Overview

This operating department practice degree apprenticeship is ideal if you are employed as a healthcare worker and your employer is willing to support your professional development.

As an apprenticeship student, you will study alongside ODP students on the BSc (Hons) Operating Department Practice Studies course for 35 weeks each year. During university breaks and at the end of each academic year, you will continue to work with your employer as usual.

ODPs are a vital part of the multidisciplinary perioperative theatre team, providing a high standard of patient-centred care during anaesthesia, surgery and post anaesthetic care (recovery). You can expect to work across a variety of surgical specialities assisting anaesthetists and surgeons alongside the wider multidisciplinary team. This patient-centred course prepares you with the knowledge, skills and understanding to ensure that you can contribute fully to healthcare delivery in a dynamic and fast-moving surgical environment. This course leads to the achievement of the Health and Care Professions Council Standards of Proficiency for Operating Department Practitioners (ODP).

The course ensures early exposure to practice where you gain experience across a variety of specialist areas, for example, general surgery, orthopaedic surgery, ear, nose and throat, obstetric surgery, anaesthetic and post-anaesthetic care. Working within your NHS hospital trust, you will develop essential skills and knowledge, supported by evidence-based learning in the University with lectures, seminars and practical activities in our clinical skills labs and simulated operating theatre. There is a strong emphasis on evidence-based practice and clinical decision making throughout the course as you work towards achieving the requirements for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Half of the course is completed within the practice environment where you will engage in supervised practice. You work alongside experienced clinical staff following various shift patterns including nights and weekend working to gain the maximum learning experience. The academic components of the course are completed within the University setting with lecture rooms and simulation suites. As with all healthcare professionals, the public place a high level of expectation and trust in their Operating Department Practitioners and, therefore to work in this sector, it is essential that you are able to demonstrate the core values embedded within the NHS Constitution:

• Working Together for Patients
• Respect and Dignity
• Compassion
• Improving Lives
• Everyone Counts

In the early part of the course you gain the relevant foundational knowledge and skills needed to work within the perioperative environment. You also gain an understanding of perioperative pharmacology, relevant anatomy and physiology, infection control and the legal and ethical concepts surrounding theatre care.

Course structure

Year 1 core modules

You explore relevant topics in anatomy and physiology for operating department practice which informs your practice in relation to assessing and caring for patients in the perioperative environment.

You focus on major organs and organ systems with an emphasis on homeostasis, the systems assessed and physiological parameters that are measured in perioperative patients.

Where appropriate, some basic principles of physics, chemistry and mathematics are incorporated to provide a fuller understanding of anatomical structures, physiological processes and physiological parameters. There’s an emphasis on relating theory to practice and developing the knowledge and skills required to carry out safe and effective patient assessment.

Foundation of Perioperative Care 

You are introduced to the foundation knowledge for perioperative practice with an emphasis on reducing the risks of infection in the operating department. Using an evidence-based approach and making reference to local and national guidelines and policies, this module introduces the principles of safe perioperative practice. Where appropriate, selected content from human biology, physics and chemistry is included. Within the context of infection prevention, you recognise your professional responsibilities and apply given tools and techniques to justify your practice. This equips you with the basic knowledge and understanding of key principles required to enter the practice environment.

Legal, Ethical and Professional Concept in Perioperative Practise

This module considers the professional, ethical and legal concepts which underpin professional practice in the operating department.

Perioperative Practise Year 1 for OPD

This module develops your knowledge and skills to actively participate in patient care associated with theatre interventions linked to portfolio competencies. You’re placed in a variety of theatre placements to work towards developing competency in the three areas of operating department practice – anaesthesia, surgery and recovery.

How you learn

You engage in key lectures, seminars and workshops. Practical workshops are a key feature within the simulated theatre suite where you practice in a realistic safe environment using SimMan technology to enhance your learning.

How you are assessed

Each module is assessed separately, using a variety of methods including examination, completion of practice portfolios, poster presentations and written assignments. In year 3 of the course, there is a specific apprenticeship End Point Assessment which includes professional discussion and observation of your practice in the clinical setting.

Our disability services team helps students with additional needs resulting from disabilities such as sensory impairment or learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Work placement

Depending on your place of employment, you may be able to meet the requirements of the course within your own Trust. However, there may be occasions when you are asked to work in a different hospital or a different Trust to gain the necessary experience and to develop the necessary knowledge and skills in order to meet the required standards of practice.

Career opportunities

As a qualified ODP, you are trained in all areas of theatre work and can specialise in surgery, anaesthetics or post-anaesthetic care. You can develop your role through teaching or pursue theatre management roles. New areas of practice are also opening up to ODPs such as accident and emergency and intensive care units. Career opportunities exist within NHS hospital trusts and private hospitals, primary care trust clinics and the armed forces.