introduces the student to strategic public health policy, issues, theories and practices and through the use of interactive learning activities develops the student’s ability to synthesise, evaluate and apply this learning to their own practice situation and to the wider context of healthcare delivery.

Students choose an area of pharmacy public health to focus their final 6 weeks of study on; in this area they develop advanced knowledge and critical awareness of the psychology of human behaviour, surveillance tools, national and local policy and strategy and apply this to their own practice.

Finally, this course unit develops the student’s knowledge and critical awareness of clinical governance and evidence-based practice in the development or evaluation of a pharmacy based public health service.

Assessment:

A reflective account of practice on the development of skills in one area of public health from the four available electives.

3,000 words

Summative

100%

Course Unit: Surgery (PHAR62252)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leader: Sinéad Murphy

Year: 2

Aims:

Further develop the knowledge and skills required to engage in medicines optimisation and in clinical problem-solving skills with regards to the pharmaceutical care of the surgical patient.

Students will apply this knowledge to review patients and optimise their therapy through a series of case studies, observations in practice, care plans and case discussions.

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should:

• Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of the underpinning pharmaceutical care requirements of a surgical patient
• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of specific areas of surgery and the complex issues involved in therapeutic optimisation and individualising care for these patients
• Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of best clinical practice and its application to clinical practice and pharmaceutical care of patients with specific surgical needs
• Integrate theory and research of disease pathology and disease management with patient information to apply best evidence to practice in a clinical problem-solving context
• Use critical reasoning to synthesise, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources of data from clinical areas and apply these to individual patient problem-solving
• Safely and competently carry out a range of patient-based clinical skills (pharmaceutical care planning, case-based analysis of patient management)
• Use resources to collect and select information about the optimal clinical management of a surgical patient
• Develop presentation skills
• Evaluate their own academic and personal progression
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development and in a wider context throughout their career, including demonstrating competency against a professional competency framework.

Description:

This module builds upon the knowledge and skills gained in prior units to further develop the student’s professional practice in managing surgical patients.

The unit is split in to three parts; foundations of surgical care (peri-operative management, nausea and vomiting, antibiotic prophylaxis, wound care, fluids and nutrition, thromboprophylaxis, medicines management and enhanced recovery), general surgery (orthopaedics, obstetrics, colorectal and urology), and advanced surgery (neurosurgery, transplant, vascular, cardiothoracic, hepato-pancreato-biliary, upper gastrointestinal and bariatric surgery).

Depending on the student’s area of practice there will be an opportunity to choose appropriate case studies to meet their professional needs.

At the end of the unit the student should be able to:

• Apply a considered, systematic approach to problem solving for surgical patients
• Critically apply the evidence available in the pharmaceutical care of surgical patients
• Evaluate the key therapeutic principles of surgery and demonstrate how they can be incorporated into practice
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of the principles of individualising patient care within specific surgical states
• Identify how to monitor the desired outcomes and adverse effects of drug therapy and interventions
• Discuss the complexities of therapeutic decision making in different general advanced patient groups
• Apply the principles of Continuing Professional Development to practice and evaluating their competence against a professional competency framework.

The unit will be assessed using a pharmaceutical care plan and case-based discussion.

Assessment:

Oral case-based discussion	30 mins	Summative	50%
Pharmaceutical care plan	2,000 words	Summative	50%

Course Unit: Practical Statistics for Population Health (POPH60982)

Credit Rating: 15

Unit Leader: Isla Gemmell

Year: 2

Aims:

The aim of this course unit is to provide students with an understanding of statistics that they can apply within their own professional practice. This could include conducting quantitative research, interpreting the findings of quantitative research studies or applying statistical thinking to public health practice. The course will teach you how to conduct statistical analyses using a statistical package (SPSS or R).

