The programme is aimed at staff from across the Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Integrated Care Service and includes doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals allied to medicine who have a teaching role and/or responsibility for the training, development and/or appraisal of other healthcare professionals. This includes those with primary and secondary care responsibilities in the healthcare profession.
A distinctive feature of this programme is its diversity, attracting applicants from the Medical, Nursing and Allied Health professional groups. Thus students, as they study, learn about and from each other.
By way of example, we have we have nurse practice educators, F3 Doctors, Clinical Practice Nurses, Consultants, GPs and Associate specialists and Clinical leads, covering a range of disciplines including oncology, gynaecology, rheumatology, anaesthesiology, midwifery and intensive care.
"The multidisciplinary nature of the course is a huge positive. Well organised with experienced educators and support with study, accessing resources and assignments. The contact days are valuable and have challenged me and make me think. They make this certificate far superior to distance learning which I had attempted and abandoned in the past."Dr Sarah Williams, Consultant Anaesthetist, Royal Berkshire Hospital
"The academic tutors and support staff have been very proactive and engaging. The study days have been a combination of face-to-face and online, which have been very interactive and informative. The use of group sessions and active learning sets are a particular favourite of mine as they link the theory to practice. After each session, my level of knowledge and understanding of the subject has increased and any questions have been answered in a structured and informed way for me to understand. The programme has been challenging from a time management and academic point of view, but I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in Training / Development as it makes you think in ways I would have not thought of previously." Sarah Colledge, Clinical Lead Practitioner (Training), Royal Berkshire Hospital
"Great experience to undertake with so many people from different areas of medicine. Opened my eyes into how others learn and how I can improve my ability to teach." Dr Katie Palmer, Registrar in Emergency Medicine, Royal Berkshire Hospital
Teaching and learning
The programme offers a unique and innovative programme combining the specialist expertise in teaching of the Institute of Education, University of Reading staff alongside the specialist medical teaching expertise of staff at the Royal Berkshire Foundation Trust (RBFT) and available to staff across Health Education Thames Valley (HETV).
Each module will be delivered in one term over three separate days on the University's Earley Road campus. Each module has summative assessments linked to practice. There will be weekly independent study tasks and reading to undertake.
The three modules are:
1. The self and healthcare education
This module and its theoretical basis aims to challenge healthcare practitioners to consider their own behaviour and values within the context of the working environment. The module aims to analyse and understand the behaviour of humans and how to bring about behavioural change in others and oneself. The development of such understanding should inform the work all those who consider they manage others and to thereby develop their abilities to know what they and others do, how they behave and why they do as they do, and to reflect upon this.
2. Teaching and learning in healthcare education
This module aims to provide healthcare practitioners with an overview of approaches to teaching that support effective learning. It explores what is meant by learning and provides an overview of learning theories that are necessary for underpinning approaches to teaching. In turn, this supports an understanding of how to deliberatively plan for learning, examines different cognitive and affective obstacles to learning, and how teaching, learning and assessment should align.
It intends to support the development of good educational practice in the workplace and to get students to reflect critically on their own and/or other's educational practice.
3. Working with others in healthcare education
This module and its theoretical basis aims to explore the team who work within healthcare, exploring hierarchy, relationships and human factors. An exploration of professionalism and care will endeavour to identify the common values, skills, knowledge and therefore identity of the healthcare workforce. A key question to be considered is the extent to which care, public service and compassion is at odds with professionalism. The development of such understanding should inform the work of those who work in teams, with a range of professions, in often high intensity situations.
Student experience
Students joining the programme will have the benefit of cross disciplinary teaching. All students will have a University of Reading, Institute of Education academic tutor, all of whom are experienced at tutoring at a distance with students who are in employment. Students will have access to all the student support services available at the University, via the usual mechanisms, e.g. Student Support Centres. Staff on the programme have experience of teaching students with a range of needs and support would be offered to relevant students in accordance with established University policy and procedure.
Teaching will be by lecture, group tutorials, practical sessions and through the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), ensuring at all times the study relates to workplace experiences. We also have unique cutting edge video materials (filmed at the RBH) to support the teaching and learning on this programme.
