Perioperative Medicine in Action (FutureLearn)

In this RCoA-endorsed course, developed by anaesthetists at University College London (UCL) Hospitals, you’ll learn the key concepts you need to improve patient safety and reduce healthcare costs.

Spanish translation available / traducción al español disponible.

What topics will you cover?

Week 1: The surgical epidemic

• Defining the high-risk surgical patient and the need to change the way we care for them
• An introduction to perioperative medicine and the Royal College of Anaesthetists vision for improved perioperative care
• New perioperative care pathways

Week 2: Risk assessment and shared decision-making?

• The role of risk assessment and risk assessment tools including cardiopulmonary exercise testing and risk scoring systems
• Shared decision-making: what it is, why it is so important and how to achieve it.

Week 3: Protocols in surgical care

• The principles of enhanced recovery
• How healthcare professionals and patients can engage with protocols
• Protocols in the care of the emergency surgical patient

Week 4: An age old problem

• The unique perioperative problems of the elderly
• How to improve perioperative care for the elderly
• The current economic climate and how perioperative medicine is the value proposition

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

• Justify the need for better, more holistic care for the high risk surgical patient, to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.
• Engage with risk assessment tools to characterise and quantify the risk of an individual undergoing a particular procedure.
• Demonstrate the need for protocolised care pathways and evaluate the success of the enhanced recovery programmes in reducing variance in practice.
• Describe the major challenges in delivering perioperative medicine for the elderly.
• Discuss the current economic pressure on healthcare systems and how perioperative medicine can be used to reduce these pressures.