THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Deanery of Clinical Sciences : Critical Care

Postgraduate Course: Core Clinical Practice in Emergency Medicine (CRCA11021)

Course Outline
SchoolDeanery of Clinical Sciences CollegeCollege of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course typeOnline Distance Learning AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThis clinical course builds on content delivered earlier in the MSc programme and teaches the skills and knowledge required to gain confidence working within the Emergency Department environment. The purpose of this course is to provide an understanding of the practice and practicalities of Emergency Medicine, and to enable the learner to apply these in their own clinical context. Topics covered include clinical presentations and triage; the anatomy and workings of the Emergency Department (ED) including staff roles and functions; dealing with vulnerability; legal and ethical considerations in the ED; and the wide range of clinical human factors activities including team working, communication, decision-making and optimisation involved in the care of patients in the ED. The students will also have the opportunity to appreciate the role of various team members involved in emergency care.
Course description The course will be divided into 5 teaching weeks with each week comprising a theme and week 6 being devoted to the course assessment.

This course will cover:
1. What is Emergency Medicine - Understanding of emergency medicine scope of practice; the functional components of an Emergency Department; Staff roles; Understand access and patient flow through an Emergency Department; Understanding triage systems; Systems for time critical illness; Identify barriers to good quality emergency care in their own environment.

2. Approaches to care in the Emergency Department - Top 10 presentations; approach to an ED patient (assessment, documentation, assimilating knowledge, focused Hx / exam, handover/referral); Minor injuries & illness; Time critical interventions; Key time critical procedures / skills; Trauma.

3. Vulnerable patients - Recognition of vulnerable patient groups; challenges and solutions to manage vulnerable patient groups (homeless patient, alcohol, recreational drug ingestion, police involvement, patient with gender based violence, the frequent attender with functional symptoms, adolescent, DSH, gender issues); systems for supporting the care of the vulnerable ED.

4. Diagnostics, decision making and risk - How we make decisions, biases, errors, safety systems, diagnostics, probability, using tests wisely, evidence-based emergency medicine, knowledge translation, realistic medicine, clinical reasoning.

5. Communication, teamwork and wellbeing ¿ Systems for supporting wellbeing in the Emergency Department; Teamwork (resus, time critical interventions, trauma); Non-technical skills; communication across emergency care (Pre-hospital / ED interface / handover / referral); Debriefing; Specialty interactions; Conflict resolution; Clinical leadership e.g., EPIC, NIC.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Block 5 (Sem 2) and beyond
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) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %«br /»
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 is closed, e.g. over the Christmas period).
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the scope of Emergency Medicine and identify the core principles underpinning excellent emergency care and the challenges to delivering this
  2. Integrate knowledge and understanding to develop an approach to the assessment and management of patients with a range of common and time-critical clinical presentations
  3. Critically appraise available evidence and assimilate this with strategies for clinical decision making and risk management
  4. Examine the challenges encountered when dealing with the most vulnerable and complex patient groups and formulate a multi-disciplinary approach to holistic care
  5. Communicate complex and time critical information clearly in both written and verbal forms
Reading List
TBC
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills
a) Mindset

Enquiry and lifelong learning:
Students will develop their understanding of the emergency medicine, and aware of their own roles and responsibilities, as part of a wider team, in contributing to the outcome of a emergency medicine patient.
Aspiration and personal development
This module will provide the opportunity for the students to identify areas that interest them within this subject area and explore them further. Their background will be an important factor in deciding which area of emergency medicine might appeal to them the most, and they might be interested to develop further.
Outlook and engagement
This MSc provides a unique opportunity for the students to discuss and share their own experiences ¿ clinical and cultural ¿ with their fellow colleagues and with the tutors. These experiences will be extremely valuable to build upon over the course of this module, providing basis for discussions and clinical judgement.

b) Skills:

Research and enquiry
Similar to other modules within the MSc, the students will be encouraged to critically appraise the literature available to decide on the best available evidence when formulating management plans for their patients. This will provide an excellent basis not only for the group discussions, but also for their individual assessments.

Personal and intellectual autonomy
As postgraduates, the students will be expected to direct their own learning as well as participating in learner activities, such as group discussions. Students will be encouraged to become active participants when evaluating and analysing the evidence and points discussed by fellow colleagues.

Personal effectiveness
The students will need to fully engage with the process over the 5 weeks in order to gain the most from the taught content and focus their time for self-directed learning. By maximising these opportunities, they will develop their own knowledge and understanding as well as contributing productively to other students¿ learning.

Communication
Being a part of a multidisciplinary team requires the clinicians to be excellent at communicating with their team members and other teams involved in patient management. The students will increasingly appreciate this as this module progresses from the first to its final week.
KeywordsEmergency Department,ED,Emergency Medicine,EM,triage,handover,resuscitation,trauma,teamwork
Contacts
Course organiserDr Alasdair Gray
Tel:
Email: alasdair.gray@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Olga Paterson
Tel: (0131) 242 6130
Email: Olga.Paterson@ed.ac.uk
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