Have your say on review of Practitioner Training Programme (PTP) Curricula

The Academy for Healthcare Science is helping to facilitate the current PTP curriculum review. Please feed back to the MSC Transition Team by 1st February 2016.

The Practitioner Training Programme (PTP) curricula was the first suite of Modernising Scientific Careers (MSC) curricula developed in 2008.

There are currently seven programmes PTP BSc (Hons) programmes, which are 3-year integrated degrees, including a minimum of 50 weeks of work-based learning. Successful completion of a PTP leads to the option of AHCS or HCPC (for BMS) registration as a HCS Practitioner (HCSP). During the years since the first PTP curricula were published there have been significant changes in:

• scientific and technological advances
• acknowledgement of the central importance of the patient as the fulcrum around which care must be delivered
• a system wide commitment to improving quality of care in every aspect of health
• societal attitudes to work
• NHS policy, delivery of care and priorities.

As a result, the CSO for England commissioned a review of the content (professional and scientific) of the initial 5 PTP curricula and their specialism outcomes, which take these issues into account and also reflects the recommendations of the educational review of HCS curricula undertaken by the Institute of Education (IOE) over the last 5 years. Small expert groups have reviewed the curricula and have were asked specifically to:

• identify gaps in the current curriculum
• review the high level learning outcomes and consider reducing the number in response to feedback from the Institute of Education which highlighted this as an issue
• identify and remove any learning outcomes that are no longer appropriate because the technique is no longer undertaken
• avoid using abbreviations as the documents will be read by non-experts including patients and the public
• align the curricula to the Academy for Healthcare Science Standards of Proficiency.

These draft revised curricula are now out for review and comment and can be found on the National School of Healthcare Science website, along with a structured template for receiving comments on the curricula. Comments must be received by 1 Feb 2016