MA — 2024 entry Education for Health Professionals

The module provides the students with a comprehensive understanding of how people learn in a learning environment with an emphasis on what constitutes an effective learning setting and how this is conducive for learning. Through a series of lectures and facilitated groupwork students will identify educational strategies that can be used to ensure that the student learning journey is meaningful. These concepts will be underpinned by learning theories which will help the students construct an understanding of how people learn in their own environments.

This module is designed to meet the needs of professionals working in health and social care who are interested in introducing change within their practice environment. The module will explore the current healthcare agenda, examining the need for change to meet the contemporaneous needs of the population. Students are encouraged to reflect upon how innovative practice could transform service delivery to improve experience quality, relative to their own area of practice.

This module provides students with a fundamental understanding of the core principles of engaging, supporting and leading people. Students will be empowered to support or create workplaces where staff thrive and collaborate, enabling patients and users of health and social care services to feel safe and supported. Exploring the concepts of care, compassion, courage, and vulnerability, to develop skills in enhancing relationships and creating safe environments.

The module enables students to understand the theoretical and practical aspects of research; how to design research informed by theoretical, methodological and practical issues; and how to prepare a research proposal relevant to health and social care practice. The module provides students with the knowledge, skills and confidence in planning and writing a research proposal that can be taken forward to the dissertation module.

This module uniquely combines theoretical knowledge with practical application, ensuring that students not only understand the principles of effective teaching but also can apply these principles in their specific professional contexts, allowing them to determine the type of educator they wish to become.   During the module students will deepen their knowledge and understanding of the complexities of learning and teaching, assessment, and evaluation to enhance their expertise in these areas of professional practice. 

The module empowers students to explore the intricacies of creative educational design and development, within their specialist area, from implementation, delivery, and evaluation of learning. In addition to interprofessional learning, there will be opportunities for students from different professional disciplines to develop educational provision whilst reflecting upon and fostering a critical exploration of educational philosophy and pedagogic practices. Equipping them with the skills to design and assess innovative learning strategies aimed at enhancing the overall learning experience. In essence, students will gain a holistic perspective on education and develop the ability to create and evaluate novel approaches to facilitate effective learning journeys.

This module empowers health and social care professionals to examine the factors contributing to workplace safety and the care of patients/service users, considering the influence of human factors on safety. Additionally, the module encourages students to critically assess the interplay between national patient safety policies and their impact on local guidelines and policies. Moreover, students will cultivate a critical understanding of the intricate legal and ethical issues affecting patient safety. They will also scrutinise the role of accountability in effectively managing safety and risk in the workplace.

The dissertation module supports students to plan, undertake and report on a substantial original project that is relevant to their professional practice and their workplace organisations.   Students will choose a topic area of their interest and will be supported throughout the project by a named supervisor. The project will involve developing a relevant research question and outlining the relevant policy context, carrying out a literature review, developing a robust methodology, collecting/identifying and analysing/synthesizing data, and to critically discuss the relevance of the findings to practice and current knowledge.         Students will gain confidence in understanding and applying the research process. The students will have the opportunity to develop skills in research leadership, critical thinking, and writing, translating knowledge into practice, literature reviewing and digital knowledge.