Paediatrics and Child Health
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The IBSc in Paediatrics and Child Health offers:
 a unique academic insight into Paediatrics and Child Health throughout the NHS,
 clinical exposure distinct from but enriching the undergraduate curriculum,
 options for in-depth study of core topics and research areas
 learning through reflection
 an innovative individual mentoring programme using trainee Paediatricians
 access to world-class teaching and research resources through the Institute of Child
Health, the Whittington Hospital and other UCL Partners.
The BSc complements the Paediatrics module offered later in the MBBS programme. It is
not designed to teach you about exotic conditions and how to look after and manage sick
children, but to understand health services more broadly with a focus on families’ pathways
through health care both in health and disease. We explore issues around service provision
and our roles as health professionals, as well as developing research skills.
We strongly recommend this course to those considering a career in Paediatrics, but also
feel that many of the skills developed during this year would be applicable to any specialty.
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
The course combines in-depth analysis of the ’patient journey’, giving unique insights into
the causes and effects of childhood illness, with the opportunity to undertake diverse
Paediatric research projects. The latter is supported by sessions on evidence based
medicine, statistics, qualitative research methods and study skills such as searching the
literature, referencing and essay writing but the student has the freedom to design and
complete their own chosen project
Each taught module is managed by a Module Co-coordinator, who is responsible for the
academic content of the module, its delivery and the setting and marking of written
assignments and exams. In some modules there are a number of guest lecturers. They bring
expertise and experience from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds.
Discussion and debate are encouraged by flexible interactions between teachers and
students in the tutorials and seminars. Both the taught modules and the project give students
a degree of freedom to explore areas that particularly interest them. We place emphasis on
the ability of students to organise their own schedule and to study independently and
effectively.
Taught courses in term 1 are timetabled in the same time slot each week. Students take four
taught courses in term 1 and one in Term 2. The remaining time is divided between selfdirected study, visits to a baby whose development you are following, independent research,
and carrying out assignments for assessment.
Students must complete 4 units during the whole BSc. A list of these is given below, as
taught in the 2015-16 programme.
COMPULSORY UNITS
CHLD3001: HEALTH SERVICES FOR CHILDREN [HSC]
0.5 unit ,Term 1
Dr Caroline Fertleman, Dr Roisin Begley
Assessment: Reflective essay on patient journey (formative), Exam 60%, Developing a
new description of a specific patient journey 40%
The course will consider the child in his/her entirety and his/her contact with diverse aspects
of health and social services. The taught course explores the following themes: Structure of
the NHS; Acute services (primary, secondary and tertiary care); Education and schools; role
of other agencies such as social care, safeguarding, police.
You will receive formal teaching sessions from diverse professionals in their own location to
cover these themes.
Self-directed study is based on individual scenarios (provided by the tutors) reflecting the
‘patient journey’ of real children. Regular facilitated discussions will be held, and the
formative assessment is a reflective essay on one of these 'patient journeys'. Students also
collect a new patient journey from a family of their choosing at Great Ormond Street.
One of the key differences between this and your previous learning is the strong emphasis
on ‘reflection’, which involves appraisal of the issues, context and literature. We consider this
to be one of the most useful and unique parts of the BSc since reflection, rather than
textbook learning, is a core component of later medical training.
The course will also offer high-fidelity paediatric simulation, where you work as a team to
learn to manage children with acute conditions such as severe asthma, status epilepticus
and meningococcal sepsis. This will help you start to develop skills in recognising and
managing the sick child, multi-disciplinary working, team-work and communication in a safe
and non-threatening environment.
CHLD3002: THE CHILD AND COMMUNITY [TCC]
0.5 unit, Term 1
Dr Nicole Horwitz, Dr Eliza Grylls, Dr Julia Dudley, based at the Whittington Hospital/
Northern Health Centre
Assessment: Leaflet 25%, Oral presentation 25%, Exam 50%
This module has 2 components:
i) Baby follow-up (0-9 months)
Each student studies the development of a baby born in Term 1, and the impact of their birth
on the family through regular home visits. The student will enter information into their own
‘Red Book’ (the parent-held child record) and will be expected to read about conditions and
situations as they arise. Formal teaching will be provided at the Whittington Hospital.
ii) Young Child or adolescent option
Students choose whether to study development, disability and behaviour in younger children
(0-5 years) or adolescents (13-19 years)
Those choosing the Young Child option will explore what services are available for all under5’s such as Children’s Centres and Health Visitors (universal services) and will learn about
more targeted services such as Speech and Language therapy and Child Development
teams.
Those choosing the adolescent option will explore issues such as what it means to be an
adolescent, adolescent mental health, sexual health and the additional burden of chronic
disease in adolescents.
PRIM3007: CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF PRIMARY CARE AND PAEDIATRIC PRACTICE
0.5 unit, Term 1
Dr Rose Crowley, Dr Will Coppola, Dr Surinder Singh. Shared Module with BSc in
Primary Care; most sessions at the Institute of Child Health, with some at the Royal
Free Hospital
Assessment: Guidelines 30%, Exam 70%
This module will be delivered as a series of interactive seminars as a joint module with
students studying on the BSc in primary care. The sessions will cover an introduction to
evidence-based practice, library teaching on finding evidence and hands on searching skills,
and key seminars on how to appraise a range of papers focusing on different types of study.
