Postgraduate Taught Degrees

MS Oncoplastic Breast Surgery (Part time)

Duration:: 3 years
Attendance:: Part Time
Award:: Degree of Master of Surgery
School of Study:: Norwich Medical School
Brochure:: MS in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery course brochure (PDF)

Overview
Why Choose Us
Course Profile
Requirements
Fees and Funding
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‘Time’ is one of the biggest obstacles you face in developing your skills and career in oncoplastic breast surgery. Our e-learning Masters course, developed with support from the Royal College of Surgeons (England), ABS and BAPRAS, offers a unique solution to that problem, with a flexible and innovative training programme to help you achieve your goals. Currently, this course is the only programme to qualify specialists in Oncoplastic breast surgery.

Our philosophy is to promote setting standards at this specialist level, whilst accommodating your individual progression path. Our aim is to prepare, assess and qualify you for year –1 level consultant specialist practice. We’ll do this through a combination of rigorous and engaging online activities and practical assessment of your surgical, communication and decision-making skills.

Flexible Training

Supporting flexible study patterns is more important than ever when balancing working time directives with the highest quality training. The University of East Anglia (UEA) Masters Course in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery meets this challenge, and offers added advantages over face-to-face delivery: our bespoke, flexible approach offers excellent opportunities for problem based training and assessment, access to a large specialist faculty, seamless communication with e-tutors / mentors, access to online resources, evidencing progress and development.

Our Curriculum

Our programme is linked directly to the Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum Programme and is set at a more advanced level than the FRCS. We achieve this through a comprehensive syllabus with defined outcomes to ensure that you acquire expert subject knowledge. For the Post Graduate Diploma (PGDip) and Masters level, you can tailor the course to suit your career path through our additional optional modules. Surgical skills training combined with e-tutoring and access to the specialist faculty resource that this will offer, provides an exceptionally rich training experience, complementing and surpassing the knowledge requirements for the FRCS exam exit. The syllabus has been designed by our specialist faculty team for online delivery and we have invested significantly in providing a dynamic, flexible and easy to use system.

Find Out More

Please click here to view our course brochure.

Course Organiser:Prof Jerome Pereira

The School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice at the University of East Anglia is relatively new but is already establishing a reputation for exciting and innovative approaches to education supported by a strong and rapidly developing research programme.

As part of the Faculty of Health it has a growing emphasis on inter-professional co-operation in teaching and research.

The School itself is building a strong reputation in Population Medicine, Health Economics, and Diet and Health and BioMedicine with laboratory work now being concentrated in the newly built BioMedical Research Centre.

Year 1
Year 2
Year 3

This is the first academic year of the programme.

Compulsory Study (40 credits)

Students must study the following modules for 40 credits:

