Non-Medical Prescribing - 2012 entry

Course content

The Postgraduate Certificate for Non-Medical Prescribing consists of three modules totalling 60 CATS credits:

Advanced History Taking and Assessment (20 CATS credits) is a practice-based module enabling you to develop the skills and knowledge to take a comprehensive patient history and conduct a thorough physical and psychosocial assessment. It will significantly enhance your assessment skills and ability to accurately describe the patient/client’s history and examination findings using appropriate terminology, reporting deviations from normal in a succinct manner to colleagues within the multidisciplinary team. This module must be successfully completed before doing the Non-Medical Prescribing module.

Advancing Professional Practice (10 CATS credits) will enable you to analyse and debate key issues in the advancement of professional health and social care practice. You will examine developments within your professional field, and in relation to your own role. You will be supported in the enhancement of self-awareness and personal/professional growth through the use of strategies that include reflective practice and critical thinking. You will be assisted in the analysis and debate of real issues from your practice through student-centred learning approaches such as action learning, student presentation and discussion.

Non-Medical Prescribing (30 CATS credits) prepares you to prescribe safely and competently from the British National Formulary as independent prescribers and/or as supplementary prescribers, depending on your profession. The course introduces pharmacology, legal and ethical prescribing, interpersonal skills and quality assurance aspects of prescribing. These are underpinned by reflection on your own experience, applying theory to practice and evaluating your own performance.

This module is sometimes taught at our Ferndale Campus in Swindon.

Please note: as courses are reviewed regularly, the list of modules may vary from that shown here.

Faculty

Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Clinical Health Care

Course length

Part-time: 18-24 months

Teaching location

Headington Campus, Marston Road site

Start date

September 2012
January 2013

UKPASS code

P038300

Entry requirements

You should:

• be a UK registered health care professional, employed in health care within the UK
• have a first degree or equivalent in terms of prior learning at the appropriate level
• have a minimum of three years' post-registration experience
• be employed in a suitable role to act as a non-medical prescriber.

Scholarships and funding

For general sources of financial support, see funding for Postgraduate students from the UK and EU.

Why Oxford is a great place to study Non-Medical Prescribing

As a student in Oxford you'll be at the heart of the UK's most successful economic region and in a centre for leading industries which provides you with a host of learning opportunities.

Because Oxford is one of the world's great academic cities, it is a key centre of debate, with conferences, seminars and forums taking place across education, science, the arts and many other subjects.

In addition to our own excellent libraries and resource centres, our postgraduate students have access to the world-renowned Bodleian Library, the Bodleian Law Library and the Radcliffe Science Library.

Support for students studying Non-Medical Prescribing

All our courses adopt a student-centred approach to teaching and learning and are strongly focused on encouraging you to attain your full potential as lifelong learners.

There is a range of support mechanisms for students, such as academic advisers, who will facilitate your academic development, and student support co-ordinators, who provide a drop-in service for queries about any aspect of student life, covering both academic and personal welfare.

The university’s support services include Upgrade, which provides advice on study skills such as planning and writing essays, assignments and dissertations, research, or preparing for an exam. They also give advice on statistics and maths. There is a dedicated Student Disability and Dyslexia Service, which provides support for students with disabilities including sensory and mobility impairments, dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties, mental health problems and medical conditions. Here, staff offer advice and support on a range of issues, including physical access, funding, alternative assessment arrangements and liaison with teaching staff to ensure that they are aware of your requirements.

How Brookes supports postgraduate students

Supporting your learning

From academic advisers and support co-ordinators to specialist subject librarians and other learning support staff, we want to ensure that you get the best out of your studies.

Personal support services

We want your time at Brookes to be as enjoyable and successful as possible. That's why we provide all the facilities you need to be relaxed, happy and healthy throughout your studies.

Research excellence

We have a number of both promising and experienced researchers working in established areas including cancer care, children and families, drugs and alcohol, physical rehabilitation and enablement and interprofessional education & collaborative practice. Over the past few years, these researchers have won external research and consultancy contracts including grants, fellowships and studentships for NHS staff. Our research staff collaborate with researchers from across Oxford Brookes University and from the Institute of Health Sciences at Oxford University, along with research teams from many other UK and international centres.

Our academic staff have extensive experience of NHS and general management at both senior and director level. They also have a significant record of research and publications on the topics of management and leadership. The currency of the course is also assured by the lecturers' close involvement in the health and social care sector and their movement between that sector and education.

We are very pleased with the results received in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). 70% of our research in Allied Health Professions and Studies was rated as being of international significance in the assessment of research, of which 10% was rated as world-leading. The university has been careful to nurture emerging research strengths, and the international standing achieved by subjects allied to health demonstrates significant progress since 2001.

For more details about our research portfolio, go to our website