Advancing Professional Practice
Develop the knowledge, skills, and attributes necessary to enhance your personal and professional development across all four pillars of professional practice.
Key facts
Overview
This module will support your professional and academic growth by connecting theory with practice, while fostering a learning community with fellow healthcare professionals. This module will help you advance your practice by adopting an evidence-based approach and will introduce you to the NMAHP career framework (NHS Education for Scotland 2025) and its four key pillars that are integrated throughout this module.
These are:
- clinical practice;
- facilitation of learning;
- leadership;
- evidence, research & development.
This module is designed to help you develop the knowledge, skills, and attributes necessary to enhance your professional practice in your specific field. You will focus on refining competencies such as self-awareness, leadership (both personal and collaborative), critical reflection, and decision-making.
The learning approach includes a blend of synchronous and asynchronous teaching, with opportunities for interprofessional learning. You will be encouraged to apply theoretical knowledge in practice, critically assess and improve your professional abilities, and engage in reflective practice. By exploring your professional development, and critically engaging with the literature, you will identify areas for personal and professional growth across all four pillars of practice.
Flexible learning
This short course forms part of the MSc Advancing Practice. You can study other stand-alone continuing professional development (CPD) short courses from this degree:
- Advanced Clinical Assessment and Examination
- Advanced Practice
- An Integrated Approach to Frailty
- Diagnosis and Decision Making in Advanced Practice
- Evidence Based Practice
- Exploring the Theory and Practice of Psychological Trauma
- Focused Advanced Clinical Assessment and Examination
- Living Well and Managing Long Term Conditions
- Prescribing for Healthcare Professionals (Advancing Practice)
If you’re interested in studying more than one module from this course, please email our Admissions team at postgraduate.admissions@stir.ac.uk to discuss your course of study.
Entrance requirements
Current professional registration with NMC, HCPC or GPhC is required for entry to this module. Applicants are required to have a degree qualification.
English language requirements
If English is not your first language you must have one of the following qualifications as evidence of your English language skills:
- IELTS Academic or UKVI 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each sub-skill.
- Pearson Test of English (Academic) 62 overall with 60 in each sub-skill.
- IBT TOEFL 80 overall with 18 in reading, 23 in writing, 19 in listening and 21 in speaking.
See our information on English language requirements for more details on the language tests we accept and options to waive these requirements.
Objectives
1. Critically reflect on personal strengths and areas for professional development to enhance your clinical practice;
2. Critically assess your skills in relation to teaching, mentoring, and facilitation of learning;
3. Critically examine your leadership style and how it influences teamwork and delivery of safe, effective, high-quality care;
4. Critically appraise current evidence to guide clinical decisions and improve patient care;
5. Plan future professional development using SMART goals based on all four pillars of practice.
Structure and content
Topics will focus on the four pillars of professional practice with an emphasis on self-development. There will be a combination of synchronous and asynchronous teaching material on this module with the focus on independent work-based learning. Seminars will be held to assist you with your progress through the module.
We will also offer regular feedback sessions and drop-in support. Peer support and feedback is a key element of this module and you will be encouraged to support each other using group discussion sessions, seminars and discussion topics/boards.
Delivery and assessment
Portfolio of evidence aligned with the four pillars of practice in relation to personal and professional development: worth 100%.
This module includes 20 hours of seminars and 180 hours of guided study across the module.
Module coordinator
What next?
Contact us
If you have any questions about entry requirements for our continuing professional development and short courses, contact our Admissions team.
For all other questions, please use our enquiry form.