Objectives:

On completion of this unit, successful students will be able to:

• Apply statistical thinking when conducting or reviewing research in professional practice.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between populations, samples and variability in research studies.
• Define different types of data and demonstrate an understanding of confidence intervals and the normal distribution.
• Perform correlation and simple linear regression and interpret the results.
• Construct and interpret multiple regression models and logistic regression models demonstrating an understanding of confounding.
• Demonstrate the use of methods for statistical inference.
• Perform and interpret survival analyses.
• Use a statistical package to analyse a data set

Students will develop:

• Analytical skills by learning how to conduct statistical analyses using a statistical package and how to interpret the results of their analysis.
• Problem solving skills through developing their skills in statistical thinking.
• Skills in conducting quantitative research and interpreting the findings of quantitative research studies.

Description:

This course is relevant to current or future professionals whose careers will involve either conducting quantitative research or interpreting the findings of quantitative research studies. Statistical analysis of data is a key part of research and many research findings and recommendations are based on the results of statistical analysis. An awareness of statistical methods and the ability to interpret data from published studies is invaluable in a career in public health.

Assessment:

Midterm Assignment		Summative	30%
Final Assignment		Summative	70%

For students wishing to continue to further study:

Course Unit: Dissertation (PHAR62230)

Course Unit Co-ordinator: Dr Denham Phipps

Credit Rating: 60

Year: 3

Aims:

To enable students to develop the knowledge and skills required to plan, undertake and evaluate a pharmacy research project.

Objectives:

At the end of this course unit, the student should:

• Review and critically evaluate literature relating to a clinical pharmacy/pharmacy practice issue
• Reflect on search findings and make recommendations for future research and practice.
• Identify a clear research question on the basis of a review
• Plan and execute a study to address a research question
• Ensure that a study is conducted to ethical and professional standards
• Collect and analyse data using suitable methods.

Description:

This unit consolidates both the general research methods skills and the knowledge about specific pharmacy topics gained during the first two years of the diploma. It provides the learner with an opportunity to investigate a topic of particular interest. Unlike the unit previously studied in the diploma, this unit places heavy emphasis on self-directed study with guidance from a course tutor or other departmental staff member.

Assessment:

Research Proposal	1,000 words	Formative	n/a
Present an update of project progress	2 hours	Formative	n/a
Submit a project report	12,000-15,000 words	Summative	100%

 

 

Section C: Dissertation

The dissertation involves a student working closely with their supervisor to develop and implement an empirical research project. The unit specification for the Dissertation is provided in Section B. Please note: For those students progressing to a PhD following completion of this MSc, the data collected for this dissertation cannot be used in the PhD. However, it is perfectly proper to use the MSc dissertation research as a pilot study for the PhD.

The dissertation unit (PHAR62230) allows those who have completed the PgDip in Clinical Pharmacy to obtain an MSc degree. It builds upon the teaching in years 1 and 2 of the diploma, providing the learner with the opportunity to investigate in more depth a clinical pharmacy or pharmacy practice topic of particular interest. Unlike the other units that make up the diploma, the dissertation unit relies almost entirely on self-directed study, albeit under the supervision of either a course tutor or other departmental staff member.

By completing the dissertation, you will demonstrate a range of research skills, including:

Reviewing and critically evaluating literature relating to a clinical pharmacy or pharmacy practice issue:

• Reflecting on research findings and making recommendations for future research and practice
• Identifying a clear research question on the basis of a review
• Planning and executing a study to address a research question
• Ensuring that the study is conducted to ethical and professional standards
• Collecting and analysing data using a suitable method.

This guide aims to explain what is involved in the completion of the Clinical Pharmacy dissertation. It is based on the FBMH Guidance on Master’s Dissertations (available on the Faculty SharePoint site (https://livemanchesterac.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/UOM-FBMH-TLO/EbRXzXYrZVRIuQK2_3jCG_UBZLrAGEIoR5ptip6IvgPPAQ?e=293Dff&wdLOR=c5AF5C45B-46AF-4113-92F2-D8E07930CA19 ), and intended to be read in conjunction with the rest of the Clinical Pharmacy programme handbook.

What is involved?

