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Assessment & Management of Common Conditions in Primary & Urgent Care - HEA00055H

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  • Department: Health Sciences
  • Module co-ordinator: Miss Emma Wilkinson
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: H
  • Academic year of delivery: 2021-22
    • See module specification for other years: 2022-23

Professional requirements

Must be a registered healthcare professional with an appropriate medical mentor/supervisor.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Autumn Term 2021-22 to Spring Term 2021-22
B Spring Term 2021-22 to Summer Term 2021-22

Module aims

This module aims to enable clinicians registered with a relevant national body (NMC, HCPC, GPhC) to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for safe and evidence based practice in the assessment of and management of common conditions. In doing this, students will also learn to develop skills in recognizing when, due to the vulnerability of the patient and/ or the nature of the illness or condition, the situation is outside the scope of practice of the clinician and requires emergency/urgent or soon referral to another practitioner.

This module will allow registered healthcare professionals to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to engage in patient consultation, undertake physical examination and plan and manage care for patients suffering from common conditions.

It will also explore an approach to the initial assessment of patients presenting with mental health problems.

Students will be expected to develop knowledge and understanding around a range of common conditions affecting various body systems and demonstrate an evidence-based approach to their management.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be able to:

  1. Develop knowledge and understanding of common conditions affecting various body systems, including the skin, the head and face, the eye, ear, nose and throat, the respiratory system, the abdomen, the genito-urinary system and some conditions, such as back pain, affecting the musculo-skeletal system.
  2. Develop and apply history taking and physical examination skills appropriate to different common clinical presentations.
  3. Apply the principles of problem solving in making sound clinical judgements and differentiating between minor illness and more serious disorders of body systems.
  4. Critically apply the evidence based management of a variety of common conditions as they are presented in the clinical setting, including referral requirements for safe practice.
  5. Integrate knowledge, history taking, problem solving and physical examination skills with sound diagnostic reasoning and patient management in the management of common conditions.
  6. Consider the legal and professional implications of role expansion in the assessment and management of common conditions.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled)
OSCE: Assessment & Management of Common Conditions in Primary & Urgent Care		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

Non-compensatable

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled)
OSCE: Assessment & Management of Common Conditions in Primary & Urgent Care		 N/A 100

Module feedback

  • Students are provided with individualised and group feedback from the formative OSCE assessments
  • Written feedback for the summative OSCE assessment is provided on the standard proforma, within the timescale specified in the programme handbook.

Indicative reading

Bickley, L.S. & Bates, B. (2012) Bates’ guide to physical examination and history taking / Lynn S. Bickley, MD, FACP, Peter G. Szilagyi, MD, MPH guest editor Richard M. Hoffman, MD, MPH, FACP. Twelfth edition. Philadelphia ; London, Wolters Kluwer,.

Bickley, L.S. & Hoffman, R.M. (2016) Bates’ pocket guide to physical examination and history taking / Lynn S. Bickley, Peter G. Szilagyi; guest editor, Richard M. Hoffman. Eighth international edition. Wolters Kluwer,.

Rushforth, H. (2009) Assessment made incredibly easy! UK ed. /. London:, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Rawles, Z., Griffiths, B., Alexander, T. & Alexander, T. (2015) Physical examination procedures for advanced practitioners and non-medical prescribers: evidence and rationale / edited by Zoe¨ Rawles, Beth Griffiths, Trudy Alexander. 2nd edition. Boca Raton, CRC Press,.

Moulton, L. (2015) The naked consultation: a practical guide to primary care consultation skills / Dr Liz Moulton, foreword by Dr Mark Purvis. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, CRC Press.

Neighbour, R. (2015) The inner consultation: how to develop an effective and intuitive consulting style / Roger Neighbour. 2nd ed. Oxford:, Radcliffe.

Pendleton, D. (2003) The new consultation: developing doctor-patient communication / David Pendleton ... [et al.]. New ed. Oxford:, Oxford University Press.

Parveen Kumar CBE BSc MD DM (HC) FRCP FRCP(Edin), M.L.C.M.F. & Clark, M.L. (2016) Kumar & Clark’s clinical medicine. Ninth edition. Elsevier,.

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins & Ovid Technologies, I. (2012) Pathophysiology made incredibly easy! [electronic resource]. 5th ed. Philadelphia :, Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Health.

Dimond, B. (n.d.) Legal aspects of nursing /. 7th edition. Pearson Education Limited,.

Simon, C. & Burkes, M. (n.d.) Oxford handbook of general practice /. 4th edition. Oxford University Press,.

Kaufman G (2008) Patient assessment: effective consultation and history taking. Nursing Standard. [Online] 23 (4), 50–56.

Maguire, P. and P. (2002) Key communication skills and how to acquire them. BMJ. [Online] 325 (7366), 697–700.


Lack, V. (2012) Managing risk in childhood infectious disease: assessment and treatment of children by non-specialists in primary and urgent care. Primary Health Care. [Online] 22 (10), 32–39.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.