module specification

This module prepares final-year BSc Physiotherapy students for their transition to registered professional practice by developing their leadership, service improvement, and self-management capabilities. Building on previous professional practice modules, students will critically explore their own values, emotional intelligence, and leadership styles. Recognising that leadership is a skill all professionals must demonstrate from day one, the module focuses on accountable self-leadership, inclusive team-working, and the safe management of workload and emotional burden. Students will critically apply healthcare service improvement frameworks to evaluate clinical practice and design quality improvement projects. Furthermore, the module bridges the gap between student and registered practitioner by preparing students for preceptorship, developing their employability skills through interview and professional branding preparation, and empowering them to act as role models within multi-disciplinary teams.

Available for Study Abroad? NO

• Leadership and Influencing Others: Exploring leadership styles, qualities, and behaviours at all levels of practice. Understanding multi/interdisciplinary team dynamics, conflict resolution, raising concerns, whistleblowing, and the responsibilities of acting as a role model. (LO1, LO2) 
• Self-Management and Wellbeing: Developing emotional intelligence. Identifying and managing anxiety, stress, and the emotional burden of pressurised clinical environments. Formulating strategies for mental and physical self-care, resilience, and adaptability in professional practice. (LO1) 
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) in Leadership: Recognising and overcoming barriers to inclusion and understanding unconscious bias and intersectionality. Navigating power imbalances in healthcare and developing culturally competent leadership and communication to promote equitable patient care. (LO2, LO5) 
• Theories and Models for Service Improvement: Applying models such as Quality Service Improvement Redesign (QSIR) and Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles. Understanding service evaluation, audit, risk management, clinical governance, and the gathering and use of data for quality assurance. (LO3)
• Transition to Practice and Lifelong Learning: Preparing for the transition to Band 5/registered practice. Understanding preceptorship, mentoring, and continuous professional development (CPD) portfolio building in alignment with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) standards of conduct. (LO4) 
• Healthcare Systems and Entrepreneurship: Understanding health and social care systems in the UK, resource allocation, basic business awareness, and evaluating the broader impact of physiotherapy services on public health. (LO3, LO4) 
• Employability and Career Launch: Preparing for Band 5 physiotherapy interviews, translating clinical and quality improvement experiences into employability skills, and developing a professional brand and networking presence (e.g., LinkedIn). (LO1, LO4)

Learning and teaching on this module combine scheduled face-to-face sessions with substantial guided independent study to support the development of leadership, service improvement, and self-management skills. Approximately 39 hours of scheduled teaching (delivered as 3 hours per week over 13 teaching weeks) include keynote guest lecturers, interactive seminars, and practical workshops focused on integrating quality improvement methodologies (e.g., QSIR, PDSA), inclusive leadership principles, and transition-to-practice strategies. As this module runs alongside the MSc cohort, teaching approaches are shared, but seminars will include targeted application tasks appropriate for Level 6. Students are expected to undertake around 81 hours of guided independent study, including preparation for seminars, directed reading of leadership literature, engagement with digital resources (such as the NHS Leadership Academy and HCPC/CSP online hubs), and continuous reflective practice. A further 30 hours are allocated for assessment preparation, including formulating the service improvement project presentation and drafting the leadership development reflective essay.

LO1: Critically evaluate personal leadership qualities, behaviours, and values, including the development of strategies to manage personal health, wellbeing, and emotional burden in clinical practice.

LO2: Analyse the principles of effective, inclusive team-working, identifying how to act as a role model, manage conflict, and promote the learning of others within a multi-disciplinary environment.

LO3: Apply current theories and models for service improvement (e.g., PDSA, QSIR) to systematically design a quality improvement project based on clinical placement experiences or healthcare data. 

LO4: Formulate a structured personal development plan for continuing professional practice, preceptorship, and lifelong learning to support the transition to registered autonomous practice. 

LO5: Critically discuss the impact of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) within healthcare leadership, identifying methods to challenge barriers, recognise power imbalances, and promote equitable patient care.

Reading List found here:

https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/9A428063-436D-6C7D-FEB7-692AD65328DA.html?lang=en-GB&login=1