The unit provides 60 credits towards the MSc. It is expected to involve 600 hours of work over a 12-month period (September to September). Successful completion of diploma year 2 and a pass in the research methods unit(s) are the prerequisites for undertaking the unit.

To assist in the completion of the unit, four milestones have been placed along the timeline:

1. Month 1: submit the project proposal
2. Months 2-4: conduct the literature review and prepare application(s) for research governance
3. Months 4-10: carry out the study and prepare a draft project report
4. Months 10-12: finalise and submit the project report

At the start of the unit, the module lead will host a webinar to explain in more detail what is required for each milestone. The time and date of this webinar will be advertised on the unit Blackboard space once it opens.

Assessment

The unit includes two formative assessments:

• Project proposal (submitted during Month 1);
• Progress meeting (presented during Month 5);

And one summative assessment:

• Project report (10,000 – 15,000 words; submitted during Month 12)

You can find the marking scheme on Blackboard.

Project options

The project may be one of three types:

1. Empirical study involving primary data;
2. Empirical study involving secondary data;
3. Systematic review/qualitative metasynthesis.

They are described in the following paragraphs.

1. Empirical research involving primary data

This involves collecting and analysing new information/data. The data may be either quantitative or qualitative.

As a guide, dissertations based on empirical research usually contain the following sections:

1. Introduction and aim
2. Method
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. References
6. Appendices

Introduction and aim

The main aim of the Introduction is to inform the reader of why the area of research is important, and how the project is linked to the research field and/or human health and disease. This section should end with a paragraph that clearly states the overall aims and key objectives of the project.

• Overview of the research topic or area
• The questions being addressed and why they are important, ie, what is the research need?
• The purpose of the project, ie, what hypothesis is being tested or questions being asked?
• Aim(s)/objectives

Method

The methods and analysis of the data appropriate to address the research questions/hypotheses should be clearly described. The methods section will include some or all of:

• Type of study/experimental design
• Participants/samples/exposures – inclusion/exclusion criteria and how determined
• Intervention/controls (as appropriate) – how designed, allocation methods and attempts to reduce bias
• Type and justification of outcome measures, or collection of qualitative data
• Equipment, audio recorders/field notes, models/versions, set-up, calibration, experimental methods and materials used
• Analysis plan:
  • Sample size calculation / proposed informants and estimated recruitment rates
  • Statistical and qualitative methods, considerations and software used.
• Regulatory issues:
  • Ethics
  • Local governance approval
  • Data protection
  • Tissue/sampling handling or recordings/transcripts and storage
  • Staff and participants, eg, health and safety issues, out-of-hours working, home visits
  • Costings and resources
  • Time plan/Gantt chart.

Results

A detailed description of the results and findings, divided into sections with a different theme. This section should provide sufficient information to allow the reader to ascertain the aim of each experiment/method and what the result was. The text should be appropriately supported with figures and tables or text boxes containing participant quotes. Tables and figures should be self-contained with an informative heading, appropriate annotation and a concise explanatory legend.

Discussion

The discussion is normally headed by a brief summary of your findings. The discussion should consist of a logical flow of arguments and reasoning that explains and expands upon the results in simple English and identifies their relevance to published findings. The discussion also provides an opportunity to defend the conclusions, identify how experiments or data collection and analysis could have been improved upon, and to discuss how the project might develop given more time. A final conclusion should be given at the end.

References

The dissertation should be appropriately referenced using a range of sources, including important historical references and the most up-to-date research of relevance, in a journal style appropriate to the field of research. References to web pages are acceptable but should be used sparingly, and the date at which the page was accessed should be noted. Students are encouraged to use a referencing software package such as Endnote, Reference Manager, Mendeley or Zotero.

Appendices

As required to include supplementary data without breaking the flow of the dissertation.

