Module overview
This module will consolidate and develop your understanding of, and clinical practical skills related to, audiology techniques, technology and appointment types; your professional and employability skills; your knowledge of methods of clinical investigations and service improvement (including clinical research, clinical audit and service evaluation); and your understanding of your obligations to your professional and registration bodies on completing the degree. For example, it builds on the clinical skills you learnt in Clinical and Professional Practice 1 by increasing the complexity of the clinical scenarios (e.g. with real-ear measurement, pure-tone audiometry with masking, impression taking and various appointment types) and introducing new clinical skills (e.g. objective testing and uncomfortable loudness levels). The module also includes sessions to help prepare you to start your main clinical placement covered by the modules Audiology Clinical Placement 2 and 3.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Demonstrate readiness for your main clinical placement
- Undertake elements from Sections A, B and D of the IRCP in simulated clinical scenarios safely and with basic technical competence showing effective patient-centred communication and care and a high level of professionalism.
- Reflect critically on your developing clinical practice with reference to your professional standards
- Explain your professional context and your obligations and responsibilities to your registration bodies
- Formulate and justify your basic clinical decisions related to Sections A, B and D of the IRCP with reference to evidence (e.g. basic science, professional standards, best-practice guidelines and published research).
- Demonstrate a positive self-image and an ethical and compelling account of your knowledge, skills, competencies, values and aspirations such as to a potential future employer
- Explain the role of service improvement with audiology, including the roles of clinical research, clinical audit and service evaluation in service improvement
- Demonstrate basic competence in the selection, application and interpretation of simple statistical methods to analyse quantitative data such as used might be gathered by the methods of investigation that feed into service improvement
Syllabus
The topics covered in this module will include:
- Patient-centred communication and non-technical interventions, including counselling skills, listening tactics, involving the communication partner and sign-posting to other services
- Individual procedures from Section A of the IRCP with reference to relevant technical and professional standards (including BSA Recommended Procedures). New techniques that will be introduced include acoustic reflex testing and uncomfortable loudness levels. Existing techniques that will be extended include real ear measurement, pure-tone audiometry with masking and impression taking.
- Appointment types from Section B of the IRCP with reference to relevant technical, professional and healthcare standards (in particular the BAA direct referral criteria, BSA Common Principles for Rehabilitation and the Principles and Values of the NHS)
- Introduction to advanced techniques and technologies, including non-organic hearing loss, objective testing (e.g. acoustic reflexes, otoacoustic emissions and electrophysiology), vestibular assessment and new developments in hearing technology
- UK and international perspectives of audiology services and employability
- Professional registration and regulation in the UK, codes of conduct, health and safety, safeguarding (legislation, risk assessment and risk management), consumer protection legislation and regulation, broader issues relevant to private practice; fitness to practise; impact of culture, equality, diversity and inclusiveness on practice
- Introduction to: clinical governance; service improvement (including clinical research, clinical audit and service evaluation); service accreditation; introduction to leadership and behaviour change models (e.g. the COM-B and behavioural change wheel) relevant to leadership and service improvement
- Introduction to the selection, application and interpretation of simple statistical analysis as may be necessary within service improvement
- Preparation for clinical placement
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
- Supporting lectures to provide theoretical knowledge of the underlying principles behind clinical procedures to support clinical teaching. These lectures will be provided in a formal classroom setting.
- Supervised practical sessions and simulations for clinical teaching of each procedure, including the use of simulated patients and/or patient volunteers. This will involve small group work with one tutor per group. You will receive verbal feedback on your performance during these sessions.
- Facilitated practice sessions to enable you to practise clinical procedures under supervision. This will involve small group work with one tutor per group.
- Seminars for the whole year group from manufacturers of hearing technology on new developments
- You are expected to practise clinical procedures in your own time. You will be able to go to clinical supervisors for assistance.
- A formative counterpart to each component of summative assessment.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Completion of assessment task | 72 |
| Seminar | 8 |
| Practical classes and workshops | 110 |
| Wider reading or practice | 20 |
| Tutorial | 2 |
| Lecture | 48 |
| Follow-up work | 20 |
| Independent Study | 20 |
| Total study time | 300 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Gelfand SA. (2016). Essentials of audiology.
Katz J. (2015). Handbook of clinical audiology.
Gottwald M. (2014). Clinical governance: improving the quality of healthcare for patients and service users..
Graham JM. (2009). Ballantyne's deafness.
Assessment
Assessment strategy
You must pass all components of assessment individually in order to pass the module. You need only take a referral attempt on components you didn’t pass at first attempt or for the OSCEs at remedial attempt and in the individual procedures as appropriate for the OSCEs.
The practical exams are known as Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). You must pass each of the OSCEs in order to pass the OSCE component of the module. You must have attended at least 80% of the supervised practical sessions and all those related to impression taking (or alternative sessions, as approved by the Module Lead) in order to qualify for the OSCEs in order to avoid putting volunteers at undue risk. You may not undertake the clinical procedures covered in the OSCEs on service users under indirect supervision until you have passed the OSCEs either at first attempt, at remedial attempt or at referral. Your referral marks will be capped at 40% per component referred, this means that your referral mark for the OSCE component will be capped at 40% even if you refer on one OSCE.
Repeat year internally only (due to practicals).
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Individual employability portfolio | 15% |
| Individual reflection | 15% |
| Data Analysis | 30% |
| Objective Structured Clinical Examination | 40% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Objective Structured Clinical Examination | 40% |
| Individual reflection | 15% |
| Individual employability portfolio | 15% |
| Data Analysis | 30% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal