Program Overview

Advanced Clinical Practice MSc

Overview

The Advanced Clinical Practice MSc is designed to enable health and social care professionals to extend their knowledge to an advanced level within their specialist field of practice. It is suitable both for individuals who wish to become advanced practitioners, or for those individuals who wish to promote the advance of practice within their field of work.

What you'll study

The programme will support you in becoming a competent and capable advanced clinical practitioner. You will be equipped with the skills, knowledge and understanding to deliver, sustain and enhance safe, professional, ethical and excellent quality of care across health and care services in your specific area or scope of practice.

Successful completion of the course will:

• Equip you with a critical understanding of the role that an advanced clinical practitioner plays in the delivery of safe, effective, high quality patient care as a member of the wider multidisciplinary team.
• Support you in the development of the capabilities to practice with autonomy, accountability and critical insight in decision-making in complex and uncertain environments within your defined scope of advanced clinical practice.
• Help you to develop as an advanced clinical practitioner who is a resilient, effective team leader able to challenge and act as a change agent supported by a critical understanding of evidence-based practice while managing risk and upholding patient safety.
• Enable you to critically assess your own learning and training needs required to work safely and effectively as an advanced clinical practitioner while advocating for the development of others.
• Equip you with the skills required to critically engage in research activity/quality improvement projects and apply the outcomes to enhance the quality and safety of person-centred care.

Compulsory modules

• Context of Advanced Practice: This module is designed to provide a solid foundation in the four pillars of advanced clinical practice, leadership and management, education, and research.
• Developing Clinical Skills and Capabilities in Advanced Practice (Adult): This module uses a body-systems based approach to support you in the development of competence and capability in clinical assessments and diagnostic skills within a practice setting.
• Developing Research Capabilities for Advanced Clinical Practice: This module engages you in the critical analysis and synthesis of complex problems across a range of settings, enabling you to develop appropriate knowledge, understanding and skills to effect innovative solutions that enhance person-centred care and improve health outcomes.
• E-Portfolio for Advanced Clinical Practice: This non-credit-bearing module is designed to embed a spiral approach to learning in the workplace, revisiting and building on in-depth knowledge, understanding and skills in increasingly complex/challenging situations.
• Research Inquiry for Advanced Practice: This module provides the opportunity to undertake a comprehensive study that aligns with your profession, scope of practice, job role, and professional development needs under the guidance of an experienced academic supervisor and your workplace coordinating education supervisor.

Optional modules

• Advanced Respiratory Care Practice (Adult): This module offers you the opportunity to critically examine common respiratory conditions and their evidence-based management, aligned to the person-centred approach to care in adults.
• Developing a Business Case for Change and Innovation: This module provides you with an opportunity to appraise the rationale, evidence-base and drivers for change.
• Developing Potential in Others: This module recognises that the people who work in health and social care are its greatest asset and are key to delivering high-quality care.
• Identification and Management of Frailty and Complex Care: This module develops expert knowledge and skills to identify and manage the frail population across a variety of settings informed by both local and national policy and best practice drivers.
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease: From Aetiology to Diagnosis and Management: This module has been designed in collaboration with Crohn's and Colitis UK, and supports the recent published framework for Professional Practice for Nurses Working in Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Adult and Paediatric Care Settings by the Royal College of Nursing.
• Management of Balance and Dizziness Disorders in Adults: This module enables you to develop the in-depth knowledge, understanding and skills to identify and manage the most common vestibular and balance system (VBS) disorders causing dizziness and imbalance.
• Medical Needs of Adults with a Learning Disability: This module focuses largely on workplace learning and will enhance your skillset in providing high quality care to adults with a learning disability.
• Mentoring and Coaching in Clinical Education: This module focuses on mentoring and coaching in relation to the purposes, context, processes, skills and impact on the clinical learning environment.
• Negotiated Learning Shell 7.20: This module provides an opportunity for you to study a topic or work-related issue at Masters level.
• Negotiated Learning Shell 7.10: This module provides an opportunity for you to study a topic or work-related issue at Masters level.
• Non-Medical Prescribing: This module prepares eligible allied health professionals, nurses and midwives to prescribe safely, appropriately and competently.
• Promoting Integration and Collaboration for Mental Health: This module supports you to develop critical perspectives on integration and collaboration, and to understand the evidence based presentation for people with a mental health condition.
• Promoting Professionalism and Ethics in Multidisciplinary Practice: This module enables you to explore and critically appraise the notion of professionalism.
• Strategic Clinical Leadership: This module provides a critical and evaluative perspective on leadership theories, styles and approaches in the context of health and social care.
• Teaching and Learning in the Clinical Context: This module introduces and raises awareness of the key concepts involved in teaching and facilitating learning in both the clinical context and higher education.
• Transforming End of Life Communication and Spiritual Care: This module explores the psychology of spirituality, the individual meaning of life, and the impact of positive emotion for individuals.
• Transforming End of Life Trajectories: This module enhances your skills and knowledge in understanding the similarities and differences in trajectories and impact of advanced progressive illness in malignant and non-malignant disease.
• Transforming Integrated Palliative and End of Life Care: This module enhances your skills and knowledge in understanding the signs, trajectories and impact of advanced progressive disease.

How you'll study

Diverse teaching and learning strategies will be used, ranging from individual personal teacher contact to supported online learning, small group work to teacher-led lectures.

How you'll be assessed

Assessment methods vary according to the demands of the module but can be through assignments, Objective Structured Clinical Examinations, portfolios, seminar presentations and work-based learning projects.

Who will be teaching you

The programme team comprises of expert staff with many years experience in clinical practice in areas such as emergency care, paramedic practice, respiratory care, mental health, primary care and medical practice.

Entry criteria

To join this course, you must be a practitioner who is a member of a UK-recognised Professional Statutory Regulatory Body (PSRB).

You should typically have a degree equivalent to UK first-class or second-class honours (2:2 or above) in a relevant healthcare-related subject.

Your employer must also confirm that you are suitable for the role of advanced clinical practitioner in their organisation, with access to the appropriate workplace environment to gain relevant clinical experience throughout the programme.

Facilities

The Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine offers outstanding facilities for the education and training of health and social care professionals.

Finance

Tuition fees for the 2025/26 academic year are to be confirmed.

Your future career

This programme will enhance your ability to gain employment in more senior roles as an advanced clinical practitioner, within your chosen field of healthcare.

Successful completion of this MSc enables you to meet Health Education North West’s requirements to practice at an advanced level across the health professions spectrum, including roles such as paramedics, operating department practitioners, nurses, dietitians, occupational therapists and physiotherapists.