Urgent Care

Teaching takes place on campus at the National Centre for Remote and Rural Medicine (NCRRM), which is based at our Westlakes campus in Cumbria and online. You’ll be taught by an experienced team of academic staff, clinicians, leaders and managers.

The Centre trains professionals to deliver healthcare at a gold standard, regardless of their environment or location, by using innovative training and technology techniques. Rural medicine has been under-served for a number of years, and the Centre aims to provide a focus for remote and rural medical education and research in collaboration with colleagues globally.

You may wish to learn more about the practice of urgent care, either in a constant base or as part of a medical team supporting other pursuits such as mountain medicine, medicine relating to extreme sports, or pre-hospital emergency care. The suite of modules offers the ideal opportunity to develop and advance your portfolio career.

You can choose to study the programme in ‘bite size chunks’ to facilitate work-life balance.

You’ll be assessed using various methods. These are likely to include case study presentations, case-based demonstrations, practical demonstrations, written assessments and projects.

In order to achieve the full MSc qualification, you will be required to complete either a dissertation or professional project which may also require you to pass a Viva Voce.

This programme has been developed through working closely with GPs, NHS Trusts, CCGs and clinicians to ensure that it’s fully aligned with the needs of the health economy.

Programme delivery
Many of our courses will start in January and September, and online/virtual delivery may be available. Please speak to our team to find out more. Email PGMed@uclan.ac.uk

Programme leader

The programme is led by Dr Stuart Maitland-Knibb. Stuart is an ex-military medical officer with extensive experience in primary care and emergency medicine, both in hospital and pre-hospital. Specialising in urgent unplanned care, he has worked in the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) and pre-hospital settings for many years and continues to fly a day a week in a Clinical Supervisor position. A responder for BASICS, Stuart is also an Examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh for the Dip IMC and FIMC. He remains a medical officer for UK International Search and Rescue.

Credits for previous learning

This programme allows you to convert certified CPD that you’ve already gained and implemented in daily practice, into academic credits to enter the programme at an appropriate stage. You then choose from a wide range of modules to build a programme suited to your own individual needs.

The School recognises:

• Successful achievement of a relevant University of Central Lancashire CPD programme or short course
• Successful achievement of a recognised partner’s CPD programme or short course
• Demonstration of achievement of a relevant level of functioning or attainment within your career that could be considered equivalent to the level of the proposed postgraduate study
• Professional and Personal Development in General Practice (PED) course with NHS England North West

• Diploma in Urgent Medical Care (DipUMC RCSEd)

  This examination delivered by the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care (FPHC) recognises the importance of the provision of Urgent Care in the NHS and is offered to doctors, nurses and paramedics who deliver urgent medical care across a multitude of healthcare settings.

  Setting a national standard and allowing clinicians to evidence their professional development in their practice of urgent medical care, the examination focuses on the timely recognition, diagnosis, management, the systems and infrastructure necessary to provide high quality patient care.

  The DipUMC provides key evidence of professional development for urgent care practitioners, with successful candidates able to apply for 120 credits of prior learning towards the MSc in Urgent Care. This is part of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) and UCLan, a mutual commitment to collaboration and to exploring future opportunities for joint working in the areas of medical education, training, and research.

  The level of performance expected is that commensurate with level 7 within the Skills for Health Career Framework for Health.

  Learn more about the Diploma in Urgent Medical Care

In order to be recognised, you will be asked to show how the prior learning relates to improvement in your practice and undergo an assessment by the course team.

Any prior learning can be considered from the last 10 years but must be relevant to your current role. The maximum credit for prior learning that we can offer is two-thirds of the total credit required for the award.

You will discuss your prior learning with our career coach and agree your bespoke progression towards successful completion of the next short course and relevant postgraduate award.

For more information please email PGMed@uclan.ac.uk.