This stand-alone professional development course in clinical decision making, Diagnostics and Therapeutics, investigates the diagnostic value and application of commonly used clinical tests. Our expert team will guide you as you learn how to use this information to make decisions regarding clinical care safely, and select appropriate therapeutic options and care pathways.

Course details

If youre a practitioner who can take a history and use clinical examination skills, this course offers you the opportunity to develop your knowledge and understanding of how to select the appropriate care for each patient. After successful completion of this course, you‘ll be able to take an undifferentiated patient and form at least a differential diagnosis for common complaints, as well as be aware of some of the rarer conditions that may need to remain in a differential diagnosis. Our dedicated experts will cover all body systems, enabling generalists to perform their roles, and specialists to recognise common presentations outside their usual scope of practice, improving patient safety.

Well guide you as you explore commonly used investigations along with their normal and abnormal findings. Supporting you to develop the ability to interpret abnormal findings during the formation of a diagnosis is a key element of this course. These investigations may include a range of diagnostic tests, such as the interpretation of common blood analyses, electrocardiograms, commonly used plain X-Rays and other tests in common usage. In addition, youll spend time developing an awareness of other forms of investigations and imaging, and how to interpret the resulting reports.

Together, well explore psychological decline in old age, with reference to social function and wellbeing, isolation and depression, ethical considerations and mental health legislation. You can expect to enhance your knowledge of contemporary models of understanding old age, frailty, and the factors involved in conducting a comprehensive geriatric assessment. Focusing on falls, immobility, incontinence and confusion, well consider the atypical presentation of older people with an acute physical illness. Well also cover polypharmacy and practical procedures such as urinary catheterisation.

Once the diagnosis has been achieved, youll explore how to select the correct care plan. Well focus on medications, but well also help you develop an understanding of when to refer patients to surgical or other services. Throughout the course, understanding and developing approaches to risk, bias and sound clinical decision making will be covered.

Course Highlights:

• Our dedicated academic team brings extensive health and social care experience to the course content. Along with their passion for service excellence in practice settings, theyre also currently engaged in highly relevant research, which means they can add valuable context and insight to your learning.
• The course is designed to provide the flexibility to fit in with busy home and working lives.
• As you study this course, well encourage you to develop the skills, values and behaviours so popular with employers. These include action planning, personal impact and confidence, self-awareness, social and ethical responsibility, problem-solving, initiative and communication skills.
• The course is part of a professional development framework, and you can use the credits youll gain by completing the course successfully towards the University of Boltons MSc Clinical Practice or MSc Health and Social Care.