Are you interested in supporting the healthcare team and working alongside doctors? Want to help with the diagnosis and management of patients? Our MSc Physician Associate Practice course opens doors to a rewarding career.
On this rewarding course you’ll train to become a physician associate. This is a growing, in-demand role within the NHS with an attractive starting salary. A physician associate is a medical professional. They provide patient care under the supervision of a consultant or general practitioner. As a physician associate you'll focus on analysing results, diagnosis and management. Your daily activities would include:
- Interviewing and examining patients
- Ordering tests
- Making decisions about patient management
- Developing treatment and management plans
You'll need to travel to clinical placement sites throughout Lancashire and Cumbria, with travel of up to 90 minutes both ways. Approximately 50% of the programme is on clinical placement. This will be across urban, rural, specialised hospital and general practice settings. During the rest of the programme you’ll get taught on campus. You'll learn from staff who are highly experienced in the clinical sector. This includes four trained physician associates.
Please note, with the General Medical Council’s (GMC) ongoing regulatory developments, we can confirm this programme (modules and content) will be aligned to the new curriculum for September 2023.
Why study with us
- You’ll learn in state-of-the-art facilities. Our clinical skills laboratories have a vast range of equipment. This will help you develop clinical skills in hospital and GP surgery environments.
- Develop a comprehensive understanding of the human body in our Human Anatomy Resource and Learning Centres. You'll also use great resources such as our Anatomage table and diagnostic imaging equipment.
- You'll spend over 50% of the course on clinical placements with our NHS clinical education partners. This will be across Lancashire and/or Cumbria. You will receive £2,500 per year to support your travel to placements.
What you'll do
- You’ll be taught in small groups offering unrivalled student support and direct contact hours with staff. You will be timetabled to have over 25 hours per week of direct, interactive teaching.
- You’ll have the opportunity to learn from our MSc Physician Associate graduates who regularly attend sessions to share their experiences of working in a professional healthcare environment.
- You’ll be exposed to variety of patients and medical conditions during placements in both urban and rural NHS hospitals and GP practices.
Module overview
Compulsory modules
- UM4001: Medical Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours for Patient Care 1
- UM4002: Medical Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours for Patient Care 2
- UM4600: Professional Placement 1 (Physician Associate studies)
- UM4700: Professional Placement 2 (Physician Associate studies)
Course delivery
Following the pandemic, we have found that some courses benefit from a blended learning and teaching approach. Therefore, the majority of your teaching will be face-to-face on campus, with some online teaching where we have learnt it works best.
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our published course information. However, our programmes are subject to ongoing review and development. Changing circumstances may cause alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses. Changes may be necessary to comply with the requirements of accrediting bodies or revisions to subject benchmarks statements. As well as to keep courses updated and contemporary, or as a result of student feedback. We reserve the right to make variations if we consider such action to be necessary or in the best interests of students.
Future careers
On completion of the course, you’ll be well prepared to take the Physician Associate National Exam. After completing this successfully you’ll be able to become a physician associate. You can apply to join the profession’s voluntary register. The General Medical Council (GMC) will soon be assuming responsibility for this.
There is currently around 100% employment of UK graduates of physician associate programmes.
When you become a physician associate there is flexibility designed within the generalist role. This allows you to pursue a wide range of clinical specialist jobs in both primary and secondary care.
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