2. Empirical research involving secondary data

This involves the use of an existing dataset to answer research questions, as opposed to collecting new data. The dataset may come from routine audit or surveillance activity, such as World Health Organization monitoring, national surveys or databases (eg, the Health Survey for England or the National Reporting and Learning System), or from local data (eg, organisational audit or Trust statistics). It is also possible to use data that have been collected from a previous research project. Either way, the report should include the following sections:

Introduction and aim

As for the empirical research project involving primary data.

Method

Here you will need to provide a detailed description of the existing data set, including how the information was obtained, over what period, using what methods, who was invited to participate and who actually took part. You must also need to be clear about the aims of the main data set/research project, AND of the specific aims that you are seeking to address in the dissertation. This will be followed by your proposal to answer those questions yourself using all or part of the dataset of choice. In a way, you might be performing a sub-study nested within a much broader and larger information/research project. At some point in your dissertation, you will need to give attention to the integrity of the data, and how reliable it might be.

Analysis and results

Here, you will need to provide a detailed plan, and justification for your proposed methods of analysis. Before starting the analysis, you will need to familiarise yourself fully with the dataset and ensure that you understand the meaning of each variable. You will need to check that the data are free from errors and presented in a workable format for your dissertation. Do not underestimate the time involved in this ‘cleaning and preparation’ stage. In the analysis, you will need to justify any deviances to your original plan and be clear about any assumptions that you make. In presenting your results, think about the most effective ways to present and communicate your findings. Remember that you want to capture key findings from the study in a clear and meaningful way; otherwise, the reader will find it difficult to identify what you found. But don’t go overboard with the number of tables, charts and graphs. Stick to presenting what the reader needs to know to understand what you found in relation to your study objectives. A key skill is knowing what and how much needs to be presented by way of analysis output and results.

Discussion

Here you will reflect on the relevance/importance of your research question and the quality of your research findings and set these into the current context of existing knowledge. You can bring in some of the wider literature/evidence to develop arguments to highlight the internal and external generalisability or strengths and weaknesses of your research and show what value can be placed on your actual findings. It is important to discuss the value of the existing data source and to consider alternative/superior ways to answer your research question in future. The discussion section usually includes consideration of the implications of your findings, particularly to health or social work policy and practice. In other words, what recommendations might arise from your work? It is not uncommon to find dissertations and academic papers finishing with the phrase “more research is required” – this obvious statement conveys little information to the reader about what you actually know about the subject. If questions remain unanswered then provide some direction in terms of how they might be answered.

References

As for the empirical project involving primary data.

Appendices

As for the empirical project involving primary data.

NB: If secondary data analysis is being chosen, you must provide confirmation of legitimate access to the respective data for research purposes (for example, a formal letter of access from the person/organisation responsible for the data).

3. Systematic review

This involves systematically collating, assessing and summarising existing sources of evidence, whether quantitative or qualitative. For this dissertation, students can limit the number of studies in their review to ensure that the dissertation can be completed within the time/resources available (see the note below). It is also possible to complete a good review even if no studies can be found. Similarly, the review does not have to focus on randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and other types of evidence can be used. You are not expected to complete a meta-analysis for the dissertation though you can include one if appropriate.

The content of the report will include the following sections:

Introduction/background

As for the empirical project involving primary data.

Study design, including:

• Clearly defined research question
• Definition of intervention
• Criteria for inclusion/exclusion of studies
• Definition of study populations
• Primary and secondary outcomes for the review
• Methods of analysis/summarising data
• Methods for assessing study quality
• Search strategy and sources of literature/information.

Results, including:

• Flow chart of search process/included and excluded studies
• Summary of data extraction
• Summary of included studies
• Assessment of methodological quality
• Summary of treatment effects.

Discussion

As for the empirical project involving primary data.

References

As for the empirical project involving primary data.

Appendices

As for the empirical project involving primary data.

Research governance

Whichever type of project is conducted, you must ensure that the project conforms to relevant research governance requirements. The specific requirements depend on the nature of the study being conducted but are likely to include ethical approval and approval for access to study sites (in the case of primary data analysis) or datasets (in the case of secondary data analysis).

