Undergraduate

Developing your operating department practice

On this page

• What you will study
• Entry
• If you have a disability or additional requirement
• Study materials
• Teaching and assessment
• Professional recognition
• Future availability

This Level 2 work-based course is a compulsory module of the Foundation Degree/Diploma of Higher Education in Operating Department Practice (G19/E58) and further develops your understanding of the science underpinning your work. The core materials cover a range of topics including legal and ethical issues in practice, quality assurance and audit, evidence-based practice and research methodology, introductory biochemistry and enzymology, haematology, histology, pharmacology, and pathophysiology. Practical applications such as patient and advanced airway management, critical care transfer, and principles of intensive care will also be covered. You will complete your study by researching and writing up a project on a health topic that particularly interests you.

Course facts

Register for the course

This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees and financial support may vary by country.

What you will study

If you want to improve both your transferable and practical skills, and underpin them with theoretical knowledge, then this course is for you. Developing your operating department practice takes the skills you learnt at Level 1 and builds on them to allow you to approach new tasks and responsibilities with confidence. It uses your workplace as a teaching arena and guides you through activities that you will undertake there in a way that makes them relevant to you, your present job and the job that you aspire to have.

This course consists of twenty-one units studied over 18 months. They vary in length, but are generally quite short. Much of the work you will carry out for each of them, and the learning that you do, will be in the workplace as part of your day-to-day practice or on placements in other areas of your Trust (see below). Although every unit has a text component, some of them are also supported by other media. The project, which you will undertake at intervals but predominantly towards the end of the course, is the largest and will involve around 100 hours of study. In your project you will be required to choose a health topic that particularly interests you and to research the topic in depth. The project write up will form a major part of your end-of-module assessment (EMA). You will be invited to submit a project outline as part of an earlier tutor-marked assignment (TMA) and you should discuss the topic of your project with your tutor to assess its suitability.

Vocational relevance

Developing your operating department practice will be attractive to anyone wishing to advance their career in the area of perioperative care. It builds on your existing skills and allows you to develop them further in line with National Occupational Standards, the Knowledge and Skills Framework, and Health Professions Council Competency statements. It is equally relevant for people working in the NHS and in the private sector.

Entry

Developing your operating department practice is not available as a stand-alone course. 

To register for this course you must:

• be employed in a relevant job in the health sector – your employer must agree to support you and to arrange the practice placements necessary for you to develop skills fitting you for autonomous practice as specified by the Health Professions Council
• have successfully completed Health sciences in practice (S110) and Introducing health sciences: a case study approach (SDK125). 

We recommend that you study S212 alongside Human biology (SK277) followed by The science of the mind: investigating mental health (SDK228).

If you have a disability or additional requirement

This course forms part of a professional qualification open only to students in relevant employment in the health sector who are supported by their employer. In order to achieve the learning outcomes of the course, students will need to be able to independently complete all the activities going on in their workplace.

Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader and musical notation and mathematical, scientific, and foreign language materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way. Other alternative formats of the study materials may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.

If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our publication Meeting your needs.

You can also find information about accessible study materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.

Study materials

What's included

Course guide, course texts; audio and visual materials and interactive software (Digital Microscope)on DVD-ROM; and a website and online forums.

Computing requirements

This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave.

You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new computer since 2005 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual.

Teaching and assessment

Support from your tutor

You will have an OU tutor whom you can contact via email or by phone, and many of the tutorial activities will take place online. Your OU tutor is responsible for your academic development and will answer questions about academic, course-related matters. Additionally you will have a workplace mentor, supplied by your employer, who will look after your needs and guide you in the workplace, and will foster and assess your skills development.

Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.

Assessment

The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.

You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.

The end-of-module assessment (EMA) requires you to write a report, submit an electronic portfolio that you will have developed through the course and achieve ‘competent practice’ level in specific competences according to your profession.

Professional recognition

Developing your operating department practice is a compulsory module in the Foundation Degree in Operating Department Practice (G19) and the Diploma of Higher Education in Operating Department Practice (E58). Successful completion of either of these qualifications will make you eligible to apply to the Health Professions Council to be registered as an Operating Department Practitioner.

Future availability

The details given here are for the course that starts in November 2012. We expect it to be available once a year.

Fees 2012

See fees and funding options for study from September 2012.

Study explained

Financial support

- find out if you qualify for support with your fees with our eligibility checker.

Study explained

- all you need to know about distance learning with the OU.

Your questions

We may have already answered it in our frequently asked questions.

Or contact an adviser in our Student Registration & Enquiry Service Email or call +44(0) 845 300 60 90+44(0) 845 366 60 35

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