Physician Associate Studies

If you have any queries or questions about the Physician Associate Studies programme or require placement related support, please contact a member of the programme support team.

Programme Contacts

Dr. Lara Menon

• Programme lead/Secondary care placements.
• Email: Lara.Menon@uwe.ac.uk

James Willis

• Senior Lecturer/Primary care placements.
• Email: James5.Willis@uwe.ac.uk 

Placement team

• Email: ppoallocations@uwe.ac.uk

Academic year 2022/23

Physician Associate placement dates for all cohorts are below.

Year 1 students (August 2022 intake):

• Primary Care 1: 24 October to 28 October 2022 (1 week total).
• Primary Care 2: 09 January to 03 February 2023 (4 weeks total).
• Secondary Care 1: 24 April to 19 May 2023 (4 weeks total).
• Primary Care 3: 05 June to 23 June 2023 (3 weeks total).
• Primary Care 4: 03 July to 22 July 2023 (3 weeks total).

Year 2 students (August 2021 intake):

• Secondary Care 1: 03 October to 16 December 2022 (11 weeks total).
• Secondary Care 2: 13 February to 31 March 2023 (7 weeks total).
• Primary Care 1: 24 April to 12 May 2023 (3 weeks total).
• Secondary Care 3: 22 May to 28 July 2023 (10 weeks total).

Academic year 2023/24

Physician Associate placement dates for all cohorts are below.

Year 1 students (August 2023 intake):

• Primary Care 1:  06 November to 24 November 2023 (3 weeks total).
• Secondary Care 1:  27 November to 15 December 2023 (3 weeks total).
• Primary Care 2:  04 March to 22 March 2024 (3 weeks total).
• Primary Care 3:  17 June to 05 July 2024 (3 weeks total).
• Secondary Care 2: 08 July to 26 July 2024 (3 weeks total).

Year 2 students (August 2022 intake):

• Secondary Care 1:  29 August to 03 November 2023 (11 weeks total).
• Secondary Care 2:  02 January to 16 February 2024 (7 weeks total).
• Secondary Care 3:  22 April to 10 May 2024 (3 weeks total).
• Secondary Care 4: 20 May to 05 July 2024 (7 weeks total).
• Primary Care:  08 July to 26 July 2024 (3 weeks total).

View programme information:

• MSc Physician Associate Studies programme overview
• Programme overview for placement providers: PA Programme – Primary Care (PPTX)
• Funding overview for placement providers: BEN WHISTANCE – PA_HEE_funding (PPTX)

Course dates: Academic Year 2022/2023

Physician Associate course dates (sorted by term) for all cohorts are below.

• Term 1: 22 August to 16 December 2022.
• Term 2: 2 January to 31 March 2023.
• Term 3: 17 April to 28 July 2023.

Course dates: Academic Year 2023/2024

• Term 1: 29 August to 16 December 2023.
• Term 2: 2 January to 28 March 2024.
• Term 3: 15 April to 26 July 2024.

Other important dates

Please note: on these dates students may be expected to attend events which take place on campus for their learning and development.

• National PA Conference: 8 December 2023 (Further information from Royal College of Physicians)
• Assessment Dates 2022/23 (which potentially could be on days in placement): Assessment Dates 2022/23
• Assessment Dates 2023/24 (which potentially could be on days in placement): Date TBC.
• Major incident simulation day: 22 June 2023

• Student login: UWE ARC POW (Placements on the Web)
• Placement provider login: UWE ARCPEP (Placement Environment Profile and Audit)

Student Learning Objectives

Whilst on placement, students will be expected to develop their knowledge and understanding of the medical and surgical specialties as outlined below. The minimum placement hours required to complete the placement is indicated in parenthesis.

Please follow the hyperlinks to find quick guide summaries of the specific placement requirements for each specialty:

• Primary Care/Community Medicine (510 Hours): Primary Care Learning Objectives
• General Hospital Medicine (350 Hours): General Medicine Learning Objectives
• Front Door Medicine, including Acute and Emergency Medicine and Critical Care (180 Hours): Emergency ('Front Door') Medicine Learning Objectives
• Surgery, including General and Specialties (90 Hours): General Surgery Learning Objectives
• Obstetrics and Gynaecology (90 Hours): Obstetrics and Gynaecology Learning Objectives
• Mental Health (90 Hours): Mental Health Learning Objectives
• Paediatrics (90 Hours): Paediatrics Learning Objectives

Student Appearance

Whilst on placement students will be expected to adhere to the following guidance on appearance:

• UWE student Physician Associate name badge and either UWE-branded or Faculty of Physician Associates (FPA) branded lanyard.
• UWE branded ‘Caribbean blue’ scrubs. If these are unavailable, then students are permitted to wear trust/placement provider-approved scrubs, or smart professional attire (when working in primary care).
• Comfortable, clean, work appropriate footwear.
• Professional standards of personal hygiene are expected at all times.

From time-to-time staff including clinical staff, academic staff, support staff and administrative staff may have concerns about individual students. Concerns may vary in nature - from students who become withdrawn and about whom a member of staff is worried, to students whose attitude or behaviour is inappropriate. Placement providers should contact the programme team as soon as is possible to inform them of concerns, and complete a yellow “Notification of Concern” form.

This process is intended to be supportive to students. Our aim is to help those who are in difficulty. We have access to a number of avenues of support for students. Notifying the programme team of concerns via the “Notification of Concern” form offers staff the opportunity to “flag” students to the welfare system. We do not expect major concerns to be highlighted in this way. We anticipate that if there is a potentially serious problem staff will contact us by telephone, email or letter as soon as is possible.

Completed forms will not be accepted unless they are signed by the completer. We would also encourage completers to discuss the contents of the form with the student so that students understand the intention is to help rather than to punish them. We find that students respond positively to the reporter speaking to them. Completed forms should be submitted to PAStudies@uwe.ac.uk On receipt they will forward to the relevant academic personal tutor who will meet with the student to discuss the nature of the concern. Tutors will then inform completers of the outcome of the discussion with the student and any actions that have been taken.

Regardless of the outcome of any discussions – all forms will be retained on the student file and will be kept during their entire academic career, in order for any patterns to be recognised. There is no “tariff” of concern forms that leads to disciplinary action. If a student disagrees with any part of the concern form they may summarise their argument to be filed with the form. The student’s Clinical Mentor will be notified that a form has been raised but will not receive a copy without the written permission of the student. If a form is issued in a Trust or Practice the relevant Head of Academy will be informed.

• Access the yellow “Notification of Concern” form (PDF)
• Reporting Concerns Process for Placement Providers (PDF)
• Reporting Concerns Process for Students (PDF)

Find out more about supporting, supervising and assessing students in practice.