Medical information publisher BMJ Group, UK, has announced a partnership with the Open University Business School (OUBS) to provide accredited online courses in Clinical Leadership. BMJ Learning, the medical education division of BMJ Group, and OUBS' Centre for Professional Learning and Development (CPLD) have collaborated to provide postgraduate qualifications in Clinical Leadership for healthcare professionals.
The new courses have been developed following the recommendations of Lord Darzi's NHS Next Stage Review that require all NHS organisations to have formal leadership development plans in place. Research by BMJ Group and OUBS amongst consultants, junior doctors, GPs, advanced nurse practitioners and their equivalents across Europe has confirmed that clinicians, at all levels, increasingly need to demonstrate evidence of managerial and leadership expertise.
There are 155,000 registered doctors in active practice in the UK (BMA December 2008). Research undertaken by BMJ and OUBS showed a need for understanding the principles behind government policy and the reasoning behind decisions made by senior management within trusts. Skills relevant to day-to-day running of practices and clinics and the need to be able to lead service improvement and assess and implement new services, were also key motivators for further training.
Doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals will be able to take flexible, modular and accredited online courses to fulfil their individual requirements for continuous professional development (CPD). Short courses can be taken that will count towards a Post-graduate Certificate in Clinical Leadership and ultimately an MBA or MSc. All of the courses can be undertaken part-time from as little as 25 hours for a single module, and clinicians will be able to build their portfolio over several years.
Two pilot modules will be launched in the autumn and the Post-graduate Certificate in Clinical Leadership will be open for enrolment in Spring 2010. The first two modules will be Clinical leadership: what is it and why does it matter? and Understanding yourself and your development as a clinical leader. Individuals will be able to sign up to these modules directly or they may be purchased for groups of clinicians as bulk packages through organisations.
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