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Advanced Critical Care Practice MSc

Distance learning programme

The MSc Advanced Critical Care Practitioner equips senior/graduate NHS nurses and Allied Health Professionals with the academic and professional skills to undertake advanced practice roles within Critical Care. Graduates of this programme will satisfy the professional registration requirements for the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM). We combine online learning with practical skills, and you are taught by experts in critical care, perioperative medicine, and pharmacy.

UK students International students
Study mode
Part-time
UK tuition fees (2024/25)
£5,050
Overseas tuition fees (2024/25)
£5,050
Duration
3 academic years
Programme starts
January 2024
September 2024
Applications accepted

Applications should be made directly to NHS trusts who will be sponsoring clinical placements. If successful at interview, prospective students will then be processed by the UCL admissions team. Please check the NHS jobs website for adverts.

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Entry requirements

A minimum of a second-class UK Bachelor's degree. Appplicants who hold a pre-registration qualification which is not at degree level but who can evidence the ability to study at level 7 will be assessed on a case-by-case basis by the faculty team. All candidates must successfully register with their professional (Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) or the Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC) AND must be eligible to become a student of non-medical prescribing, in line with current national legislation. Students undertaking the PG Cert, PG Dip or Advanced Critical Care Practice MSc must also provide evidence of employment from their home trust and a named consultant intensivist who will be the clinical supervisor.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 2

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

This new Advanced Critical Care Practitioner MSc (ACCP) enables nurses and health professionals to pursue a unique career pathway within Critical Care.

Our programme is designed and delivered by a multidisciplinary faculty of clinical and education experts in critical care and in advanced practice. Your learning takes place on an engaging and supportive online learning environment. Students from all over the UK will be able to join and train as Advanced Critical Care Practitioners to deliver state-of-the-art care.

Through our online platform, we engage our students with all elements of Advanced Practice. We provide online teaching sessions, coaching and student pastoral support through immersive learning materials and facilitated group work. We are also creating a community of learners for peer-to-peer learning and providing structured educational support to busy NHS departments.

The course includes an integrated PG Cert in non-medical prescribing with enhanced clinical assessment. Eligible students can graduate either with a master’s or with a PGDip ACCP as non-medical prescribers.

Who this course is for

This programme is for registered nurses and allied health practitioners who meet the requirements for non-medical prescriber status and are interested in embarking on a rewarding and engaging career as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Critical Care. It will also appeal to qualified healthcare practitioners in the community or acute care setting including emergency care, palliative care, or chronic disease management.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

This programme offers you the following benefits and opportunities.

  • Access to one of very few university programmes that provide the professional qualifications to become an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Critical Care with an Independent and Supplementary Non-medical Prescribing qualification.
  • Expert teaching from world-leading critical care faculty and clinically practicing Consultant Intensivists, qualified Advanced Critical Care Practitioners and Pharmacists.
  • A wealth of knowledge and expertise from UCL in collaboration with University College London Hospital. This high-quality programme is delivered directly by experts to students.
  • Benefit from state-of-the-art digital technology connecting students in trusts all over the UK.
  • Opportunities to work directly with experienced academics and develop projects that will be clinically applicable to your future career.
  • A combination of innovative e-learning methods and clinical placements in selected partner NHS trusts for collaborative learning.
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

The UK Advanced Clinical Practice workforce is evolving. Trusts will increasingly employ ACCPs as a response to the workforce crisis to support safe high-quality care for an increasingly frail and comorbid population in technology-rich clinical environments. There will be options to specialise in numerous critical care skills and career progression guided by the Advanced Practice and the Faculty of Intensive Care frameworks.

Employability

Our master's programme is among a select few to offer an advanced practice pathway within critical care that is purposefully aligned to Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) accreditation. It has a unique focus on critical care pharmacology, on national standards, and meeting the needs of the complex critical care patient.

By completing this course successfully, you will satisfy the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) professional registration requirements. You will go on to clinical practice working as an Advanced Critical Care Practitioner and contribute to a dynamic and highly skilled medical workforce in the UK.

Networking

This programme is designed for you to network with a community of learners from across the UK to share experiences. As a UCL student and alum, you can have a central role in building an ACCP Community of Practice.

Accreditation

At UCL we are committed to achieving formal FICM Accreditation. The Advanced Critical Care Practitioner pathway at UCL fulfils the requirements of FICM for students to achieve membership status on successful completion of both the academic and clinical components to the training.

Teaching and learning

The programme is delivered through distance e-learning, clinical placement, tutorial groups, practical skills training, and self-directed study. We use Moodle as the main learning environment for interaction and theoretical learning as well as state-of-the-art virtual classroom facilities.

Much of your learning will happen during clinical placements and one-to-one learning sessions at the patient’s bedside, guided by experienced teachers and intensive care consultants. Throughout your placement, you will be expected to adhere to the GMC's Good Medical Practice guidelines and UCL's fitness to practise policy.

Each module has formative and summative assessments. These include:

  • maintaining a record of in-training experience
  • essays
  • oral presentations
  • contributions to group discussions
  • reflective writing
  • examinations (written, verbal and practical)
  • an annual review of clinical and professional competence in line with FICM requirements.

