Organization: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
5 Weeks Part Time Online (approx 3-4 hours per week)
3 good reasons to study
- Practical and patient-centred, this course provides the knowledge and skill needed to manage TB in any setting with confidence, from clinical assessment to management of contacts.There continues to be a high number of deaths from TB every year, despite curative treatment being available.
- You can be part of tackling this, by avoiding common errors in TB diagnosis and treatment.LSTM houses numerous clinicians and researchers with expertise in TB, who teach both face to face and distance learning courses. T
- his course gives you the opportunity to learn from those with up to date knowledge and practical experience, without having to come to Liverpool to study.
100% of students would recommend this course to others (January 2017 student feedback survey)
There is now a global move to end TB, with targets to reduce TB deaths by 95% by 2035 (http://www.who.int/tb/post2015_strategy/en/(link is external)). Building knowledge and skill of healthcare workers can contribute to this and wherever you work in healthcare, TB needs to be recognised, diagnosed, well-treated, cured and of course prevented. This distance learning course offers an opportunity to improve your knowledge and skill in managing TB in a flexible way that can fit around your work.
This distance learning short course has been developed as an introduction to TB for clinical practitioners from all settings. It will develop health care professionals’ knowledge and skills in assessment, treatment and prevention of TB through using a variety of learning materials and participative activities, facilitated by subject experts from LSTM.
This course will cover TB in 4 main areas:
- TB infection & disease
- Clinical assessment
- Clinical management
- TB prevention and control
Course Outline
In order to allow you to meet learning outcomes, the material will cover:
TB infection and disease (latent and active TB)
Microbiology, immunology and pathogenesis
Epidemiology, global patterns
Pulmonary/adult TB
Paediatric TB
Diagnostics and the approach to assessing a patient
TB treatment – side effects, adherence, duration
Scenarios of non-standard TB treatment
TB prevention and control
A patient story is used to illustrate the pathway from clinical presentation to treatment and management of contacts.
Suitable for:
The course is designed for healthcare workers who are new to TB, have TB as a part of their work or wish to refresh their knowledge. The material is best suited to those currently working in healthcare at a graduate level, either in a clinical or public health capacity but we will consider applications from students, allied health professionals and others. If you are unsure as to whether this is suitable for you, please e-mail mylstm@lstmed.ac.uk(link sends e-mail) to be put in touch with course tutors.
Course Structure
The course comprises five learning blocks and a final formative assessment. Students are expected to engage 4-5 hours per week over the 5 week period.
0: Induction:
Introductory activities include developing your online profile, introducing etiquette and ground rules and an activity in which you watch a resource on a global TB theme and discuss (“Get talking about TB”). An outline of the course is presented.
1: TB infection and disease.
You will develop your TB knowledge, using a conceptual framework of infection and disease, recorded lecture material and moderated online discussions. A patient story is introduced and is carried through the remainder of the course. Formative MCQs complete the block and review material.
2: Clinical assessment.
The patient’s journey continues and recorded material presents the various diagnostic methods. You are asked to work in online groups to develop a diagnostic algorithm for active pulmonary TB. Tutor-moderated discussion and a model answer reinforce learning. A short formative assessment by MCQs consolidates learning.
3: Clinical management.
The evidence and rationale for current TB treatment are presented. You are asked to look at your local/national guidelines and discuss with the class. The patient’s journey continues as recorded consultations with healthcare workers and you are asked to construct a table of TB drugs as a resource for learning. Written material introduces scenarios in which treatment differs from first line.
4: TB prevention and control.
The patient story is expanded to include family and household contacts. Recorded lecture material accompanies discussion of guidelines in TB control and you are asked to draw up a comparison of methods of testing for TB immune response used for diagnosis of latent TB and produce a management plan for the patient’s contacts. A formative MCQ set follows and a round-up discussion will reinforce learning from the whole course.
Final assessment
This formative Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ) set brings together all learning over the four teaching blocks. MCQs will have explanatory notes with correct/incorrect answers and students can have unlimited attempts to reinforce learning. There is no pass mark.
Online Learning
We are using an Asynchronous learning model. Asynchronous e-learning involves recorded material and group work delivered via web (virtual learning environment), email and message boards that are then posted on online forums. In such cases, students ideally complete the course at their own pace (expected 4-5 hours per week, over the 5 weeks), by using the internet as a support tool rather than at specific online classes in real time.
Studying online is a first for many people. This course will help you discover the skills required for online study and evaluate your own study skillset. You’ll also experience online communities and how you benefit from flexible study arrangements while still being supported by dedicated tutors. Studying online takes advantage of technology to simulate or improve upon traditional methods of teaching.
We use a number of innovative tools to support your learning, whilst studying with us, at the centre of which is Brightspace. Brightspace brings together learners, tutors and learning materials in a simple to use web based learning management system which many students tell us is the easiest study platform they have used. Brightspace is designed to give you easy access to everything you need to complete your studies whilst enabling you to interact with your fellow learners and be part of the wider LSTM community. Brightspace is mobile friendly and supports you even in low bandwidth settings.
LSTM also has a number of other technologies available which enable you to access video based learning resources (Panopto), easily study on your tablet device even whilst offline (Binder) and work effectively online with your peers (Wiggio). Each of these technologies has been designed to be user friendly and intuitive to use and you will have a dedicated team of staff to support you in the use of these. You will also have an Office 365 account and be able to download the latest version of Microsoft Office for the duration of your studies.
How to register:
Simply click the apply tab on the webpage and complete the form
http://www.lstmed.ac.uk/study/courses/fundamentals-of-tuberculosis