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Physician Associate

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About this course


Course option

2years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Physician associate studies

**Why study this subject?**
A career as a Physician Associate (PA) will mean that you will support doctors in the diagnosis and management of patients. This might be in a hospital or a GP surgery. You will be part of a growing profession in the NHS where vacancies currently exceed the supply of skilled professionals, so its a great opportunity to gain employment both nationally and locally.

**Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?**
At BNU, we have great links with several partners within the local community such as Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, so you’ll add exceptional work experience to your CV. The programme has a strong employability focus, working with the trust to solve local skill needs and enable you to become an effective Physician Associate for the rest of your career. Should you wish to stay local and work in Buckinghamshire, your experience will put you in a prime position to continue your role after university.

BNU has a number of well-established partnerships with other health organisations in South-East England too, including Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to enhance your experience and promote practice based learning. Therefore, you will be equipped with experience and expertise that will give you an excellent start to your career as a Physician Associate. In addition to our close links with local and regional trusts and organisations, we are in an ideal location close to London which makes commuting to your course easy and stress free, with a variety on online resources too.

**What facilities can I use?**
We have invested in state-of-the-art, simulated clinical skills areas. You will regularly spend time in these areas, to practise technical skills and use the newest technologies in a safe and supportive environment. In addition, as a student of BNU you will gain access to our gym, personal training sessions, physiotherapy and sports therapy clinic as well as our student union at a heavily discounted price. If you were thinking of doing something extracurricular, why not make use of our sports hall and live music events? All events, activities and societies are free of charge and you can find a range of interests no matter your age, fitness levels or preferences.

**What will I study?**
Our experienced lecturers will prepare you with all the skills you need to provide care and treatment to patients. You will learn to carry out a range of medical activities such as physical examinations, medical histories, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The programme draws on broad science principles whereby anatomical and patho-physiological processes are incorporated into a healthcare practice context. This course was designed in partnership with trusts and placement organisations and we aim to provide all the required skills and knowledge to succeed in placement and in the world of work afterwards.

Over the course of the programme, you will undertake a minimum of 1,600 hours of clinical practice (up to 200 hours of simulation) in order to achieve competency framework requirements. Practice will cover a variety of clinical placements, such as General Practice, Acute Medicine, Accident and Emergency, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Mental Health, Surgery and an opportunity to undertake an elective placement in areas such as: Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Dermatology, Neurology and more.

**Career prospects**
Upon graduation you can progress to work as a Physician Associate in a range of clinical environments in Primary and Secondary care, including GP surgeries, hospital inpatient wards, and A&E departments.

Your varied clinical placements will prepare you for the working world and give you great employment opportunities after graduation. During the placement, you will have the opportunity to work in the following areas: Accident and Emergency, General Practice, Mental Health and other clinical departments.

Modules

**Year 1**
**Core**
General and Adult Medicine as a Physician Associate: Theory and Practice
Generating Knowledge

**Year 2**
**Core**
Dissertation
Specialist and Acute Medicine as a Physician Associate: Theory and Practice

Assessment methods

Taught lectures and seminars are led by industry specialists, with the aim of creating an ambience where you can express yourself in any form and understand the nature of working in the industry.

A range of learning and teaching methods are utilised. You will learn through:

lectures
seminar
workshop
group work
tutored classroom sessions
independent learning through individual learning plans
case studies (skills and simulations)
presentation
problem-based learning

You will be assessed using a variety of methods such as single based answer (SBA), OSCE and case study.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£15,000
per year
International
£15,000
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Buckinghamshire New University

Department:

School of Health and Social Care Professions

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

93%
Physician associate studies

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Health sciences (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

100%
Staff make the subject interesting
100%
Staff are good at explaining things
100%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
100%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

100%
Library resources
100%
IT resources
100%
Course specific equipment and facilities
100%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

88%
UK students
12%
International students
26%
Male students
74%
Female students
54%
2:1 or above
9%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
D
B

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Health sciences (non-specific)

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£24,000
high
Average annual salary
98%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

87%
Nursing and midwifery professionals
4%
Caring personal services
3%
Teaching and educational professionals

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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