Name	Code	Credits
APPLIED BASIC SCIENCES AND BENIGN BREAST DISEASE	MED-M89E	20
At the end of this module, the Master in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery candidate should be able to: 1. Describe the anatomy of the breast and chest wall including embryological development and use these to explain the rationale for various oncoplastic operative procedures for the management of both benign and malignant breast disorders. 2. Describe the anatomy of the axilla and related lymphatic drainage and explain the anatomical bases for various diagnostic and therapeautic procedures for the staging and surgical management of the axilla. 3. Explain the physiological changes in the breast from puberty to menopause and to describe the effect of these on any benign or malignant change. 4. Describe the basic pathology of benign breast diseases including relevant cell and molecular biology and explain how to use this information for cancer risk assessment, diagnosis, treatment and prognostication. 5. Discuss the pathophysiology and management of breast infections 6. Interpret results and images from various breast imaging modalities and to use these to come to a diagnosis and management decision 7. Discuss the role of breast screening in view of current evidence, and identify its limitations 8. Describe the common genetic abberrations relating to breast cancer risk, and understand their impact on management of high risk cases 9. Identify and discuss psychosocial, medicolegal and ethical issues as they relate to the diagnosis and management of breast diseases Use evidence based arguments to support decision making at various stages in the management of breast diseases. 10. Describe the anatomy of the breast and chest wall including embryological development and use these to explain the rationale for various oncoplastic operative procedures for the management of both benign and malignant breast disorders. 11. Describe the anatomy of the axilla and related lymphatic drainage and explain the anatomical bases for various diagnostic and therapeautic procedures for the staging and surgical management of the axilla. 12. Explain the physiological changes in the breast from puberty to menopause and to describe the effect of these on any benign or malignant change. 13. Describe the basic pathology of benign breast diseases including relevant cell and molecular biology and explain how to use this information for cancer risk assessment, diagnosis, treatment and prognostication. 14. Discuss the pathophysiology and management of breast infections 15. Interpret results and images from various breast imaging modalities and to use these to come to a diagnosis and management decision 16. Discuss the role of breast screening in view of current evidence, and identify its limitations 17. Describe the common genetic abberrations relating to breast cancer risk, and understand their impact on management of high risk cases 18. Identify and discuss psychosocial, medicolegal and ethical issues as they relate to the diagnosis and management of breast diseases 19. Use evidence based arguments to support decision making at various stages in the management of breast diseases.
MANAGEMENT OF MALIGNANT BREAST DISEASE	MED-M63F	20
1. Apply a detailed knowledge of the pathophysiology of breast pain (cyclical and non-cyclical) to evaluating the management options. 2. Apply a detailed knowledge of the epidemiological basis of proliferative benign breast disease to explain how this may affect the risk of developing breast cancer. 3. Evaluate the current understanding of the genetic basis of breast cancer, and assess current trials and guidelines for the management of family history patients. 4. Evaluate the principles and practice of the NHS breast screening programme, including the current quality assurance protocols and critically discuss the management of B3 lesions. 5. Apply a detailed knowledge of the pathophysiology of breast infections to evaluate the current understanding of treatment and prognosis. 6. Apply an in-depth knowledge of the epidemiological basis of gynaecomastia, benign and pre-malignant breast conditions, and explain the rationale for various treatment options. 7. Critically analyse and discuss psychosocial, medicolegal and ethical issues relating to diagnosis and management of breast disease. 8. Demonstrate competence in performing the RCS index operations for benign breast disease

This is the second academic year of the programme.

Compulsory Study (60 credits)

Students must study the following modules for 60 credits:

Name	Code	Credits
ONCOPLASTIC SURGERY - PART 1	MED-M64D	20
MED-M64D Oncoplastic Surgery – Part 1 Learning Outcomes At the end of this module, the Masters in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery candidate should be able to: 1. Utilise advanced communication skills in offering choice and ensuring patient involvement in decision making. 2. Critically discuss oncoplastic principles in relation to case selection. 3. Formulate an acceptable pre-operative plan and demonstrate appropriate Patient Mark Up. 4. Apply a detailed knowledge of the anatomy of the chest wall and flaps to explain the procedures of oncoplastic breast reconstruction. 5. Apply detailed knowledge to the critical discussion of therapeutic mammoplasty procedures. 6. Critically discuss the principles pertaining to skin/nipple sparing mastectomy. 7. Analyse and critically discuss the implications, principles and techniques of implant based reconstruction. 8. Critically discuss the indications for reconstructive surgery using flaps with implants. 9. Critically discuss the indications for and approaches to autologous reconstruction. 10. Critically discuss the principles of symmetrisation surgery. Debate the evidence base for newer techniques – Liposculpture/STRATTICE. 11. Critically analyse the main issues regarding consent, medicolegal issues and the role of medical illustrations in oncoplastic breast surgery. 12. Recognise and critically discuss the various complications and the principles underlying re-operative surgery. 13. Demonstrate competence in performing the RCS index operations for implant and pedicled flap surgery.
ONCOPLASTIC SURGERY - PART 2	MED-M65E	20
At the end of the module the student will be able to 1. Critically discuss the role of autologous tissue based breast reconstruction in particular compared to implant based breast reconstruction. 2. Apply detailed knowledge of the basic microsurgical techniques and harvesting techniques of the free flaps for breast reconstruction in relation to surgical timing and indication to evaluate and explain the role of Microsurgery in Breast Reconstruction 3. Critically discuss the anatomy and physiology of perforator flaps and apply their knowledge to preoperative planning and counselling of the patient candidates for breast reconstruction with free perforator flaps. 4. Critically discuss possible intra-operative and postoperative complications in microsurgical Breast Reconstruction and evaluate approaches to reducing the risk and treating these complications, showing evidence of knowledge of free flap salvage strategy.
RESEARCH, AUDIT AND SERVICE EVALUATION	MED-M66F	20
Learning Outcomes At the end of this module, the Master in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery candidate should be able to: 1. Understand service evaluation within the NHS its role and ethical issues that may be generated. 2. be able to design a service evaluation project 3. understand the audit cycle, the importance of audit in any organisation and the role of audit in the NHS 4. Be able to design an audit project including sample size, audit group selection, ethical issues. Being able to demonstrate the difference between audit, service evaluation and research. 5. Understand the time management problems encountered when undertaking research within the NHS 6. Understand the value of qualitative research, the common systems for analysis and how these might usefully be applied to research within the NHS 7. Be able to design a qualitative research study. Taking into account, time management issues, sample size and relationship between methodology and sample selection 8. Understand the value of quantitative research, the statistical approaches to analysis and how these might usefully be applied to research within the NHS 9. Understand the basic principles of questionnaire design and able to design a suitable questionnaire 10. Be able to design a quantitative research study taking into account the time management problems, sample size and relationship between methodology and sample selection 11. Understand the ethical issues in randomised controlled trials. 12. Be able to write any participant information sheet suitable to a group of patients 13. Understand proper costing within research 14. Understand the relevance and importance of research governance within the NHS 15. Understand the relevance and importance of research ethical approval within the NHS including the application process

