Training
Training is tough, and competitive, ensuring you have the good grades and an interest in science and patient care only then you should forward yourself. There are 28 universities in the UK that offer a Diploma in Higher Education qualification in Operating Department Practice. It is usually a two year full time course with some universities offering part time courses. The course is a balance of theory and practice, with the professional body requirement that students achieve a minimum of 3000 hours. A degree programme in the subject is currently being considered by the professional body with a view to this becoming the minimum level qualification to gain entry to the register by 2012/2013. The first BSc (Hons) in Operating Department Practice leading to eligibility to apply for registration was validated by Canterbury Christ Church University with the first intake of students in September 2009. There is potential to continue education & development after finishing this initial professional qualification. Students may decide to specialise more in the Anaesthetic phase and following further training become an Anaesthetic Care Practitioner or also known as Physicians Assistant Anaesthetics by the Royal College of Anaesthetists. Alternatively it is possible to specialise in Surgery and following further training become a Surgical Care Practitioner. These add on courses are available in a variety of full & part time formats, depending on the university. Following the disbanding of the English National Board (ENB) there is no nationally recognised qualification for nurses working in theatres although many universities offer the option of post registration Studies for Nurses wishing to specialise and pursue a career in the operating department. Many of these courses are benchmarked against competencies required by the ODP award which helps to ensure parity and that both groups of health care professionals are working to the same nationally recognised standards.
Read more about this topic: Operating Department Practitioners
Famous quotes containing the word training:
“When a man goes through six years’ training to be a doctor he will never be the same. He knows too much.”
—Enid Bagnold (1889–1981)
“At present I feel like a caged animal, bound up by the luxury, comfort and respectability of my position. I can’t get the training that I want without neglecting my duty.”
—Beatrice Potter Webb (1858–1943)
“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man’s training begins, its probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)