Module overview
The purpose of this module is to ensure students can apply and integrate knowledge and understanding to common clinical conditions and scenarios and professional practice. The third year of the programme in which this module is embedded is considered to be a foundation clinical year on which the following years of the course build. It is a bridge between the initial two years where the main emphasis is on basic sciences and the final clinical years which are predominantly placement based. It is where students learn how to critically appraise evidence and apply that evidence as well as where they apply their basic sciences to aid diagnosis and formulate management plans. The core of this module is self-study to build upon learning from clinical placements supplemented by lectures and seminars.
Much of the learning that underpins this module is undertaken during other modules within the programme including placement based and non-placement based learning, including the clinical lecture series. However the main focus of this module is for students to demonstrate their ability to apply existing learning to simulated clinical scenarios through paper based cases.
The assessment component comprises a 2-part MCQ paper at the end of Year 3 and the specific preparation for it. The assessment is synoptic which means that learning from other modules (including previous years of the programme) will also be assessed in this context. Therefore, preparation for this examination should be considered to include all the teaching and learning encountered during the programme so far, including clinical experience.
The assessment of this module consists of 2 papers typically sat on 2 separate days (often consecutive working days) which form a single assessment with full compensation allowed between them. The final mark will be a single mark incorporating both papers. Students must attend both papers to complete the assessment and for it to be marked. Any student who is unable to attend to sit both papers will be considered as if they had not attended the assessment at all. If a student only attends a single paper then this paper will not be marked, the student cannot pass this module and feedback on performance will not provided on a partial attempt. A student who does not attend the first paper will be excluded from starting the second paper even if they attend.