We use a variety of methods to guide your learning and offer a fair and interactive process.

15-20% of your time will be provided content in e-lectures, tutorials, and skills training. Around 50% will be in the clinical environment, depending on the educational and practical requirements of the learner. The remainder will be independent study.

Modules

You complete seven compulsory modules and a dissertation in a three-year period. The programme is delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous online learning and hands-on practice sessions in clinical assessment.

Students can graduate with a Postgraduate Certificate in Independent and Supplementary Non-medical Prescribing, a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Critical Care Practice (2 years) or with the master’s in Advanced Critical Care Practice (3 years).

Year 1: Certificate

  • Clinical Assessment

The aim of this module is to get you feeling comfortable and confident with obtaining a thorough patient history, conducting a full clinical examination and proposing some common clinical investigations which will support you in making a diagnosis. Combined, these techniques will allow you to present a clinical case and formulate a basic management plan.

  • Independent and Supplementary Non-Medical Prescribing

Topics include: principles of consultation and decision making and therapy including referral; general principles and application of pharmacokinetics, pharmacology and therapeutics; prescribing governance; applied therapeutics (cardiovascular, renal, endocrine, central nervous system, gastrointestinal and infections).

Year 2: Diploma

  • Anatomy and Physiology

Learn the fundamentals of cellular physiology and homeostasis and cardiovascular; respiratory; neurological; gastrointestinal and hepatic; renal; blood and the immune system; endocrine and musculoskeletal anatomy and physiology. You will also cover the fundamentals of microbiology and infection control.

  • Fundamentals of Critical Illness Disease Management

Builds on previous learning of anatomy and physiology introducing pathophysiology as it relates to the cardiovascular; respiratory; neurological; gastrointestinal and hepatic; renal; blood and the immune; endocrine and musculoskeletal systems.

  • Ethical and Professional Standards of Advanced Practice in Critical Care

Focus on the ethical foundations on which medical care is provided and offer a working knowledge of the law as it pertains to healthcare. A module to ground your professional development a an ACCPs across all pillars of advanced practice, in the clinical, education, research and leadership domains.

  • Advanced Critical Care Practice: Specialist Care

Draw on what you have learnt to both look at specialist management and to bring ACCP practice together. You will focus on the assessment and management of the specialist critical care subjects, including neurological emergencies, trauma, haematology oncology, cardiothoracics and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenator (ECMO).

MSc (optional year 3)

  • Introduction to Research and Improvement Science

Develop research skills in the delivery of high-quality patient care by evaluating published studies and guidelines. Learn the principals behind clinical research methods with an emphasis on statistics. You will also understand ‘quality’ and become familiar with the language of Improvement and be expected to develop a proposal for developing within your own department.

  • Advanced Critical Care Practice (MSc Dissertation)

Identify and articulate a specific issue for improvement, to construct and manage a project, demonstrating iterative processes of adaption and to report outcomes in line with internationally recognised standards of reporting.

Compulsory modules










Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Advanced Critical Care Practice.

Placement

The clinical placement will be provided by selected NHS trusts with a partnership agreement with UCL. Applicants must understand that these placements will be in locations within the UK, with the same NHS trust, for the duration of the two / three-year programme. Please see the NHS jobs website for available placements. To undertake this programme, you must have a confirmed contract as a trainee ACCP.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble accessable.co.uk. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing team.

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All open days and events

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Graduate Open Events: Burns, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery MSc

This online session provides you with an overview of our MSc Burns, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery programme. The programme overview is followed by a Q&A session with our programme leads. Speaker: Prof Deepak Kalaskar, Programme Lead and Deputy Director MSc Burns Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Watch on demand event

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Part-time
Tuition fees (2024/25) £5,050
Tuition fees (2024/25) £5,050

Part-time = 3 years

Additional costs

  • Access to a computer and internet.
  • Any transport and accommodation costs required for clinical placements.
  • Any transport and accommodation costs for attending examinations.

Students will receive a salary from the NHS trust to support them during their training.

For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to our estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs.

Funding your studies

Students may be funded through HEE, their employers (NHS trusts or private healthcare institutions) or self-fund.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications and £115 for paper applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

As part of the application to the MSc, candidates will complete a detailed application for undertaking the module Independent and Supplementary Non-medical Prescribing. Support from a Designated Prescribing Practitioner is required.

When we assess your application, we would like to learn the following.

  • Why you want to study Advanced Critical Care Practice.
  • Why you want to study ACCP at UCL.
  • What particularly attracts you to this programme.
  • How your academic and professional background meets the demands of this programme.
  • Where you would like to go professionally with your degree.

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

We're interested in motivated and eager individuals who are keen to work hard and are interested in developing this role within the NHS. We wish to see evidence to support your academic ability to study at graduate level.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Got questions? Get in touch

Division of Surgery and Interventional Science
Division of Surgery and Interventional Science

dsis.accp@ucl.ac.uk

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