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Urgent Care PgCert

2024-25 (also available for 2025-26)

Start date

13 January 2025

Duration

1 year part-time

Places available (subject to change)

25

About the course

Reasons to study

  1. Gain the knowledge and skills required to assess, diagnose and treat minor illness and injury whilst recognising limitations of practice and the need for referral as appropriate.
  2. History taking, clinical decision making and examination skills will be integrated throughout the course elements.
  3. You will study alongside colleagues from other disciplines and specialties and engage in simulation-based learning activities to develop team work and critical understanding.

This course is aimed at healthcare professionals working in a setting where patients present with minor illness and/or minor injuries. It provides the knowledge and skills required to assess, diagnose and treat minor illness and injury whilst recognising limitations of practice and the need for referral as appropriate.

  • Specific cross-cutting themes such history taking, clinical decision making and examination skills will be integrated throughout the course elements.
  • You will have opportunity to study with colleagues from other disciplines and specialties and engage in simulation-based learning activities to develop team work and critical understanding.
  • The course content is informed by evidence-based guidelines and research and aims to encourage clinical and professional development.

Course detail

Managing Minor Illness

You will have the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in relation to assessment, diagnosis and management of minor illness, as well as generate differential diagnoses in addition to making informed collaborative decisions about the management of a patient’s presentation in your own clinical setting. You will be supported to demonstrate competency in clinical skills applied to the context of your clinical practice.

Managing Minor Injuries

You will have the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in relation to assessment, diagnosis, and management of undifferentiated and undiagnosed minor injuries in your own clinical setting. You will be supported by experienced minor injury clinicians to demonstrate competency in clinical skills applied to the context of your clinical practice. A personal portfolio will be developed as part of the course, based within a clinical setting which will allow you to demonstrate the application of theory into practice.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for this course are normally:

  • You must be a registered Health Care Practitioner, working in a Health and Social Care setting where patients with minor illness are present.
  • You must be registered with a relevant statutory body such as the NMC or HCPC if you would like to undertake modules linked to UK professional body recognition.
  • Have a good honours degree, or equivalent professional qualification appropriate to that of the proposed programme to be followed.
  • Have access to a clinical educator and be able to negotiate access to a placement equivalent to 3 weeks or 105 hours for each module to support application of theory to practice and assess competence.

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Placements


You must be working in a setting where you will be able to see patients presenting with minor illness and injury. You will be expected to work under the supervision of a doctor or experience advanced clinical practitioner for 105 hours per module so you can be assessed and signed off on clinical, history taking skills and decision making.

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you will find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you will soon discover that you are never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

A wide range of resources are also offered within the School of Human and Health Sciences, which provides you with support in a variety of areas. These include:

Student Hub: a one stop shop for students, studying within the School. Their services include offering advice on extenuating circumstances, extension requests, course progression, suspension and welfare support, organising appointments with academic staff and signposting to other support networks.

Academic Skills Development Team: support students to develop their academic skills and build their confidence in order to improve their grades. The team provide support with academic skills including essay writing, being critical, reflective writing, numeracy, research skills, presentations and group work skills; as well as personal development for example time management.

Learning Technology Support Unit: helps students with any problems they experience with the University’s Brightspace Learning System, including logging on or difficulties experienced when accessing and using modules, and with the PebblePad platform, which is used by students when they go out on placements.

Important information

We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

Changes to a course you have applied for

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment.

Cancellation of a course you have applied for

Although we always try and run all of the course we offer, we may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants to ensure you have a good learning experience. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will contact you to discuss other suitable courses with us we can transfer your application to. If we notify you that the course you have applied to has been withdrawn or combined, and you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

We will always try to deliver your course and other services as described. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below:

Changes to option modules

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have a range of options to choose from and we will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes

We will only make major changes to the core curriculum of a course or to our services if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change in this context is a change that materially changes the services available to you; or the outcomes, or a significant part, of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), classes, type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum.

For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators; to meet the latest requirements of a commissioning or accrediting body; to improve the quality of educational provision; in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback; and/or to reflect academic or professional changes within subject areas. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but this may not always be the case. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation with affected students. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

Termination of course

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed and we will notify you as soon as possible about what your options are, which may include transferring to a suitable replacement course for which you are qualified, being provided with individual teaching to complete the award for which you were registered, or claiming an interim award and exiting the University. If you do not wish to take up any of the options that are made available to you, then you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the course without liability to the University for future tuition fees and you will be entitled to a refund of all course fees paid to date. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by a framework of regulations, policies and procedures, which form the basis of your agreement with us. These include regulations regarding the assessment of your course, academic integrity, your conduct (including attendance) and disciplinary procedure, fees and finance and compliance with visa requirements (where relevant). It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to abide by them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan, where you will also find links to the full text of each of the regulations, policies and procedures referred to. You should read these carefully before you enrol. Please note that this information is subject to change and you are advised to check our website regularly for any changes before you enrol at the University. A person who is not party to this agreement shall not have any rights under or in connection with it. Only you and the University shall have any right to enforce or rely on the agreement.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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