Advanced Clinical Practice (Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation) PgCert, PgDip and MSc

Are you a qualified physiotherapist working in musculoskeletal practice and looking to take your career to the next level? Maybe your role involves assisting patients who require rehabilitation after surgery or sporting injury, or perhaps you work with individuals who have a disability or long-term condition that limits their functional level. This course in advanced clinical practice of musculoskeletal rehabilitation is designed for physiotherapists who wish to further develop their skills and expertise as an advanced or specialist clinical practitioner across a range of musculoskeletal (MSK) healthcare settings here in the UK and abroad. 

On this course, you’ll gain advanced skills in assessment, clinical reasoning, and evidence-based management for the treatment and rehabilitation of MSK patients, presenting within inpatient, outpatient, and primary care settings. You’ll be taught the latest theory, science and principles behind MSK practice, which will give you a broad, yet in-depth, understanding of physiotherapy, as well as evidence-based rehabilitation approaches and how these can be used to treat patients with musculoskeletal conditions.

Our master’s degree will also develop your cognitive skills, such as writing skills, which are important in clinical practice to enhance communication with other clinicians, allied healthcare personnel, and for research. You’ll be encouraged to be creative in your thinking, as well as enhancing your proficiency in analysis and evaluation - meaning you’ll graduate as a highly competent practitioner, ready to become a leader within your field.

The full master's course can be studied 1 year full-time or 3 years part-time starting in September. If you don’t want to commit to full or part-time study of the entire master's, you can develop your educational portfolio over a longer period of time by undertaking staged study that leads to the award of Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert), Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) and MSc in separate stages. Each stage can be studied 1 year part-time starting in September.

Your learning will be patient-centred and clinically focused, studying evidence, concepts, and theories related to musculoskeletal practice. You’ll benefit from a course designed to incorporate a multidisciplinary perspective, which is essential when entering leadership roles in healthcare systems around the world. Throughout the course you’ll be required to think broadly about a range of rehabilitation services, exploring how to improve the care and experience of service users, alongside service provision, in a variety of global scenarios.

On this course, you’ll learn a holistic approach to patient care alongside clinical leadership skills and how to use evidence-based practice and research to make informed decisions that grow your knowledge and expertise. Your learning will be underpinned by the national Advanced Clinical Practice framework as set out by Health Education England, encompassing the four pillars: clinical practice, leadership and management, education and research. You’ll develop the essential skills that are required by advanced clinical practitioners working in the NHS and other clinical settings.

You’ll study a combination of modules consisting of compulsory modules in advanced clinical practice, clinical leadership, evidence-based practice and research, plus you’ll select from a list of optional modules that define your specialist pathway in musculoskeletal rehabilitation. You'll also be able to support your study learning portfolio by choosing from a range of optional modules from our Advanced Clinical Practice named specialist pathways; Cardiovascular Health, Critical Care, Neurological Rehabilitation, Occupational Therapy and Pelvic Health.

At Brunel, we understand the challenges of fitting study around work and family life. For this reason, we have designed this course to be flexible, so that it can fit around your current commitments. You can study full-time, part-time or even just take one or more CPPD modules for your professional development and return to complete your course at a later date.

This course can be studied 1 year full-time, 3 years part-time or 1 year (staged study) part-time, starting in September.

This course will prepare you for careers in advanced musculoskeletal physiotherapy practice within a range of healthcare settings. You’ll be able to apply the expert knowledge, clinical reasoning and complex decision-making skills that you have gained to your clinical setting. You could go on to become an Advanced Physiotherapist Practitioner (APP) within the NHS, where roles usually start in Band 8a of the NHS Agenda for change pay scale.

On successful completion, you’ll be best placed to undertake leadership or senior positions within a range of clinical areas. From the NHS and private practices, to the military, public and sports sector; our graduates are well-equipped to make a positive impact and become innovative clinicians within their field. You could also move into academic or clinical research roles or other healthcare-related positions in industry.

All applicants must have a pre-registration degree in relevant allied health profession and the following of relevant experience as a minimum:

1. Students currently working in the UK - At least 1 year of post qualification clinical work experience in the specialism they have applied for. Typically this should be work experience from a ‘Band 6’ level role.
2. Students currently working outside of the UK – At least 2 years post qualification clinical work experience, ideally including at least 1 year in the specialism you have applied for.

You must have met the minimum work experience requirement at the point you apply for the programme. For example, if you submit your application in February 2023, you must have 1 / 2 years’ experience by February 2023 (depending on whether you are working in or outside the UK). This is to make sure that you will definitely have enough experience when you join the course. This does not include internships as they are supervised and therefore technically still part of your training. You should aim to provide documented evidence of your clinical work experience. All applicants should include a detailed CV as part of their application. Applicants who are working outside of the UK should could include letters of recommendations and/or confirmation of employment (we appreciate that what you can provide will vary from one person to another and be dependent on your specific background and employer, so please aim to provide as much documentary evidence when you apply).

• IELTS: 7 (min 6.5 in all areas)
• Pearson: 64 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 68% (63% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 98 (min 23 in all areas) 

UK Staged Master £3,500 per stage.

International Staged Master £7,155 per stage.

The course uses a range of flexible and engaging approaches to assessment. You'll be assessed through exams, critical essays, portfolios, oral presentations and your dissertation.

The choice of the specific type of assessment will be appropriate to the intended learning outcomes of the taught modules. The assessment strategies will balance the need to demonstrate knowledge and competencies with more in-depth and critical approaches to learning. Such assessment approaches will include examinations, presentations of relevant clinical case scenarios, and coursework, which will take the form of critical assessment of literature and research, critical essays, and the development of the selected portfolio of learning.

Finally, the dissertation provides demonstration of an ability to synthesise and critically evaluate current research underpinning clinical practice, and to develop and undertake relevant research, as well as its dissemination.