Programme description

Our programme has been designed to provide the educational background required for clinicians managing medical emergencies in children.

Paediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) is a rapidly expanding specialty. It has its roots in Emergency Medicine and Paediatrics but also has close affiliations with Paediatric Surgical Specialties, Paediatric Critical Care, Primary Care and Public Health.

From quite a diverse background, PEM has now developed into a specialty in its own right and there is a great need for extra PEM training on a UK, European and worldwide basis.

Prospective students will often be working full-time in professional roles caring for ill and injured children, including practicing doctors, nurses, paramedics and physician associates. Our programme is delivered as a part-time, online, interactive MSc - which affords students learning in a real-world context a degree of flexibility in their approach to study.

We use a problem-based learning approach, which promotes active learning appropriate to individual needs.

Students will have the option of graduating after one, two or three years with a Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, or MSc respectively.

Learning outcomes

The key learning outcomes of the programme are to enable students to:

understand the physiology and pathology behind critical illness and injury in children
develop critical and analytical skills
develop scientific writing and presentation skills
prepare for the ever-changing and expanding medical and scientific knowledge base

Educational aims

We aim to create a stimulating learning environment using ‘problem-based learning’ to produce graduates with a deep understanding of the principles and practice of paediatric emergencies, and who can improve outcomes for patients and families based on this understanding.

This approach can be broken down into three main principles:

The application of existing knowledge via a problem-based approach. This challenges the student to critically reflect on their clinical practice.
Active rather than passive learning within a real-world context, based on the current scientific literature.
Communication of information visually and in prose.