Module overview
This module provides a grounding in the skills needed to scope, plan, and develop innovative new medical technologies which address real-world healthcare needs and have the realistic potential to lead to a fully developed technology. Students will learn about healthcare challenges from a multi-sector stakeholder perspective including those of patients/end-users, clinicians, health service managers and others through an intensive four-week immersion in clinical practice with regular touchpoints for the rest of the semester. You will engage with healthcare teams to observe techniques and processes undertaken in the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care of patients in a designated field of healthcare. You will work together to identify healthcare needs which have the potential to improve processes and patient outcomes through enhancing medical technology.
At the outset of the module, students undergo an intensive grounding in core skills to prepare them for the clinical immersion phase. You attend clinical placements at University Hospitals Southampton for 3 days a week over 4 weeks to gain experience of a patient’s healthcare pathway from treatment to discharge in 4 different specialisms; each week will also include teaching sessions and our Friday synthesis – an opportunity to discuss your observations with the programme team and plan for the next week. The final part of the module will provide you with the opportunity to consolidate your learning, undertaking further group work and prepare your assessments.
The Project Context
The UK project is focused on the NHS. You will work with stakeholders, establishing needs and understanding care pathways. This includes points of access for patients through a primary care system (GPs) or emergency care (A&E) through secondary care in hospitals, and discharge into community care and integration with other support systems (social care services, voluntary sector services, etc.). You will explore the funding requirements of each part of the service in your project area, how decisions are made and how the service is reimbursed for its spending through the Department of Health & Social Care. This context is specific to the UK. The NHS is a highly complex and established service (over 70 years), where the UK population have free access to health and social care services and a certain expectation for timeliness and quality of the health service they receive.