Postgraduate Course: Advanced Critical Care (CRCA11014)
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 | This course builds on Core Clinical Practice in Critical Care course. The learner will gain an understanding of the concepts and principles of advanced organ support. Learners will develop skills to integrate clinical data and knowledge to respond to unpredictable changes in the physiology of the critically ill adult. Key topics covered include advanced Respiratory, Cardiovascular and Renal organ support. By the end of the course learners will have gained skills to effectively communicate with peers and specialists both within their local team and as part of a critical care specialist network. |
| Course description |
1) Academic Description
Continuing the scaffolding approach to learning about organ systems support, during this course the students will recap their learning from the fundamental and core clinical courses with the aim of advancing their understanding of the underpinning science and the practicalities of advanced organ support to include it in their practice. The course will explore invasive and non-invasive respiratory support, pharmacological and mechanical cardiovascular support and renal replacement therapy. There will be a focus on advanced imaging techniques including the use of ultrasound and echocardiography in critical care.
2) Outline Content
At the start this course the students will be re-orientated to the online virtual intensive care ward. This ward will be populated by a selection of patients similar the group they had referred to critical care in the Fundamentals course and cared for in the Core Clinical course. A virtual walk round will allow them to concentrate on specific aspects of advanced organ support. They will learn about non-invasive ventilatory support. They will explore strategies for ventilation and oxygenation in the patient with severe hypoxaemic respiratory failure who require combinations of volume control, pressure control, inverse ratio ventilation, and prone ventilation. The criteria for referral for Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation will be discussed. They will explore the causes of shock, detailed pathophysiology of cardiac and peripheral vascular failure, and monitoring and imaging the heart including cardiac output measurement. The place of inotropes, vasopressors and mechanical circulatory support in shock will be surfaced by critically reviewing the pertinent literature. The course will include detailed consideration of renal replacement therapy; different modalities for different contexts; physical access; anticoagulation; acid-base and electrolyte balance; fluid balance. The students will also consider how to integrate these various modes of support in the care of a patient in established multiple organ failure. The place of ultrasound and focussed echocardiography in the assessment and management of patients with organ failure will be explored.
3) Student Learning Experience
Students will learn from subject matter experts in critical care through the medium of a virtual intensive care unit. The virtual ward round will expose them to a selection of patients whose clinical situation will foreground specific aspects of advanced organ support. Students will participate in asynchronous subject matter expert-led discussion boards, where they will each develop a daily assessment and reasoned management plan for their allocated patient. They will reflect on their role and the interactions of the critical care team. Classic papers will be reviewed. The students will develop an allocated topic for presentation at the weekly live tutorials. There will be weekly online clinical quizzes. The students will also engage with recorded lectures and videos featuring key practical procedures with demonstrations of organ support modalities and imaging in action. They will further evidence their learning through the development and delivery of a reasoned management plan, and a reflective essay.
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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 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Block 1 (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) |
In course assessment: 100 % |
| 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:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the concepts and principles of advanced organ support
- Apply evidence-based principles of advanced organ support and monitoring to the complex critically ill patient
- Integrate clinical data and knowledge to respond to unpredictable changes in the physiology of the critically ill adult
- Demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate with peers and specialists both within the local team and part of a critical care specialist network
- Exercise personal reflection on their own roles whilst working cooperatively within the context of a professional critical care network
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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 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 and cultural 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 | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Ahmad Abu-Arafeh
Tel:
Email: v1aabua2@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Kimberley Jamieson
Tel:
Email: kimberley.jamieson@ed.ac.uk |
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