This course enables you to become an expert lifelong learner who has the capability and capacity to make a positive and transformative difference to practice. To achieve this, the course will empower you to take control of your own learning journey and to understand how to apply different forms of evidence to what you do while being cognisant of the impact of these on self and others.
Nicole Pollock, Course Director BSc Healthcare Practice
Our course enables healthcare professionals who have registered with diploma level only to advance their qualification to first degree level.
The BSc (Hons) Healthcare Practice is a part-time course of continuing professional development (CPD) designed to meet the needs of employers and individuals. It aims to develop professionals who will be equipped to act as change agents to promote innovation and transformation within their practice environments towards the overall enhancement of person-centred care.
Fundamentally this course seeks to develop you as an expert lifelong learner in order that your personal and professional development and learning is not confined to your period of study.
Gaining a degree level qualification enables you to progress both personally and professionally within your practice area and be able to become a change agent for improved evidence-based person-centred care. A degree qualification may also qualify you to apply for career advancement opportunities that might not otherwise be available.
The course focuses on quality improvement in practice. Common aims include improved knowledge and skills for leading care, personal and professional development and the application of evidence together with the development of the skills necessary to continue as a lifelong learner. In trimester 3 of Year 1 and in trimester one of Year 2, you will be able to choose from a list of optional modules.
The course begins with the Transforming Quality in Health and Care module which will review your learning to date and begin to equip you to develop a focus on quality improvement and acting as a change agent in practice. Understanding your learning and engaging with learning for life is a core skill of the Health or Social Care professional and is fundamental to CPD. As part of preparing you to be an agent for change this module will also examine the identification, critique and application of sources of evidence vital to any QI process.
During this first module, you will, in partnership with your Personal Academic Tutor and, where appropriate, employer produce a small-scale quality improvement proposal linked to your area of professional practice. You will consider barriers to change and optimal means of fostering and maintaining QI initiatives in the workplace to ensure change is not only initiated but also maintained.
You can opt to study individual modules which are pertinent to your practice, without working towards the degree award. You may choose to put these towards an award later using a process we call Recognition of Prior Certificated Learning (RPCL) so long as you do this within 5 years of studying the module. You may RPCL a maximum of 40 level 6 credits so if you have completed two 20-credit standalone modules you will be required to enrol on the programme rather than undertake further standalone module. The one exception to this is if you are studying the three neonatal modules detailed later.
Note: You can study any of the optional modules in either year 1 or 2.
Prospective students will normally be required to have completed a health professional qualification to diploma level. Prospective students who have not yet attained a diploma can be supported to reach that level prior to enrolling on the course.
For more information on the IELTS (International English language Testing System) requirements for this course, please click here to visit our dedicated web page.
Please note that modules require a minimum number of students in order to run.
*Modules subject to validation
Learning and teaching strategies will involve you as an active participant; you will be encouraged to use self-evaluation and reflection on your own experience to deepen and consolidate, as well as plan your future, learning.
We will facilitate opportunities for you to study both collectively, with other students, as well as independently using a range of learning and teaching approaches. These include lectures, workshops, debates, seminars and group/one-to-one tutorials. You may participate in Peer Learning Sets in which you exchange ideas, knowledge and learning with fellow students as well as engaging the formative assessment of each other’s work as well as challenging each other to justify or consider revising what you ‘know’.
Teaching and learning methods are supported by technologies e.g. our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and our electronic portfolio tool. E-portfolio usage will be introduced in the Foundations for Practice module and its use encouraged and supported throughout the course. In some modules its use may be compulsory (e.g. Developing Leadership). As well as providing a valuable mechanism to support your studies, the e-portfolio will enable you to collate evidence which may be required for annual professional registration renewal.
Check out our Continuing Professional Development Timetables for more information. Information about BSc Healthcare Practice can be found on pages 4-14.
Summative (final) assessment activities may include essays, portfolios, examinations, Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE), seminar presentations, poster presentations, case studies or report writing to enable you to demonstrate the fulfilment of the module learning outcomes. Some modules also include skills-based work-based learning components for which you would need a practice-based assessor to help you complete.
Gaining a first degree in your area of practice will equip you to become a leader and agent for change within your practice area and may give you opportunities to apply for career advancement that might not otherwise be available. Additionally completing your first degree will enable you to continue your studies at Masters level and beyond.
Tuition Fees for some 2022/23 have not yet been finalised. These course web pages will be updated with Tuition Fee information once they have been agreed.
To celebrate 60 years of transforming lives through education new cash bursary and scholarship opportunities are available for students starting a degree in September 2022. See full details.
Applicants to the course would be expected to have professional accreditation within their area of practice and also to be working in an employed or voluntary capacity within that field. The course does not carry any professional accreditation although some modules are required study within certain fields of practice.
Most teaching on the course is by seminar and small lectures supported by our virtual learning environment although some modules do also make use of the facilities in our simulation suites to develop clinical skills.
The course has been developed in consultation with local NHS and private sector healthcare providers to meet the needs of local workforce development. Several modules link directly with specific practice areas and may use the expertise of practitioners to support module teaching and learning.
The Office for Students (OfS) regulates Canterbury Christ Church University. The OfS is the independent regulator of higher education in England. It aims to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers. Further details about its work are available on the OfS website.