As research governance policies are revised from time to time, the unit lead will explain the requirements that are currently in place during the introductory webinar. In the meantime, you can consult the university’s research ethics guidance here: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/environment/governance/ethics/

You must ensure that any relevant governance approval is in place before you start to collect data for your project. If you are unsure which requirements apply to your project, please discuss this with your project supervisor or the unit lead.

Supervisor support

Once your project proposal has been approved (milestone 1), you will be assigned a supervisor who will be one of the diploma course tutors or another member of academic staff from the department. The supervisor’s role is to provide you with guidance on the conduct of your project, so the supervisor will be chosen based on having academic or practitioner expertise relevant to the project that you have proposed.

It is up to you and your supervisor how you work together to complete the project. However, the FBMH guidelines recommend that:

• You should normally expect to receive around 20 hours of supervision during your project
• You should have a minimum of six supervision meetings (this is separate from any requirement for contact to monitor attendance and wellbeing, although it is possible for both requirements to be met in a single meeting)
• The meetings may be conducted face-to-face, via email, telephone or videoconferencing, or by a mixture of all these methods
• During the meetings, you and your supervisor discuss
  • The suitability and feasibility of the proposed project
  • A plan for completing the project (what needs to be done and when)
  • Research conduct policies and regulations that apply to the project, eg, research governance; health and safety; academic malpractice
  • Any learning needs regarding the project
  • Any issues that may need to be taken into account when assessing your progress or your final report, eg, disabilities/reasonable adjustments; mitigating circumstances that may arise during the project.

Project supervision will be discussed further during the introductory webinar.

Background reading and other learning resources

The specific reading that you will need to do will depend on your project. However, for a general introduction to research methods (building on what you covered in the research methods module during the second year of the diploma) the following textbook is recommended:

Robson, C., & McCartan, K. (2016). Real World Research (Fourth edition). Wiley: Chichester. Available online via The University of Manchester Library: https://www.librarysearch.manchester.ac.uk/permalink/44MAN_INST/1r887gn/alma992976424957801631 [accessed 6 September 2024]

Other learning resources, covering general study skills and dissertation writing, can be found via:

• Reading List Online from the left sidebar menu of the unit Blackboard page
• My Learning Essentials: library.manchester.ac.uk/using–thelibrary/students/training–and–skills–support/my–learning–essentials

Any queries or comments?

You can contact the unit lead, whose details are on the front cover of this guide.

Submission

Please refer to The University of Manchester Guidance on the Presentation of Taught Dissertations for UG and PGT Provision (available from https://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=2863) for details of how to format your thesis. A small section is detailed above, but there are additional points relevant to master’s dissertations that you should include in your submission.

Marking of the project report

Your dissertation will be independently marked by two people in the first instance; your supervisor and another member of academic staff. Each marker will:

1. Mark the dissertation giving a separate percentage mark under each category in the mark scheme.
2. Calculate the weighted total for each category and the weighted totals to give a final percentage mark.
3. Comment on the dissertation under each category in the report section. These comments will be made available to the candidate.
4. On completion of the form, confer with the other marker to agree on a final mark. If a mark cannot be agreed a third marker may be asked to decide.

The dissertation will normally be marked within 30 days of submission. After the dissertation has been marked, it will be scheduled for a review by an external examiner (an academic from a different university) at the next sitting of the examination board. This usually takes place in the November after submission, which allows the award of the MSc to be confirmed in time for graduation in December of that year.

Under the university’s 2023 Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations:

• A mark below 50% is considered a referral and the candidate will be offered the opportunity to resubmit their dissertation within 6 months. The reasons for referral may be investigated by the Faculty. In the case of referrals, assurances will be required that supervisory support is available to enable the student to attempt a revised dissertation. When examiners recommend a referral, they must provide a statement (in addition to the report) which can be sent to the candidate. This statement should indicate quite clearly what revisions are required to be made to the dissertation.
• A student who achieves a mark below 30% for the dissertation will not be permitted to resubmit and will be given an exit award instead.