Healthcare Science (Physiological Sciences), BSc (Hons)

Course summary

As a Clinical Physiologist, you will play a vital role in the prevention, diagnosis, therapy, monitoring and rehabilitation of patients with a wide range of medical conditions. This programme is unique as it allows you to experience both cardiac and respiratory/sleep physiology before choosing your speciality in either cardiac physiology or respiratory/sleep physiology. Over the three years of the degree, you will spend time on placement learning and focusing on clinical skills.On graduation, you will be eligible to register with the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS) and work as a healthcare scientist. Previous graduates have undertaken further work-based learning, including the NHS funded Scientist Training Programme, accredited by the National School of Healthcare Science (NSHCS).Course highlights

• Clinical experience in both cardiac physiology and respiratory/sleep physiology during the first year, with the choice to specialise in either route.

• Accredited by the AHCS and RCCP, with eligibility to apply for professional registration upon graduation.

• Excellent professional and career prospects; many students have healthcare science jobs lined up prior to graduating.

About St George’s, University of LondonEstablished in 1752, St George’s is the UK’s specialist health university and is dedicated to medical and health sciences education, training and research. We share our site with a major London teaching hospital, which is both on the clinical frontline for a diverse local community and a centre of excellence for specialist conditions. At St George's, you’ll study in a clinical setting with like-minded individuals working across a variety of healthcare professions.

Modules

This is a modular degree that begins with a broad foundation of knowledge about all of the body systems and the disease processes that affect them but becomes highly specialised by the third year.Year one combines an introduction to the biomedical knowledge underpinning healthcare science as a whole, and especially the field of physiological sciences. From the start the course is explicitly designed as a preparation for clinical practice, slanted towards medically relevant information and clinical context. During this year you will undertake 10 weeks of clinical training, divided between different sites to give you a variety of experiences. You will work in both Cardiology and Respiratory/Sleep departments at this stage.At the end of year one you will select your speciality preference, either Cardiac Physiology or Respiratory/Sleep Physiology. Thereafter your learning will be divided between modules that are common to both strands and specialist modules that are specific to your choice.In year two you will learn about the pathophysiology of common diseases affecting both the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, taught by clinicians and researchers who specialise in these subjects and aided by time spent working with the specimens in our extensive pathology museum. You will learn to understand the scientific basis for the complex instruments that Clinical Physiologists use, calibrate and quality assure. You will also receive training in the research skills necessary for successful completion of your third-year audit/research project. Most importantly, thespecialist modules cover the detailed physiology of your chosen system (Cardiac or Respiratory/Sleep), in interactive sessions delivered by our core staff of registered Cardiac and Respiratory/Sleep Physiologists. They will cover the highly skilled diagnostic techniques, methodologies and interpretation required for clinical practice, reinforced by 15 weeks of speciality-specific training in your designated clinical placement site.Year three focuses on developing your ability to apply everything that you’ve learned so far to the practice of Clinical Physiology. University-based teaching will focus on developing your specialist academic skills, while 25 weeks in the clinical workplace will complete your clinical training, providing the hands-on experience needed to build real expertise. You will complete and write up your clinical audit/research project. The third year will see you transform from a student to someone who has the knowledge, experience, professionalism and clinical competencies required of a Clinical Physiology Practitioner.

Assessment method

This course uses a range of assessment techniques that are chosen to match the competencies being learned and tested within each module. These include written exam papers, academic coursework (essays, posters, presentations, reflective writing), the final year project dissertation, clinical assessments that take place during placements and a portfolio of clinical work.St George's uses some formative assessments early in the course to help you to develop your skills, and provide interactive learning resources to help you judge your own understanding of some of the more difficult material. The Clinical Training modules are pass-fail only, but marks for the others accumulate to give your final degree classification.

Professional bodies

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• The Registration Council for Clinical Physiologists (RCCP)

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This is a modular degree that begins with a broad foundation of knowledge about all of the body systems and the disease processes that affect them but becomes highly specialised by the third year. Year one combines an introduction to the biomedical knowledge underpinning healthcare science as a whole, and especially the field of physiological sciences. From the start the course is explicitly designed as a preparation for clinical practice, slanted towards medically relevant information and clinical context. During this year you will undertake 10 weeks of clinical training, divided between different sites to give you a variety of experiences. You will work in both Cardiology and Respiratory/Sleep departments at this stage. At the end of year one you will select your speciality preference, either Cardiac Physiology or Respiratory/Sleep Physiology. Thereafter your learning will be divided between modules that are common to both strands and specialist modules that are specific to your choice. In year two you will learn about the pathophysiology of common diseases affecting both the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, taught by clinicians and researchers who specialise in these subjects and aided by time spent working with the specimens in our extensive pathology museum. You will learn to understand the scientific basis for the complex instruments that Clinical Physiologists use, calibrate and quality assure. You will also receive training in the research skills necessary for successful completion of your third-year audit/research project. Most importantly, the specialist modules cover the detailed physiology of your chosen system (Cardiac or Respiratory/Sleep), in interactive sessions delivered by our core staff of registered Cardiac and Respiratory/Sleep Physiologists. They will cover the highly skilled diagnostic techniques, methodologies and interpretation required for clinical practice, reinforced by 15 weeks of speciality-specific training in your designated clinical placement site. Year three focuses on developing your ability to apply everything that you’ve learned so far to the practice of Clinical Physiology. University-based teaching will focus on developing your specialist academic skills, while 25 weeks in the clinical workplace will complete your clinical training, providing the hands-on experience needed to build real expertise. You will complete and write up your clinical audit/research project. The third year will see you transform from a student to someone who has the knowledge, experience, professionalism and clinical competencies required of a Clinical Physiology Practitioner.