Page last updated 19 June 2024
Introduction
This course is studied and applied for on a modular basis.
Accreditations and partnerships:
The MSc Advanced Practice is a multi-professional course for all professional, statutory and regulatory body registered practitioners. Its content is developed in line with Health Education England (HEE)'s multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice in England (November 2017), which provides the overarching benchmark for this subject.
This flexible course is designed to develop and enhance skills required to become an advanced practitioner. You'll be encouraged to advance your knowledge and understanding of current issues in your own field of practice and the wider context of health and social care.
The broad aims of the course are to:
- Enable students to demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge and understanding, evaluation of practice and implementation in relation to advanced practice.
- Produce an advanced clinical practitioner (ACP) who demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of complex and specialist knowledge and skills needed to practice as a competent, reflective practitioner.
- Enable students to develop a high level of autonomy based on critical thinking to make decisions, taking a patient-centred approach to act appropriately in complex, unpredictable situations.
- Enable students to demonstrate a systematic understanding and critical evaluation of current health and social care issues, using new knowledge in innovative ways and sharing this with a wider audience.
- Equip students to critically evaluate current research and advanced scholarship to effectively lead, manage, plan and evaluate care delivery in various complex, unpredictable contexts.
- Support students to work in partnership with service users to develop person- and family-centred holistic care.
Watch: The learning and teaching experience
Structure
Content
Indicative routes
The optional modules listed are those that are most likely to be available, but they may be subject to change.
Year one
You'll study:
- A Leadership module (20 or 30 credits depending on credit requirement)
Plus:
- Pathophysiology and Diagnostic Reasoning in Clinical Practice (20 credits)
Plus, one of the following:
- Examination of the Newborn (20 credits)
- Physical Assessment and Clinical Reasoning (20 credits)
- Physical Assessment and Clinical Reasoning of the Presenting Child (20 credits)
Or
- Advancing Practice in Clinical Examination and Diagnostic Reasoning for Urgent, Emergency and Primary Care Practitioners (40 credits)
Year two*
Once you've completed the Leadership and Clinical pillars, you'll move on to study one of the following:
- Health and Social Care Research for Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Distance Learning) (20 credits)
- Health and Social Care Research: Methods and Methodologies (Distance-Learning) (20 credits)
- Health and Social Care Research: Methods and Methodology (20 credits)
Plus:
- Independent and/or Supplementary Prescribing (40 credits) or 40 credits from the department's Continuing Professional Development Module Portfolio.
You may also elect to study:
- Supporting Students in Practice (non-credit bearing)
Year three*
In the final part of the course, you'll complete either a Dissertation (40 or 60 credits depending on credit requirement) or an Evidencing Work-based Learning module (40 or 60 credits depending credit requirement).
Plus:
- Up to 20 credits (the amount depending on credit requirement) from the Department's Continuing Professional Development Module Portfolio.
*Years two and three will be underpinned by a portfolio aligned to the four pillars of advanced practice. This will be supported by a clinical supervisor in your workplace.
The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved we will inform you.
Learning and Teaching
The course offers a wide range of teaching and learning strategies which are student centred, including action learning sets. The process of action learning allows you to engage fully in exploring challenges and issues relevant to practice in order to challenge existing perspectives and place theoretical knowledge in your own practice context. Other learning strategies include critical evaluation, directed reading, discussion groups, seminars, group work and your own practice.
For more details see our glossary of teaching and learning terms.
Study time
This course will enable you to work in a collaborative way to meet strategic health and social care targets. These targets will be met through:
- advancing the boundaries of health and social care through interprofessional leadership and workforce development
- applying the principles of advanced practice to their working context
- demonstrating innovation, enhanced decision-making, problem-solving and change management within advanced practice
- operating within a multi-cultural context that is responsive to health and social care
- engaging and encouraging research, evaluation and systematic reviews of practice
- promotion of life-long learning activities in yours and others development plans.
Assessment
A wide range of assessment methods are incorporated into this course, each one appropriate to the nature of the specific module. A module assessment normally comprises the application of theory to the your own practice.
For more details, see our full glossary of assessment terms.
Features
Professional accreditation
This course is accredited by Health Education England’s Centre for Advancing Practice. This accreditation enables our graduates to achieve a standardised, nationally recognised digital badge on successful completion of our MSc Advanced Practice.
Study facilities
The School of Health and Social Wellbeing is superbly equipped with an extensive range of teaching and learning resources. The Glenside Campus Library is one of the best healthcare libraries in England with a huge selection of books, journals, and audio-visual materials including access to specialist health and social care software packages.
Information technology provision is in the form of multimedia laboratories, smart boards, innovative projects such as 'multicasting' to deliver teaching material and various health and social care databases enabling students to carry out searches of available literature relating to topics of interest.
At the main Frenchay campus there is 24-hour access to computing facilities.
Find out more about the facilities and resources UWE Bristol has to offer.
Take a Virtual Tour of the Health Professions facilities and see what's on offer here for you.
Life
Postgraduate support
Our support includes access to fantastic facilities, study tools and career consultants, plus practical help to access everything from funding to childcare.
Bristol
A stunning city for student living with all the qualities to make you want to stay.
Sports, societies and activities
There is more to your experience here than study. Choose to make the most of it and try new things.
Health and Wellbeing
We provide support in the way you need it.
Campus and facilities
Discover our campuses and the wealth of facilities provided for our students.
Fees
There is currently no published fee data for this course.
Supplementary fee information
You'll be required to apply for each module, whether you're studying for the full Masters course or individual modules as CPD.
View our professional short courses to apply.
Funding may be available to support your learning. Please contact your Trust Education Lead or if you work in the Private, Independent and Voluntary Sector, please contact your employer.
Entry
Entry requirements
Successful applicants to a postgraduate course will normally have an honours degree or its equivalent in a relevant subject area.
Additionally, applicants will require the following:
- Registered on the NMC or HCP or GPhC.
- Evidence that their current level of practice forms a pre-requisite stage required for advanced practice
- Evidence of support from practice for the student to develop in or towards an advanced practice role.
Students entering the course will be assessed against each modules to meet the needs of the individual and learning outcomes.
It's a course requirement to have your manager's support and that you've identified an appropriate educational supervisor in practice before you enrol.
We will not able to accept your application for this course if you require a Student visa.
How to apply
- You'll be required to apply for each module, whether you'e studying for the full Master's course or individual modules as CPD.
- You'll only be able to apply for MSc Advanced Practice if you have 60 credits at level 7. In addition to this you will need to attend an information session, the link for this can be obtained from the Health Professional Development team by emailing pd@uwe.ac.uk.
- The information session will provide you with the advice you need to determine if you are eligible to apply for the award.
- At the information session you will be provided with the link to apply and the Programme Application Form (PAF) which will need to be uploaded once you have submitted your UWE Bristol application for the award.
View our professional short courses to apply.
For further information
- Email: pd@uwe.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0)117 32 81158