Personal Professional Development (Public Health and Primary Care) / Course details
Year of entry: 2025
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Course unit details:
Evidence Based Practice
Unit code | POPH60041 |
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Credit rating | 15 |
Unit level | FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
An important aspect of public health practice is using evidence to inform changes in delivery, design and policy. All public health professionals need to be able to confidently and competently access, appraise and apply different types of evidence.
This course will provide practical skills and theoretical understanding to help you develop evidence-informed practice. The first part of the course will develop your skills in finding research evidence to inform your professional practice. The second part of the course will develop your critical appraisal skills and the practical application of evidence into practice.
This is an interactive online course. Students are expected to progress through the 10 weeks of taught course material at the same pace and engage in weekly discussions with their peers and tutors.
Aims
To develop practical skills in searching for and appraising different sources of evidence and a theoretical understanding of perspectives on evidence-based practice.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this unit, successful students will be able to:
- Find existing sources of evidence relevant to public health questions.
- Be able to critically appraise common research designs and assess the published literature.
- Understand how to apply evidence to inform professional practice and decision making.
- Understand the strengths and limitations of traditional concepts of evidence-based practice and how these relate to their own work or profession.
- Understand and apply alternative approaches to maximise the potential benefit from scientific enquiry, to improve the way in which health care is provided.
Syllabus
- Introduction to evidence based practice
- Defining the research question
- Finding the evidence
- Appraising the evidence
- Critical perspectives on evidence based practice
- How to incorporate the ideals of evidence based practice into contemporary ways of working
Teaching and learning methods
This course involves working through the course notes and videos provided online, linked references and other online sources of information. You will be encouraged to use self-reflection to help you think about the ideas discussed, and take part in discussion board activities. You will be required to develop skills in searching for published literature using electronic databases as part of the course. You should work through the unit in a logical sequence. It is essential you follow the course unit timetable so that you are doing the same topic at the same time as your fellow students. Participation in the group discussions is greatly encouraged, and generally those students who do participate do better in their end of semester assignment.
Distance/blended learning students only - Students on this mode of study will have the opportunity to study synchronously with the on-campus students and asynchronously via recorded sessions and online resources.
This is a mandatory course unit for all students. There will be written materials by the tutors guiding students through the course, illustrated with photographs and figures to illustrate the rich topic areas. Much of the content will be presented through reading, including peer reviewed journals (accessible through the University library), and multimedia, including videos. Students will be directed to a variety of relevant literature each week, but also encouraged to research and explore and find their own sources.
There will be regular interaction with the tutors through scheduled seminars (which will be recorded for those on the web-based option) and online through the discussion boards. Students will be encouraged to use self-reflection to think about the ideas discussed, and take part in discussion board activities. Students should work through the unit in a logical sequence. The individual course unit timetables will guide what should be done and when. Participation in the discussion boards is greatly encouraged, and can help enhance your learning experience and prepare you for your assessment.
For all students - The majority of the course will be delivered through the virtual learning platform, which will include required and additional reading, self-tests and discussion boards.
Web-based students - There will be webinars that will be recorded to allow synchronous and asynchronous learning. Web-based students may join webinars live, but it is not mandatory. Recordings will be made of all face-to-face activities and will be made available.
For on campus students - All face-to-face activities are mandatory for all students. Attendance is monitored and an escalation policy is in place for non-attendance. The tutor-led sessions will be recorded and made available for all students as part of good pedagogic practice for accessibility, revision and consolidation. We also have weekly peer-led team study sessions where you will be asked to undertake tasks linked to the course unit materials using the discussion boards.
For all students - In line with guidance from the Office for Students and Quality Assurance Agency, the programme will be augmented by the Programme Director Seminar Series to deliver study skills, written English, academic writing, research skills, critical thinking and understanding arguments, careers and employability skills, revision/assessment/examination skills including time management.
Employability skills
- Analytical skills
- Students will be expected to demonstrate an ability to search for and analyse the relevance of articles and journals to current evidence based practice.
- Innovation/creativity
- Students will be able to identify new opportunities, generate solutions, make improvements and to think creatively and enterprisingly in order to evaluate previous applications of evidence-based practice.
- Problem solving
- Students will need to evaluate current practice to demonstrate the ability to apply a logical approach to be able to re-assess the hierarchy of evidence and the application of problem-based practice.
- Research
- Students will develop bibliographic database searching skills that will enable them to perform secondary research in the form of systematic reviews of the published literature.
- Written communication
- Students will need to be able to communicate their arguments coherently in the assignment questions demonstrating literacy and a strong command of the English language.
Assessment methods
Method | Weight |
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Written assignment (inc essay) | 100% |
Feedback methods
Students will be provided with personalised feedback for their final summative assignment (2,500-3,000 words or equivalent) within 20 working days.
Further opportunities for formative feedback (on non-assessed work) will also be provided during the course unit.
Recommended reading
There is no set text book.
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
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Assessment written exam | 50 |
Seminars | 10 |
Independent study hours | |
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Independent study | 90 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
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Paula Whittaker | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
This unit is a core unit for the MPH, MRes, Postgraduate Diploma, and Postgraduate Certificate. It is expected that students will complete this module in their first semester of study.
This unit is also available as an optional unit to students studying on the Public Health Professional Development programmes.
For further information please watch this video from our Course Unit Leader: https://video.manchester.ac.uk/faculties/edfa2331ca0cd9a14d717cb1d233466f/66082c38-bb8d-4838-80b9-35dd55477c09
If you have any questions about the content of this unit, please contact the course unit leader, Paula Whittaker, via email at paula.whittaker@manchester.ac.uk. If you have any other queries, please contact the PGT programme administrators via email at shs.programmes@manchester.ac.uk.