3.1 Programme Aims

The programme aims to:

  • Provide an overview of the organisation of occupational health services in the UK;
  • Explain the current health and safety at work legislation;
  • Describe the common occupational hazards and diseases, their assessment and management;
  • Introduce the disciplines of occupational hygiene, toxicology, epidemiology and ergonomics and equip students with some of the relevant practical skills;
  • Extend students’ appreciation of the relevance of their clinical skills to the workplace environment;
  • Encourage students to develop an active interest in occupational medicine and its relationship to their day to day work.
  • As UK/European legislation has jurisdiction for this university, a working knowledge of UK legislation will be expected for examinations.

 

3.2 Learning Outcomes

These are intended to:

  • Introduce you to the knowledge and skills required in those areas of medicine, science and hygiene that are encompassed by occupational health;
  • Acquaint you with the UK (and some EU) legislation covering health and safety at work;
  • Describe and define the relationships and responsibilities of the occupational physician with management, trades unions, employees, and other branches of the profession/other appropriate agencies;
  • Give you a good foundation on which to build and extend your knowledge of occupational health during the changes and developments which lie in the years ahead.

In summary, the University of Manchester’s Diploma course (which from now on will be referred to as the CPD course) aims to allow the holder to achieve a level of knowledge/competence appropriate to a generalist working in occupational health.

Eligibility for Professional Examinations

It is your responsibility to liaise with professional bodies on matters of eligibility for professional examinations.  It is also your responsibility to check the appropriate syllabus when preparing for professional examinations.

Every attempt is made to ensure that course material is as up to date as possible; however the professional bodies will expect candidates to show knowledge of current/changing practice, some of which may not be available within the course materials.

The FOM (London) requires candidates wishing to sit their DOccMed examination to provide evidence of successful completion of an FOM approved training course.  This will be evidenced by satisfactory performance in the University of Manchester’s examinations, which are completed during seminars.

You are strongly advised to obtain a copy of the regulations and syllabus for the DOccMed from the FOM (London).

 

3.3 Programme Structure

THIS (CPD) COURSE = PREPARATION FOR DOccMed for FOM:

CPD 1 2 3*

All CPD students must sign up for modules 1, 2 and 3 (portfolio preparation only).

*Students who are undertaking this course solely in order to take the London FOM’s DOccMed examination will engage with the portfolio preparation section of Module 3 only. The PDF material in Module 3 will only be made available (and examined) if the student intends to continue beyond the CPD level – as illustrated below.

 

OTHER COURSES = UNIVERSITY ACCREDITED POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMME:

PG Certificate 1 2 3 4  
Advanced Diploma 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  
MSc 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dissertation
  1 year = 60 credits 2 years = 120 credits 3 years = 180 credits

Students of the CPD Diploma course would be expected to complete it within 1 year of enrolment; an extension would be granted only in exceptional circumstances.  Further information about progression to a higher level is here.

 

3.4 Modes of Study

The programme is delivered through a blend of written materials in electronic format (PDFs) and interactive teaching material, supported by seminars and tutorials.  Additionally, online tutoring is provided for the portfolio section of Module3.

All materials (whether PDFs or interactive units) are accessed solely online, via the University’s Virtual Learning environment, Blackboard.  You will therefore need ready access to a computer, with the following minimum specification:

  • 1 GB of RAM
  • 1 GB of free disk space
  • Soundcard and speakers/headphones
  • Monitor resolution of 1024 x 768
  • Broadband Internet connection

Your computer will need a Blackboard-supported operating system and browser. To check your compatibility please visit the following link:

http://en-us.help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student/New/Browser_Support/Browser_Checker

To run some of the interactive exercises, you will also need:

 

3.5 The Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard)

In order to undertake the course, you must sign up for University IT facilities before completing academic and financial registration via an online process.

Once you are fully registered you will be able to access Blackboard, which is the delivery mechanism (a virtual learning environment) for our online learning.

You will be advised when it is time to begin accessing your online resources via Blackboard.  It is important that you prepare your computer to have complete and efficient access to your Blackboard-delivered online modules:

  • Check your browser is supported for use (see the list of supported browsers as above).
  • Make sure that cookies from third parties are allowed. Third party cookies are allowed by default on all supported browsers.
  • Almost every part of Blackboard relies on JavaScript for the ability to generate interactive web pages. JavaScript is enabled by default on all supported browsers.
  • Make sure your Pop-up blocker is turned off. Blackboard sometimes uses small browser windows to deliver requested content, e.g. discussion boards.
  • Make sure the Java Runtime Environment is installed.
  • Some content within modules may require the installation of third party plug-ins such as Adobe Flash, Windows Media Player, Realplayer and others. In each case there should be a notification and link informing you that you need to install a new plug-in.

Once you have access to Blackboard, you will be able to see all your modules at once.  You should aim to complete the modules in numerical order (i.e. Module 1 before Module 2 and so on) but please bear in mind that the portfolio section of Module 3 runs alongside Modules 1 and 2.  You will therefore be required to engage in the ePortfolio tutoring whilst studying these earlier modules and should plan for this extra load.  Each module is sub-divided into units, and the order in which you approach the units within a particular module is up to you.  Please note however that the exercises within each unit are designed to be attempted in the order that they appear.  NB: Course materials are updated on a cyclical basis and students will be informed via an announcement on Blackboard if a unit has been revised.   It is very important, therefore, that you regularly check Blackboard for any updates to materials, messages from tutors, announcements, etc.

