Become an advanced clinical practitioner in a wide variety of health and social care settings whilst receiving a salary

About the apprenticeship

Course length: 3 years, part-time

Start date: September and January 

Course level: Level 7 

University award: MSc Advanced Clinical Practice

How much it costs: funded through the employer

Course summary

• Train as an advanced clinical practitioner in a range of health and social care settings, leading to a masters degree.
• Suitable for experienced registered healthcare professionals looking to progress into advanced clinical practitioner roles. 
• Professions considered are nurses, physiotherapists, paramedics, diagnostic radiographers, therapeutic radiographers, and pharmacists.

Advanced clinical practice is central to helping transform service delivery and better meet local health needs by providing enhanced capacity, capability, productivity and efficiency within multi-professional teams.

For apprentices who are professionally entitled to undertake either the Non-Medical Prescribing or Pharmacist Independent Prescribing modules, the modules are validated by:

• Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Health and Care Professions Council
• General Pharmaceutical Council.

This course meets the advanced clinical practitioner apprenticeship standard.

How you learn

The course has been developed with partners from regional primary and acute care, and higher education providers, allowing you to benefit from a combination of work-based learning modules and specialist education.

In a challenging but rewarding environment, you'll develop your skills in:

• autonomous decision making
• diagnostics
• therapeutics
• clinical management of a patient within your scope of practice.

You will gain a multidisciplinary perspective on healthcare with a flexible course that can be tailored to your individual learning needs.

You’ll also gain the knowledge, skills, competencies, and professional behaviours required of an advanced clinical practitioner. This helps you integrate new ideas and clinical skills into your professional practice to enhance quality of care for the people you support.

You will progress through the course following successful achievement of assessments, which address the learning outcomes for each module and allow you to complete the course. 

Campus facilities

You'll learn in modern facilities at our Collegiate Campus.

Entry requirements

Throughout the course, apprentices spend at least 20% of their working hours completing University study. They can be existing employees looking to develop their careers, or new applicants to the business.

Applicants must:

• be over 18
• not be in full time education
• have the right to abode in the UK
• meet the course entry requirements

GCSE (or equivalent)

GCSE (or equivalent) mathematics and English at grade C or grade 4, or above

If you don't have this yet, you'll need to achieve this level before you take your end-point assessment.

Additional qualifications

• Current registration with one of: Nursing and Midwifery Council, Health and Care Professions Council or General Pharmaceutical Council.
• Honours degree recognised in the UK at 2.2 or above in a related health care subject, or an equivalent qualification.
• Three years full-time or equivalent part-time experience in an appropriate field of practice.

Applicants must provide written evidence in the form of a pre-course learning agreement that all parties, sponsoring managers, clinical mentors and students, are actively committed to supporting an advanced practice role.

A pre-agreement form must also be completed by the clinical manager, which confirms that the student will have an identified clinical supervisor.

Modules

Mandatory

• ACP Portfolio
• End Point Assessment
• Planning and Evaluating Service Improvement

Core elective

• Non-Medical Prescribing (distance learning)
• Non-Medical prescribing (face to face)
• Pathophysiology and pharmacology for advanced management
• Advanced physical assessment and consultation skills
• Musculoskeletal management of the upper quadrant
• Musculoskeletal management of the lower quadrant
• Reasoning and management for advanced musculoskeletal clinical practice
• Advanced chest image reporting
• Advanced MSK image reporting
• Advanced CT head image reporting 
• Awareness of error
• Pharmacist independent prescribing
• Expert practice for extended roles
• Advancing specialist practice
• Contemporary issues in advanced practice (distance learning)
• Contemporary issues in advanced practice (face to face)

Elective

• Image guided radiotherapy
• Injection therapy for joints and soft tissue
• Therapeutic management of neuromuscular skeletal pain (distance learning)
• Therapeutic management of neuromuscular skeletal pain (face to face)
• Addressing priorities in prostate cancer care
• Head and neck cancer
• Breast cancer radiotherapy
• Psychology of cancer care
• Information giving and informed consent
• Minor illness management
• Minor injury management
• Management of long-term conditions
• Core principles of paediatrics in primary care and the acute sector
• Contemporary radiotherapy planning practice
• Advanced radiotherapy planning practice
• Advanced assessment formulation and treatment planning in mental health
• Researching for practice (distance learning)
• Researching for practice (face to face)
• Managing the acutely unwell patient
• Advanced communication in supportive care
• Evidencing your CPD leadership in practice
• Learning and teaching for practice (distance learning)
• Learning and teaching for practice (face to face)
• Abdominal imaging
• Fundamentals of musculoskeletal radiographic imaging interpretation
• Fundamentals of chest radiographic image interpretation
• Fundamentals of CT Head radiographic imaging interpretation
• Therapeutic exercise and physical activity

Module and assessment information for future years is displayed as currently validated and may be liable to change.