This is the third academic year of the programme when you will complete Module MED-M68D before commencing your final 1 year registration to complete your Research Dissertation.

Compulsory Study (80 credits)

Students must study the following modules for 80 credits:

Name	Code	Credits
MANAGEMENT AND SERVICE DELIVERY	MED-M68D	20
At the end of this module, student should be able to: 1. Critically discuss the inter personal skills required to manage conflict resolution drawing on examples in their working environment 2. Critically discuss the skills of innovation in developing creative solutions to problems arising within a team 3. Evaluate the processes required to develop a team to achieve new goals. 4. Summarise and evaluate the principles of service re-design 5. Analyse examples of coaching skills used to develop a team member to introduce single steps of change in a service re-design programme 6. Develop a business case to support the introduction of new technology to enhance onco-plastic breast surgery within their local health economy 7. Evaluate the key challenges for their clinical team within the latest government policies and financial constraints. Lead the team in formulating appropriate strategies to maintain highest standards of service within these constraints.
RESEARCH DISSERTATION	MED-M60X	60
At the end of this module the student will have: (a) planned a research project (b) critically evaluated the literature relating to their chosen topic (c) demonstrated an understanding of the research methods appropriate to their topic (d) presented a clear summary of the findings of their research (e) critically analysed their findings and discussed the implications of their findings for theory and/or practice

Disclaimer

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules and regular (five-yearly) review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff or sabbatical leave. Where this is the case, the University will endeavour to inform students.

Entry Requirements

Degree Subject:: MBBS or overseas equivalent
Degree Classification:: Pass, merit or equivalent
Special Entry Requirements:: ST 5 or above, Associate Specialist (2 years in breast surgery), UK resident, GMC registered and MRCS or equivalent.

Students for whom English is a Foreign language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English or those whose degree was not taught in English. To ensure such students benefit fully from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. We also will require a certain standard to be achieved on the written element of the test. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

IELTS: 7.0 (minimum 7.0 in all component)
TOEFL: Internet-based score of 98 (minimum 22 in all components and 23 in speaking)
PTE: 70 (minimum 70 in all components)

All scores must be less than two years old.

Intakes

Intakes are every January. There is no September intake to this course.

The deadline for applications is 11 January 2013.

Fees and Funding

Fees for the entire three year course starting in the academic year 2012/13 will be:

UK/EU Students: £6,800
Overseas Students: £15,525

Please note, overseas students may only apply for a place on this course if they already resident in the UK. The University is unable to support study visa applications for part-time study.

Applications for Postgraduate Taught programmes at the University of East Anglia should be made directly to the University.

You can apply online, or by downloading the application form.

Further Information

To request further information & to be kept up to date with news & events please use our online enquiry form.

If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances prior to applying please do contact us:

Postgraduate Admissions Office
Tel: +44 (0)1603 591515
Email: admissions@uea.ac.uk

International candidates are also encouraged to access the International Students section of our website.