In addition to the occupational medicine course material, The Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health has developed an online skills training resource to support you through your postgraduate taught course.  We encourage you to refer to Appendix VII for further details.

 

3.6 University Health and Safety Unit MEDN67800

As part of the University’s responsibility to help keep you safe and well during your studies, you will need to complete a short online health and safety course. This short course provides you with basic information about how health and safety is managed and also includes some simple tests to assess your learning outcomes. It will take you approximately 1 hour to complete.

You will be enrolled automatically on the Health and Safety course unit, which is delivered through Blackboard (the University’s e-learning system). You must complete the course and obtain a ‘pass’ by 31 October 2016.

Much of the course documentation (e.g. mock examination questions, syllabus and reading lists) is available online, so we suggest that you familiarise yourself with this resource early on in your studies.  In addition the main method of communication will be electronic, including information published on the website, in Blackboard or via email.  All email communication from the Education Team or academic staff will be sent to your University of Manchester student email account, so please make sure you check this regularly.

It is your responsibility to regularly check Blackboard and your university email account for new material or course information.  You MUST inform the Education Team (see list of key staff given earlier) of any changes to your contact details.  We will NOT accept responsibility if vital information does not reach you because your contact details are out of date.

 

3.7 Seminars

Modules 1 and 2 are supported by face-to-face seminars.  Seminar 1 is a single-day meeting (associated with module 1), and is held approximately 2 months after the start of the course.  Seminar 2 is a single-day meeting (associated with module 2) and is held approximately 5 months after the start of the course.

The purpose of the seminars is to put into context the information covered by the teaching material.  Each seminar will include a one hour best fit question examination based on the teaching material covered in the relevant module; therefore you will be required to study the teaching material in advance of each seminar.  Attendance at the examinations is mandatory.

 

3.8 Assessment

The scheduling of assessments is outlined below.  The portfolio preparation in Module 3 runs alongside your studies for Modules 1 and 2.

CPD COURSE

 

April 2016

 

Module 1

Module 3

 Module 1 examination

17 November 2016

Resit: 13 June 2017

Module 2

 Module 2 examination

12 January 2017

Resit: 7 September 2017

The course involves formative and summative educational methods.  The background to formative assessment has been described previously and is made up of embedded exercises within each course unit (and online tutoring for the portfolio section of Module 3).

In comparison, students are required to pass summative assessments (module examinations) which are used to judge to progression through the course.  Module examination marks will therefore be submitted to the University of Manchester, following ratification at an Examiners’ Board.

Modules will have the following summative assessments:

  • Module 1: best fit question examination to be taken at seminar 1 (17 November 2016)
  • Module 2: best fit question examination to be taken at seminar 2 (12 January 2017)
  • Module 3: best fit question examination to be taken at the end of year 1*
    *(only to be undertaken by students who have chosen to continue beyond the CPD level, i.e. to the University of Manchester’s Postgraduate Certificate, Advanced Diploma, or MSc)

The programme will apply a 50% pass mark to the following units:

  • Module 1 Foundation for Postgraduate Practice
  • Module 2 Fitness for Work
  • Re-assessment (i.e. re-sitting) is allowed on one occasion for each module.
You are required to sit each examination on the scheduled date, as given above.  Permission to defer will be granted ONLY in exceptional circumstances.  If you do not provide documentary evidence (and have this approved) in advance of the exam date, you automatically forfeit your first attempt at the exam and can only take the exam as a resit.  Please note that any request for mitigation has to be sent to the programme administrator in advance of the exam.  Retrospective mitigation requests will only be considered if presented at least 2 weeks prior to the exam board, and if there are compelling reasons as to why the circumstance could not be made known or presented prior to the exam.  Evidence that is provided after this deadline may not be considered.  Please familiarise yourself with the University’s Guidelines on Missing Examinations

 

3.9 Portfolio Preparation

Module 3 covers portfolio preparation which will be delivered online and supported by virtual discussion groups, facilitated by specialist physicians in occupational medicine.  Please note that the online tutoring activities are optional and are not assessed by formal examination methods at the University of Manchester, and their purpose is to prepare an individual to produce the portfolio required by the London FOM (as part of the London FOM’s DOccMed examination).  See Appendix III for further information on this activity.

Please note that participation in the portfolio preparation is only offered with your cohort. 

It will NOT be possible to defer this element of the course to a later date.

 

3.10 Module Content

The teaching material has been designed to fulfil the requirements of a postgraduate academic course.  Should you wish to progress to the University of Manchester’s Postgraduate Certificate, Advanced Diploma or MSc, it will be possible to transfer the following credits:

  • Each module = 15 credits

Please note that the 15 transferable credits for Module 3 relate to completion of part 2 of Module 3 (the non-portfolio section) only, which is assessed summatively by a one hour best fit question examination.

The full module syllabus can be found online at the COEH website, or a summary of the syllabus can be found in Appendix II.

 

3.11 COEH Course Changes/Cancellation Policy

In exceptional circumstances the COEH may need to make changes to/cancel a scheduled event at very short notice, i.e. due to facilitator ill health, problems with venues, etc.  In this event, the Education Team will make every effort to let you know in advance.  Please make sure that you keep us informed of any changes to your contact details.

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