Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

This module considers the effects of pain on patients, their families and carers and the healthcare professionals involved in the patient’s management.

It studies the physiology of pain and before exploring many of the practical issues that professionals face in multidisciplinary pain management.

Students will explore typical pain presentations in cancer and non-malignant conditions, with the opportunity to reflect on their own experiences and discuss relevant emergent issues arising from authentic clinical contexts.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module will cover the following topics:
•What is pain and how can it be assessed?
•Neurobiology of pain      
•Multidisciplinary aspects of care
•The dying patient
•Pharmacology of pain
•Using opioid analgesia
•Managing pain in practice 1
•Managing pain in practice 2
•Non pharmacological approaches
•Social aspects of pain
•Difficult issues in managing patients with pain
•Multidisciplinary approach to pain management

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

On completion of the module students will be able to
•Describe neurobiological mechanisms of pain
•Critique evidence-based models of pain assessment
•Appraise models of multidisciplinary pain management
•Describe and explain the principles of safe opioid prescribing
•Critique the rationale for opioids and non-opioid adjuvant analgesics in pain management
•Critically apply theoretical concepts and research evidence to pain management in authentic clinical contexts
•Appraise the role of non-pharmacological interventions for pain
•Reflects on the influence of psychosocial and emotional factors on the pain experience
•Describe advances and future developments in pain management

Intended Skill Outcomes

On completion of this module students will be able to:
•Accurately assess pain in a range of clinical contexts
•Formulate and present safe and effective evidence-based pain management plans
•Work collaboratively to produce evidence-based and clinically appropriate resources relating to pain management

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Module leaders will tutor students through moderation of asynchronous discussions and collaborative activities and via synchronous, online tutorial events. They will also issue regular study announcements to the whole group, based on issues emergent from the above learning activities, and provide one-to-one study support dependent on individual need.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Formative Assessment
In the formative assessment, students reflect on a case study concerning a patient from their own context with difficult and/ or challenging pain (LOs 2,3,7,8).

Summative Assessments
In the summative assessment students will present a reflective account of how learning from the module impacts (or would have impacted) on this case (LOs 2,3,5,6,7,8,9). The choice of subject for the group collaborative assessment activity will also be decided by the module leader, depending on the pain topics represented across the group at formative assessment.

For the collaborative group assessment students will be assigned to groups of 4-6 by the module leader, determined by the pain management issue identified at formative assessment. The group will work together to create a pain management guideline, drawing upon module and independently-sourced material and using collaborative editing software (LOs 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9). Learning activities early in the module introduce students to collaborations, whilst a framework of required fields for the guideline is set by the module leader. The final grade for this assessed group activity applies to all participants. The assessment rubric for this task includes participation.

Students who fail the module overall must submit a 2000 word critique of a pain management guideline from their own clinical context for the re-sit.

General Notes

N/A