Masters Degrees (Diabetic Foot)

The award focuses on the impact biomechanics has on the diabetic foot with specific attention to the common complications seen in diabetics. The modules are designed to expand the mechanical knowledge and understanding of foot pathology as well as interventions used in the management of complex foot presentations. There will be practical sessions in balance assessment, plantar pressure analysis, rigidity casting and gait analysis. Students will be encouraged to develop and challenge current thinking of the diabetic foot. Modules are delivered at weekends with some attendance to campus required as well as supported distance learning tasks.

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The MSc Clinical Skin Integrity & Wound Management has been developed to meet the needs of practitioners with a special interest in skin integrity and wound management while benefiting from shared, inter-professional learning. This skin integrity programme is unique in that it recruits both UK/EU and International allied health professionals to this specialist master’s degree.

About the course

The MSc Clinical Skin Integrity & Wound Management is a taught postgraduate programme aimed at practitioners wanting to undertake further specialist training and develop career aspirations in skin integrity and wound management. This unique postgraduate programme combines the closely related specialties of wound management and dermatology and offers wound and skin integrity modules that appeal to healthcare professionals who want to develop a deeper understanding of chronic wound healing and conditions affecting skin integrity.

This programme has an emphasis on developing practical competencies; good diagnostic skills, appropriate and timely management of common wounds and skin integrity problems and allows flexibility to study related specialist content to broaden student’s clinical expertise which is invaluable in today’s competitive workplace.

Course details

The master’s course aims to:
-Develop methods of inquiry and skills required to research and advance skin integrity and wound care practice using an in-depth current and relevant evidence base
-Provide knowledge and understanding to foster the further development of critical, contemporary, evidence based and patient centered practice in skin integrity and wound care
-Develop a systematic advanced knowledge and understanding of the application of specialist skin integrity practice in the context of multi-professional and inter-professional working in the contemporary healthcare setting

It has an emphasis on clinical skills as well as the scientific, evidence base underpinning contemporary skin integrity practice. At the end of the programme, students will feel confident treating and managing patients with a wide variety of wounds and associated skin conditions.

Content

Teaching focuses on the principles of promoting skin integrity in patients of all ages. Topics covered include: the burden of chronic wounds: diabetic foot disease, venous disease, pressure injury, assessment and diagnostic techniques, barriers to healing; clinical, lifestyle, organisational, wound physiology, and microbiology, cutaneous manifestations of systemic disease, inflammatory skin conditions, skin/wound infections, chronic oedema, psychological impact of wounds and associated skin conditions, patient education and compliance.

Core skills for specialist practice will be developed including decision making and problem solving skills, leadership and communication skills, information retrieval, critical analysis and application of evidence based practice, audit and research methods and an ability to support and influence service improvement amongst others.

Careers

The MSc Clinical Skin Integrity & Wound Management tailors knowledge, skills and assessment to the needs of NHS employers and the global healthcare sector to provide a highly relevant curriculum that facilitates the development of specialist practitioners and increases student’s employability.

The course is designed to provide clinicians with a better understanding of core clinical skin integrity and wound management. Some students have pursued a career pathway as academic lecturers and specialist wound care practitioners while some international graduates have gone on to work in private practice and specialist government positions in their own countries. On graduating, you will benefit from increased employability as clinical specialists and graduates are often promoted to senior leadership positions.

This programme offers excellent opportunities for continuing professional development for practicing health professionals. Home / EU clinicians can choose to study specific modules relevant to their professional practice as standalone modules.

International students should note that completion of this master’s programme does not lead to registration to practice in the UK. This programme may be sufficient for clinician’s to work as specialist practitioners in their country of origin, but local requirements should be checked prior to commencing the programme.

Teaching methods

All specialist teaching is done via face-to-face lectures and is supported by the universities online learning environment. You will experience a wide variety of teaching methods throughout the programme including: interactive and key-note lectures, seminars, workshops, individual and group based tutorials incorporating for example case studies, role play, problem based learning and discussion groups covering a broad range of topics.

Each module is led by a specialist module tutor who has a particular interest in the topic being studied and teaching is supported by a large enthusiastic team of academics and specialist practitioners who are visiting lecturers contributing to this master’s programme.
The University has fully integrated computing, library and media academic support services for students and staff, delivered through StudyNet, the University’s online managed learning platform which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Students have access to the facilities on all campuses and can access electronic services and resources from home or work.

Full-time students at University of Hertfordshire have full access to all the facilities the University and the Students’ Union has to offer and the campus is a 30 minute train journey away from central London and all its attractions.

Structure

Optional Modules
-Advanced Chronic Oedema
-Chronic Skin Conditions
-Clinical Practice in Action
-Core Competencies in Medical Practice
-Diabetic Foot Management
-Enhancing Skin Integrity Skills
-Evidence Based Practice
-Health Disciplines Project
-Health Technology and Innovation
-Leadership in Practice
-Managing Chronic Oedema
-Mind and Skin
-Work Based Learning

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Biomedical signals provide useful metrics in a wide range of health care scenarios. However, these signals are often affected by noise and require extensive signal processing to extract useful clinical diagnostic metrics. Current signal processing techniques are either fixed by design or adaptive to variations known a priori. However, because of normal physiological variation, the characteristics of these signals are often non-stationary and more robust adaptive signal processing techniques are required to track many types of biomedical signals. As a clinical example, complications of the diabetic foot result in 20 lower limb amputations per day in the UK. The problem is exacerbated by the vascular and neurological damage that occurs in the diabetic foot, and the consequent loss of feeling results in trauma being unnoticed. Previous work by the principal investigator has demonstrated the efficacy of detecting the pre-cursors of ulceration through non-invasive measurement of blood flow using optical and ultrasonic techniques. However, extensive signal processing is required to convert the signals into a clinically interpretable form and lengthy analysis and clinical expertise was required to make the clinical diagnosis. If clinical diagnostics can be made to operate reliably in real-time preventative measures could be taken before ulceration occurs.

Recent advances in machine learning offer potential for artificially intelligent adaptive signal processing algorithms to track time varying biomedical signals and provide real-time detection of physiological abnormalities in at risk patients. This will allow for more rapid detection of physiological abnormalities allowing preventative measures to be applied early reducing the risk of more serious complications.

How to apply: Applications are made via our website using the Apply Online button below. If you have an enquiry about this project please contact us via the Email NOW button below, however your application will only be processed once you have submitted an application form as opposed to emailing your CV to us. Application deadline: 24 July 2017.

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