Advanced Clinical Management of Chronic Disease

You'll study a range of topics including:

• Focused assessment skills for patients with chronic disease
• Assessing patients during flare-ups or worsening of their conditions
• Holistic assessment and approaches to disease management
• Advanced care and interventions across the disease journey. This includes rehabilitation, avoiding hospital admission, carer support, patient self-management techniques, and the role of palliative care.
• Clinical decision making theory in chronic disease
• Applying clinical decision making skills in practice
• Medico-legal requirements for advanced practice
• Evidence-based practice in managing chronic diseases. These could include heart failure, coronary heart disease (CHD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, liver cirrhosis, and substance abuse.

We deliver this module in-person at City Campus, usually on Fridays. It's taught via interactive lectures, simulations, and problem-based learning. Total contact time is 88 hours, and there's extra self-directed study available. This is through the Virtual Learning Environment.

This is a typical day on campus:

9-10:50am and 11am-1pm:

• Disease-specific assessment
• Symptom management
• Monitoring
• When to refer
• Self-management
• Managing symptom worsening (exacerbation) and providing comfort care.

2-4pm:

• Practical assessment skills via simulated patient interactions.

Assessment 1: Assignment

Theoretically, you'll deconstruct a complex case from practice. You'll critically assess the care decisions made and the interventions used. You'll then identify, debate, and analyse the key components of your decision making. Afterwards, you'll review the outcome of the case. This helps you evaluate and justify your clinical actions through a written report.

Assessment 2: Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)

The OSCE assesses your ability to:

• Take a structured history
• Develop a management plan for a complex chronic disease scenario.

You'll then provide your clinical rationale by answering a viva question.