Postgraduate Course: Neurological Critical Care (CRCA11010)
Course Outline
| School | Deanery of Clinical Sciences |
College | College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Acute neurological diseases and trauma can affect any part of the patient¿s central or peripheral nervous system. Coma occurs when the brain is affected by a wide variety of medical conditions, following trauma, due to unrelenting generalised seizures, and in certain intoxications. Disorders of the cerebral blood vessels including aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage, ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis cause time critical brain injury. A number of neuro-muscular conditions such as Guillain Barre syndrome, Myasthenia Gravis result in acute onset peripheral weakness syndromes requiring critical care management. |
| Course description |
1) Academic Description
This compulsory course will introduce the student to the interaction of cardio-respiratory physiology with neurophysiology. By understanding the principles of cerebral perfusion, maintenance of intracranial pressure, cerebral autoregulation, and the balance of cerebral oxygen supply and demand, the student will be able to apply a lifesaving, and brain tissue saving, approach to the patient with, and at risk of, brain injury. The concepts of primary and secondary brain insults will be surfaced.
2) Outline Content
The assessment, resuscitation and management of important neurological clinical presentations will be included, ¿from roadside to bedside¿: traumatic brain injury; subarachnoid haemorrhage; acute stroke; meningitis and encephalitis; status epilepticus. There will be a major focus on multi-modality monitoring and on neuro-imaging. The presentation and management of acute weakness syndromes will also be explored. Controversies in therapy, and dilemmas around prognosis, outcomes and ethics will be explicated.
3) Student Learning Experience
Students will learn from subject matter experts in critical care. Students will participate in asynchronous subject matter expert-led discussion boards, where they will each develop an allocated ¿5-minute teaching¿ topic for presentation at the weekly live tutorials. Classic papers will be reviewed. There will be weekly online imaging and monitoring based quizzes. The students will also engage with recorded tutorials and lectures featuring practical skills in the neurological patient. They will evidence their learning through the development and delivery of 5-minute teaching and the infographic based on their allotted subject. There will also be a safety in practice single best answer paper.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2021/22, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Block 2 (Sem 1) |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
98 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% In-course assessment |
| Feedback |
Feedback is defined as information to students which allows them to review what they know, understand and can do in their studies. Feedback is also important to identify areas for improvement, for example course feedback surveys will be an integral component of the programme to allow refinement.
Opportunities for feedback arise during timetabled courses, for example during live session tutorials, interactive discussion boards, emails. Feedback can be provided on coursework assignments but also activities which are not formally assessed, for example class discussion on the discussion board, group exercises, problem-solving such as weekly quizzes and developing project plans and proposals. A formative task is provided in each course which provides feedforward prior to the student submitting their first piece of summative assessed course work.
All assignments will be marked and feedback is provided within a period of fifteen working days (where possible) following the submission date (excluding holidays periods whereby the University of closed, e.g. over the Christmas period). |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the acute presentation and management of neurological disease requiring critical care
- Apply knowledge, skills, and understanding of important physiological principles in treatment of critical unwell or injured neurological patients
- Assimilate and communicate complex, clinical information for the purposes of effective diagnosis and specialist referral
- Demonstrate the importance of applying evidence -based care in the management of brain injury
- Work with specialists to manage complex ethical issues in critically ill neurological patients
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
a) Mindsets:
Enquiry and lifelong learning:
Graduates of this course will be encouraged to pursue their own curiosity and to learn and develop in the field of critical care, to strive for excellence in their own professional practice, and also to strive to improve care for patients as part of a multidisciplinary team.
Aspiration and personal development
Students will be encouraged to draw on their own experiences to identify areas in which they wish to grow and develop acknowledging that different students will have different priorities and aspirations.
Outlook and engagement
Students will be asked to bring to the course experiences from their own practice, often specifically relating to their own geographical context, that can be used to explore learning, engage with individuals from other international communities on the programme.
b) Skills:
Research and enquiry
Students will use and further develop newly acquired expertise in accessing the literature and critical appraisal, to incorporate the findings of primary research in their arguments, discussions, and assessments.
Personal and intellectual autonomy
Students will be encouraged to use their own personal and intellectual autonomy through their active participation in self-directed learning, discussion boards and collaborative activities to critically evaluate ideas evidence and experiences from an open-minded perspective.
Personal effectiveness
Success on the course will require students to be effective and proactive learners. Using the resources of the course tutors, and the university learning and information environment, students will be encouraged and supported to contribute to their own learning, as well as that of others.
Communication
Excellence in critical care is dependent on excellent communication, and the structure of the interactive (discussion boards and collaborative activities) and assessment elements incorporate constant reinforcement and development of this skill. |
| Keywords | Neurological critical care,coma,traumatic brain injury,subarachnoid haemorrhage,acute stroke |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jonathan Rhodes
Tel:
Email: jrhodes1@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Olga Paterson
Tel: (0131) 242 6130
Email: Olga.Paterson@ed.ac.uk |
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