Our Clinical and Health Sciences with Surgery PGCert offers you the ability to tailor your educational needs to your professional interests. Designed for busy professionals, this online course offers a flexible, bespoke way for you to develop your career in surgery.

The course is ideal for clinicians, allied health professionals and scientists with a particular interest in surgery. It is particularly suited to junior medical staff wishing to pursue a career in surgery and gain a postgraduate qualification. Studying in this way demonstrates a commitment to surgery, and orthopaedics in particular, as a career, which is particularly relevant for trainees applying for specialist training. There is the opportunity to combine study in surgery with other highly relevant areas such as clinical research.

This innovative course is aimed at those who already have a primary qualification (eg MBBS, BDS, BSc) and are working in health or life sciences field. It has been developed to provide a flexible approach, making it sustainable and compatible with modern career pathways whilst addressing the needs of a modern health service.

The courses are taught online, so you can choose to study anytime and anywhere. This flexibility means that you can fit your studies around your other commitments, plus develop your online literacy as a transferable skill. You can pick from over 30modules in a diverse range of subjects to create your own bespoke course of study. You can choose to complete a single module for professional development or a full masters, working at your own pace in your own environment.

The e-learning course has been developed by Newcastle University, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the NIHR Newcastle Training School as part of the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre in Ageing and Chronic Disease.

You will be taught by staff with experience and expertise in surgery, such as Mr Paul Fearon, orthopaedic surgeon.

Delivery

You will be given an email address and an account on Blackboard, our managed learning environment. Blackboard is accessible across a variety of operating systems and browsers. Our materials and supporting reading are accessible across a variety of devices including desktop computers, tablets and mobile phones.

No campus attendance is needed, but you must have reliable access to a computer, internet connection, webcam, headset and printer. Recommended specifications:

• operating system: Windows 7 and above (32 and 64 bit) or Mac OSX 10.6 and above
• processor: Intel Pentium, Intel Celeron, Intel i3, Intel i5, Intel i7, or recent AMD processor
• RAM: At least 2GB
• connectivity: broadband or mobile broadband
• screen resolution: at least 1024 x 768 px

Modules

Our flexible course allows you to decide a route that suits your needs. To specialise in surgery, you need to select a certain number of surgery-specific credits.

Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert): 60 credits including 20 in surgery

You can choose from over 30 professional and clinical modules to build your bespoke qualification in the areas of:

• therapeutics
• clinical research
• palliative care
• oncology

You can also choose to study individual modules for continuous professional development (CPD).

Most of our modules are 10-12 weeks long. Our online modules are split between 10 and 20 credit modules and require 10-20 hours of work per week. You should set aside regular study hours to get the most out of the course. There are three semesters in the academic year and in each semester you can study:

• a minimum of 10 credits (unless you take a formal leave of absence)
• a maximum of 40 credits.

To help plan your study, each module details which semester it is taught in. Semester start dates are:

• Semester 1: September
• Semester 2: January
• Semester 3: April

Compulsory module

• CHS8004 Trauma and Orthopaedics - Simulation Enhanced Learning (E-learning)

Optional modules

• CHS8001 Drug Discovery and Pre-clinical Development (E-learning)
• CHS8002 Drug Development from First-in-Man to Bedside (E-learning)
• CHS8003 Therapeutics in Older People (E-Learning)
• CHS8005 Allergy (E-Learning)
• CHS8006 Ageing and Health (E-Learning)
• CHS8007 Clinical Research with Older People (E-Learning)
• CHS8008 Biology of Ageing (E-Learning)
• MCR8009 Research Governance and Ethics (E-learning)
• MCR8010 Introduction to Research Study Design and Statistics (E-learning)
• MCR8011 Writing in a Research Setting (E-learning)
• MCR8013 Designing a Research Proposal (E-learning)
• MCR8015 Clinical Trials (E-Learning)
• MCR8019 Clinical Research Statistics (E-Learning)
• ONC8002 Cancer Pathology (E-learning)
• ONC8004 Developments in Diagnostic Imaging in Oncology (E-learning)
• ONC8005 Palliative Care Themes and Perspectives (E-learning)
• ONC8006 Management of Cancer-Psychosocial Issues (E-learning)
• ONC8007 Research Methods 2 Statistics (E-learning)
• ONC8008 Ethical Dimensions of Cancer/Palliative Care (E-learning)
• ONC8010 Handling Loss, Grief and Bereavement (E-learning)
• ONC8011 Cancer Drugs and Technologies: Product Pathway, Provider & Patient (E-learning)
• ONC8012 Managing Pain (E-learning)
• ONC8013 Quality Improvement (E-learning)
• ONC8016 Contemporary Issues in Palliative Care Practice: Management of Symptoms (Other Than Pain) in Advanced Diseases (E-learning)
• ONC8017 Multi-professional Management of Cancer Part 1 (E-learning)
• ONC8018 Multi-professional Management of Cancer Part 2 (E-learning)
• ONC8019 Pharmacology of Chemotherapeutic Agents (E-learning)
• ONC8021 Health Economics (E-Learning)
• ONC8022 Cancer Cell, Molecular Biology and Genetics (E-learning)

Modules might change for your year of entry.