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Course details

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This short course will explore and explain the physiological basis of common problems encountered in paediatric practice.

It will focus on the ontogeny of systems from conception to maturity and the way in which this affects susceptibility and manifestations of disease. Study of early life programming in cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, respiratory conditions and allergy will cover mechanisms such as gene/environment interactions and epigenetics. Individual organ systems will be covered in detail including maturation, physiology, biochemistry, genomics and proteomics.

Current understanding of neurodevelopment from studies of the preterm brain, and long term consequences of extreme prematurity will be covered. Immunology, biochemistry and haematology will be presented in ways that clarify what may go wrong during childhood and how laboratory tests should be employed and interpreted.

Evidence based paediatric practice sessions will teach students how to critically appraise the literature, including hypothesis formulation, the contribution of epidemiology and qualitative research to practice and how to design appropriate clinical research studies. Assignments will be used to illustrate how different study designs can be tailored to answer different research questions. The resources for guiding clinical practice, such as NICE guidance, Cochrane reviews, meta-analytical techniques will be appraised.

The course is part of a range of short courses spread throughout the academic year which are available both to students who are enrolled on the MSc in paediatrics and child health and as stand-alone CPD accredited programmes for all healthcare professionals. The courses are offered in line with level 3 of the RCPCH curriculum.

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Course aims

  • To provide the scientific basis from which to understand the origins of health and disease in children
  • To integrate scientific and evidence based practice
  • To demonstrate how environmental factors influence health and/or disease

Who should attend?

This course will benefit paediatricians, GPs, nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals involved in Child Health.

As the course is a multi-professional programme, students will develop an understanding of how their own individual behaviours, and those of the teams within which they work, can have a significant influence on the quality of care delivered.

Benefits of attending

Participants will be able to:

  • be able to describe the ontogeny of systems from conception to maturity and how this affects manifestations and susceptibility to disease.
  • understand how early life programming in physiology, biochemistry and immunology influences the development of organ systems
  • analyse evidence-based practice and recognise how different study designs can be tailored to answer specific research questions

Optional assessment

Participants have the option of completing an assessment component and on completion will be provided with an official Imperial College London transcript of results. Details of the assessment and deadline for submission will be given during the course. Please note that there is an additional assessment fee payable in full prior to submission date. Please contact us for further information.