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Duration:

1 year

Location(s):

Medway

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Overview

This course promotes innovative thinking and prepares you for modern challenges in surgery.

The specialist surgical field of orthopaedics has been central in the use of regenerative medicine. Research methods, studies in regenerative medicine and other emerging technologies feature poorly in the standard curriculum of the orthopaedic trainee.

This limits the quality of research output, reduces the potential for innovation and slows the rates of adoption of transformative treatments for patients, while leaving the surgeon unable to critically evaluate new treatments.

This course targets this deficiency with a strong emphasis on research methodology and critical analysis that is based on a platform formed of in-depth scientific knowledge and proven by translation into clinical practice.

Why study MCh Surgery (Orthopaedics and Regenerative Medicine)?

This course aims to develop your scientific insight into current and emerging technologies that will inform your clinical practice and help you to apply basic scientific discoveries to your clinical work for the benefit of your patients.

It aims to facilitate you to develop a critical understanding of current novel and potentially beneficial therapies that use regenerative medicine and digital health platforms in a way that will inspire and encourage you to use this knowledge and develop your own ideas. To be a competent, safe and compassionate surgeon, you need to be able to develop your critical, analytical and problem solving abilities.

All about the course

This MCh in Surgery is aimed at doctors who are at ST1 level and above and provides an essential educational component for you while you are progressing in your surgical training.

If you are an international medical graduate, this course will be especially suitable for you as it is designed so that it will allow you the maximum opportunities to learn both the theory and practice if you do not hold a GMC registration. If you wish to be considered to be sponsored by the University for a one year GMC registration, you will need to meet the criteria set by both the University and the GMC.

The theme of regenerative medicine runs through each of the specialist pathway modules with its application, research and emerging technologies being critically explored. Although a key component and theme through this course will be regenerative medicine, a further theme that will run through each of the modules is the teaching of practical surgical skills in each of the pathways and modules through simulation.

This course will develop you as a lifelong learner, having developed critical, analytical and evaluative skills at Masters level, to undertake your own high-quality research and search for innovation, which in turn will further progress your area of expertise. Integral to the course is the need to develop and enhance a culture in you that ensures a willingness to challenge poor or bad clinical practice, improve service delivery and effect change.

You can qualify for a Postgraduate Certificate by completing modules totalling 60 credits, the Postgraduate Diploma by completing 120 credits and the full MCh award includes a dissertation / project and is 180 credits.

Entry requirements

You will need to have a primary medical qualification and have a minimum of two years post qualification clinical experience. Full registration with the GMC is required if you wish to undertake clinical practice such as assisting in operating theatre.If you are an overseas medical graduate the Admissions Office at the University will check the application in terms of:

Equivalence of qualifications (by using NARIC)
If English is not your first language you require an IELTS overall score of 6.5 with no element below 6.0.

You will be required to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and Occupational Health screening prior to any clinical attachments.

Primary medical qualification required

Module information

Please note that the list of optional modules and their availability may be subject to change. We continually review and where appropriate, revise the range of modules on offer to reflect changes in the subject and ensure the best student experience. Modules will vary when studied in combination with another subject.

Core/optional modules

*Modules subject to validation

How you’ll learn

You will be taught in university using a variety of teaching and learning approaches. These will include seminars, journal clubs, web-based learning, group work, case studies, videos surgical procedures and surgical practice using simulation in the university’s simulation suite. You will also be able to observe and practice cell culturing and 3D culture in the university’s stem cell laboratory.

Each module comprises 200 hours. These 200 module hours consist of 30 hours being taught face to face in university, 125 hours of independent study and 45 hours of clinical observership / attachment. You will be given guidance by your module teachers on independent study which may include researching, finding and reading further papers, preparing seminars and presentations, group work with your colleagues, undertaking web-based learning, simulated practice in the simulation suite or spending time in the university’s stem cell research laboratory. The purpose of a clinical observership / attachment is so that you can apply the theory you learn in university in each module to surgical practice. It is also an opportunity for you to explore and question the practice you observe.

The amount of hours and basis on which you will spend your time will depend on whether or not you have General Medical Council (GMC) registration. If you are a student who is not registered with the GMC (and this may be because you have joined the programme as an international student), you will be allocated to an NHS hospital or a private hospital. Similarly, if you have GMC registration and you are not currently in employment with a hospital (ie you have left your recent place of employment to study on this course) you will also be given a contract with an allocated NHS hospital or private hospital, for the duration of the course. This will allow you to scrub up in theatre with your clinical supervisor. You will only be able to do this under direct supervision of your clinical supervisor. Your clinical supervisor will oversee this observership/attachment and will also arrange for you to visit other hospitals to observe procedures that may be appropriate for each of the modules.

If you have a GMC registration, are remaining employed within your current hospital and are undertaking this course as part of your surgical training, your clinical practice will remain unchanged. It will be important for you to have discussed this course and its requirements with your line manager before you start to ensure that you are being given enough time to attend university, study each module and take the assessments. Your personal academic tutor and your clinical supervisor will want to meet with your line manager at the beginning of the programme to explain the programme and help that person ensure you are able to meet your learning needs.

How you’ll be assessed

All modules will include a formative assessment which is where you will be given informal feedback on your module assessments and progress. Each module will be summatively assessed and you are allowed to have one first attempt and one reassessment attempt. The weeks where these occur are shown in the timetables. Your personal academic tutor and clinical supervisor will guide you in these.

The modules are assessed in various ways such as oral presentations, written synopsises and case studies, essays and clinical examination. The dissertation / project will be 18,000 words.

Your future career

Completion of this course will not only give you a MCh in a surgical pathway that will aid your career progression, but it will highly enhance your prospects of employment. You will gain the knowledge and skills that few trainee doctors will possess and it will place you at the forefront of technology and science.

You will be able to demonstrate and share unique skills with colleagues for the benefit of excellent patient care and be a source of inspiration and innovation. These skills will be highly sought after. This will advantage you, whether you remain in your current place of employment whilst undertaking this course or whether you will be applying for a post on completion in the UK or abroad.

As well as giving you a very competitive and enhanced surgical training portfolio, gaining this MCh will enable you to continue your post graduate medical education at a higher level such as an MD or PhD if you wish to in the future.

Fees

Government loans of up to £11,222 are available for some postgraduate Master’s courses for students starting their course from 1 August 2020. Loans are subject to both personal and course eligibility criteria.

The rules around course eligibility mean that in some cases it may depend on how you are studying (full-time or part-time) as to whether you can apply for a postgraduate loan. To check whether your course is eligible, you can email the Student Fees Team or call 01227 923 948.

2022/23 tuition fees for this course

	UK	Overseas
Full-time	£10,275	£15,425
Part-time	£5,140	N/A

20% Alumni Discount

We offer alumni discounts on CCCU Postgraduate Taught, PGCE Primary and Secondary, and Masters by Research courses for eligible students.

Find out if you're eligible for the discount.

Important Information on Tuition Fees

Tuition fees for all courses which last more than one academic year are payable on an annual basis, except where stated.

There will be an annual inflationary increase in tuition fees for this course where the course lasts more than one academic year. For further information read the 2022/23 Tuition fee statements and continuing fee information.

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I would like to start

I would like to study

Duration:

1 year

Location(s):

Medway

Apply

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Surgery (Orthopaedics and Regenerative Medicine).