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Advanced Clinical Practitioner Masters Degree Apprenticeship

The Advanced Clinical Practice Apprenticeship programme is a Level 7 Master Degree which supports the ongoing career development of clinicians.

By combining on-the-job training with study, the Apprenticeship enables you to enhance your specialist skills and knowledge, whilst you remain in practice. It will prepare you for a leadership role, and equip you with the skills to develop service provision across a range of health and care settings, to improve the care and experience of patients and the public.

Benefits of the programme

This apprenticeship will:

  • Develop the clinician’s integrated clinical specialist knowledge, decision making and diagnostic skills underpinning the role of advanced clinical practice in a variety of health care settings.
  • Use a practice-based approach to develop advanced clinical leadership skills to enable the clinician to challenge and change practice within their area of practice.
  • Equip the clinician with research and critical analysis skills to apply evidence based approaches to the evaluation of clinical practice at individual and service levels.
  • Develop the clinician’s skills to conduct clinically relevant, user – or services – based health care research.
  • Enable the clinician to effectively manage interdisciplinary teams using collaborative and multidisciplinary approaches.
  • Enable professional growth and development through increased use of reflective practice and leadership.
  • Enhance the clinician’s ability to influence practice and policy, and contribute towards sustainable health care service delivery for the betterment of service users.
  • Enable the clinician to lead the design, delivery and evaluation of CPD education within and across health care services.
  • Enable the clinician to demonstrate attainment of the standards of clinical leadership, research, education and advanced clinical practice of the ACP apprenticeship by successfully completing the End Point Assessment.

Who is this programme for?

This programme is for senior clinicians, clinical leads, managers and research academics, in allied health care and other health professions, who are looking to develop their medical career and improve service provision, and the care and experience of service users.

Providing skills to improve the care and experience of patients and the public

Programme content

Compulsory modules:

  • Advanced Clinical Leadership 
  • Quantitative Methods and Design for Health Science Research
  • Qualitative Methods for Health and Social Care

Themed modules

Clinicians and employers have the flexibility to select a range of modules to meet individual and service needs. Six specialist themes are available:

Critical care

This theme will support critical care clinicians to develop advanced assessment and reasoning skills for the treatment and rehabilitation of the critically ill patient from the intensive care unit through to the community setting.

Modules:

  • Anatomy & physiology 
  • Acute management of the critically ill patient
  • Rehabilitation of the critical care patient
  • The specialist critical care patient

Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation

This theme will support healthcare professionals working within the field of musculoskeletal rehabilitation to develop advanced assessment, reasoning and research skills for the treatment and rehabilitation of MSK patients presenting within inpatient, outpatient and primary care settings.

Modules:

  • Pain: Contemporary science and practice
  • Contemporary theory and clinical application in musculoskeletal practice: The Lower Quadrant
  • Contemporary theory and clinical application in musculoskeletal practice: The Upper Quadrant
  • Injection Therapy
  • Working as an Extended Scope Physiotherapist in Musculoskeletal medicine: advanced assessment and management skills

Neurological Rehabilitation

This theme will support healthcare professionals working within the field of neurological rehabilitation to develop advanced assessment, reasoning and research skills for the care and rehabilitation of people living with neurological disorders.

Modules:

  • Functional Neuroscience for Rehabilitation
  • Neurophysiological Basis for rehabilitation of movement
  • Clinical Applications for Neurorehabilitation
  • Cognitive and Behavioural Issues in Neurorehabilitation

Pelvic Health

This theme will support physiotherapists to develop advanced assessment, reasoning and research skills for the therapeutic treatment of people with disorders affecting the pelvis and pelvic floor.

Modules: 

  • Assessment and diagnosis of Pelvic Health
  • Management of the Pelvic Health Patient
  • Working as an Advanced Perinatal Practitioner in Pelvic Health

Cardiovascular Health

This theme will support healthcare professionals working within a wide range of healthcare and community settings to develop advanced assessment, reasoning and research skills to deliver effective preventative and rehabilitative strategies for people living with or at risk of long-term and chronic conditions.

Modules:

  • Science of Rehabilitation and Movement
  • Fundamentals of Prevention and Rehabilitation in Cardiovascular Health
  • Advanced Lifestyle Management in Cardiovascular Health
  • Reflective Clinical Practice in Cardiovascular Health


Alternatively, clinicians and employers can choose a bespoke range of specialist modules to create an education pathway relevant to their specific requirements.

How is this programme delivered?

You will be required to dedicate at least 20% of your working hours studying towards the programme. This will include attendance to, both face to face and virtual lectures, 1 day per week, during term time, completing independent study and applying theory into application in the workplace.  

Entry requirements

  • 2:2 or above UK Honours degree or equivalent internationally recognised qualification in a relevant health profession
  • 1 year of specialist clinical work experience.
  • Current registration with one of the statutory regulators of health and care professions.
  • Level 2 English and Maths or equivalent. 
  • Recognition of Prior Learning and Higher Education Credit may be used to exempt students from module blocks in line with Senate Regulation 3.   
  • Applicants will need to be able to demonstrate their eligibility for the apprenticeship according to the most recent Apprenticeship Funding Rules https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apprenticeship-funding-rules

Final degree award

MSc Advanced Clinical Practice