Professional/Short course Physical Assessment and Clinical Reasoning of the Presenting Child

Content

The course syllabus typically includes:

Skills

• Systematic history taking including developmental assessment
• Use of assessment tools for recognising normal and abnormal findings in children and young people
• Introduction to use of frameworks for clinical reasoning
• Introduction to differential diagnosis and patient risk assessment
• Introduction to investigations and relevance to practice

Scientific Knowledge

• Foundations of relevant anatomy and pathophysiology
• Introduction to clinical findings related to head to toe physical assessment with application to related disease processes.
• Respiratory examination in children
• Cardiovascular examination in children
• Abdominal examination in children
• Neurological examination in children
• Musculoskeletal examination in children (Paediatric Gait Arms Legs Spine pGALS)
• Examination of the newborn.
• Head, Neck, Skin, Ears, Eyes, Nose and throat examination
• Rationale for diagnostic investigations and relevance to practice
• Adolescent consultation skills

Context of physical assessment and clinical reasoning

• Legal/ethical principles in children's and young peoples practice (inc. consent, confidentiality and partnership working)
• Clinical governance and safeguarding in children's practice
• Evidence based practice
• National and local initiatives for changing roles in Children's advanced practice
• Health Promotion
• Red Flags and safety netting in Children's practice
• Communicating and building rapports with child young person and their family

Learning and Teaching

A variety of approaches will be used which may include:

• E-learning including Blackboard,
• Lectures,
• Practical sessions,
• Seminars,
• Master-classes,
• Analysis of case studies.

Formative OSCEs undertaken throughout the module will contribute to use as part of your learning strategy for physical assessment.

Study time

48 contact hours. These will take the form of lectures, group activities, case study presentations and practical practice sessions.

Assessment

At level 6 (undergraduate level):

• Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) (maximum 45 minutes), comprising history-taking, advanced clinical examination and discussion under controlled conditions. The discussion provides the opportunity for the student to demonstrate their paediatric clinical knowledge and evaluate their practice and clinical examination techniques in line with current evidence.

At level 7 (Masters level):

• Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) (maximum 45 minutes), comprising history-taking, advanced clinical examination and critical discussion under controlled conditions. The critical discussion provides the opportunity for the student to demonstrate clinical knowledge and critically explore and evaluate their practice and clinical examination techniques in line with current evidence.