There will be assessed coursework in which you will write a clinical guideline and an end of
year assessment. The skills you acquire in this module should be relevant and valuable both
as
a
student
and
in
your
future
medical
careers.
Topics include: Evidence and literature searching; Cohort Studies; Diagnostic tests and
screening; Randomised Controlled Trials; Systematic reviews; Case control studies;
Appraising qualitative research and Clinical guidelines.
CHLD3004 TERTIARY CARE AND COMPLEX CHILDHOOD DISORDERS [CCD]
0.5 unit, Term 2
Dr Paul Winyard
(Taught with two Core lecture days, two workshops on Paediatrics Ethics and Law
and by attachment to two specialties at Great Ormond Street Hospital).
Assessment: Presentation (formative), Reflective diary 50%, Exam 50%
This module introduces tertiary pediatrics’ and children with complex conditions.
Students will study five ‘core conditions’ and use these to understand the science and
medicine of complex conditions, the organisation of care, and the psychosocial implications
for families with these conditions. Students will also have two clinical attachments (one day
per week for 5 weeks) on the wards at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Examples include
Cardiology, Endocrinology, Infectious Diseases, Neonatology, Neurology, Neuro-disability,
Oncology, Renal, Respiratory, Rheumatology and Safeguarding (based at the North
Middlesex Hospital). Students compile a reflective diary highlighting cases and issues from
their time on the wards.
CIHD3005: GLOBAL MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH [MCH]
0.5 unit, Term 2
Dr Jenny Hall and Dr Delan Devakumar
Assessment: Oral exam 80%, Group presentation 20%
The module provides an introduction to the health problems facing mothers and children
across the world. The seminars address the main causes of child and maternal mortality and
the socio-cultural factors affecting them. Malnutrition, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding
and the perinatal period are examined in detail as well as important infectious diseases such
as vaccine preventable diseases, HIV, malaria and diarrhoeal disease. The impact of public
health programmes addressing these diseases is explored.
GENERAL TUTORIALS:
Term 1 (and occasionally in Term 2)
Sessions taught on different sites as appropriate
General Tutorials introduce and explore generic skills not included in the core curriculum.
These may take the form of study skills sessions, project development work, or
talks/discussions on Paediatric-related topics. These sessions are compulsory; they are not
assessed directly but concepts discussed within these tutorials help students in several later
assessments. The sessions are mainly held during the first term, with ad-hoc sessions in the
second term as required or requested by students or tutors.
CHLD3901: INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PROJECT IN CHILD HEALTH [IRP]
1.5 units
Preparation from Term 1; project in Term 2
Dr Paul Winyard
Research based on different sites as appropriate
Assessment: Interim proposal 5%, 8500 word dissertation 85%, Viva 10%
Students can either choose a topic from a list offered by supervisors in almost every subspecialty, or develop their own project in an area of their own interest. Projects can be
laboratory-based or clinical, or even a combination of both. Examples of previous studies
include an A&E survey of the emergency management of drunk teenagers; a new scoring
system for childhood arthritis; a genetic study on cardiac disease; developing methods to
culture new human kidneys in the laboratory; a comparison of different social work
approaches in different hospitals; and a review of new drug treatments in neuro-disability.
Hence there is scope for projects in almost any area, and many presentations and
publications have come from previous students’ projects (see below).
The interim proposal is developed during term 1, ensuring that R&D registration and ethical
approval has been gained where necessary (the supervisor will help with this) and that
methods of data collection and analysis are both feasible and likely to be informative. The
bulk of the project work can then be undertaken during term 2.
Example student publications/presentations:
Laura Haynes (2010-11) Child Protection in Haringey: a prospective observational study and
audit of child protection procedures in two London hospitals. Arch Dis Child 2012;97:Suppl 1
A96 doi:10.1136/archdischild-2012-301885.228
Fiona Price-Kuehne (2010-11) Preliminary validation of thepaediatric vasculitis activity score
(PVAS). Pediatric Rheumatology 2011 9 (Suppl 1):O15
Daniel Funnell (2010-11) Quantitative valuation placed by children and teenagers on
participation in two hypothetical research scenarios J Med Ethics medethics-2012100523Published Online First: 19 July 2012 doi:10.1136/medethics-2012-100523
Hannah Warren (2011-12) 10th European Congress of Neuropathology, Edinburgh, June
2012 (Poster) A novel population of neural progenitors in the infant hippocampus.
Course Directors:
Dr Paul Winyard
Dr Caroline Fertleman
p.winyard@ucl.ac.uk
c.fertleman@ucl.ac.uk
Teaching Fellow
Dr Roisin Begley
r.begley@ucl.ac.uk
Course administrators:
Ms Nike Adigun
Ms Rahima Khanum
n.adigun@ucl.ac.uk
r.khanum@ucl.ac.uk