Operating Department Practice - BSc (Hons)

University of Huddersfield

Keen to work in a dramatic and exciting environment? Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) work alongside surgeons, anaesthetists, and other medical staff, to provide care for patients during surgery. A role within perioperative practice, therefore, will see you work as part of a dynamic team in an operating theatre and could prove a great career choice. On this course, you’ll practise your skills in our simulated operating theatre, enabling you to experience the operating theatre environment. You’ll benefit from a strong grounding in theory, exploring what’s involved in the three, interconnected aspects of the role: anaesthetic, surgical and post anaesthetic. As the course progresses, you’ll move beyond the fundamentals, to delve into the role research plays in perioperative practice and explore leadership and management strategies.

Our clinical placement opportunities enable you to gain valuable hands-on experience in perioperative environments; you’ll get the chance to potentially shadow an operating department practitioner (ODP), as part of interdisciplinary teams in a variety of care settings. This will allow you to see how ODPs contribute to all sorts of specialist areas in real world environments. Also, our Public Partnership Group (PPG) and Health and Wellbeing Academy work together to support your development as a compassionate, person-centred professional. You’ll engage with service users and carers through lectures, discussions, and simulations. Their lived experiences will help to build your communication skills, empathy, and the critical thinking needed to deliver outstanding care across diverse communities. While our Health and Wellbeing Academy offers hands-on placement opportunities through initiatives like Get Set Goal and Restart a Heart. These experiences will help you build skills in communication, public health, leadership, and teamwork while making a real impact in the community. The University’s new Daphne Steele Building on the site of the National Health Innovation campus allows you to benefit from specialist clinical teaching facilities and world-leading research facilities, helping you boost your skills within the health sector. Students on this course may be eligible to receive a non-repayable grant of at least £5,000 each year – find out more on the NHS Learning Support Fund Website.

\ This course is regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

\ Huddersfield’s vibrant and friendly campus is a great place from which to study, while the town itself offers lots to see and do, with good transport links in and around the area.

\ Successful completion of our Health Foundation Pathway will equip you with the foundation knowledge to study Operating Department Practice.