Course features

At completion of the module students will be able to:

• Demonstrate proficiency in history taking, consultation, and physical assessment skills to establish appropriate differential diagnoses utilising clinical reasoning and a working diagnosis. Use this information to design a suitable treatment plan aligned with the student’s specific area of prescribing practice and in collaboration with patients, whilst acknowledging professional boundaries and seeking guidance or referring to other professionals when necessary.
• Critically assess prescribing practices to ensure they are legal, safe, appropriate, sustainable and cost-effective, while monitoring their impact on patient outcomes. Utilise decision support tools and emerging technologies that enhance independent prescribing practice, with an awareness of patient diversity, medication adherence and the contributions of the wider healthcare team.
• Critically appraise and apply contemporary clinical, pharmacological, considering pharmacogenomics, polypharmacy and de-prescribing and health policy evidence to formulate safe, rational, and cost-effective prescribing decisions.
• Design and justify clinical management plans (CMPs) for supplementary prescribing, ensuring alignment with multidisciplinary team (MDT) goals and patient-centred outcomes.
• Critically analyse the roles and responsibilities of diverse prescribers within the MDT, fostering effective collaboration to optimise patient safety and outcomes.
• Lead quality improvement initiatives through critical reflection, clinical audit, and peer mentorship to advance prescribing governance and reduce practice variation.
• Apply knowledge of disease pathophysiology along with pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics to practice and promote safe prescribing. Base prescribing decisions on evidence, incorporating guidelines, policies, and legislation, while addressing public health considerations relevant to prescribing.
• Reflect on ethical responsibilities in prescribing, recognising the influence of personal values and beliefs on practice. Support patient-centred decision-making by considering mental capacity, ensuring informed choices, whilst recognising and reporting unsafe practices to mitigate risks and safeguard patients.
• Understand legal and professional accountability frameworks, including clinical governance processes applicable to independent prescribing. Address issues such as the use of unlicensed and off label medicines, patient confidentiality, accurate record-keeping, and the ongoing importance of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). 

Hear from one of our former students

Entry requirements

This course is open to the following healthcare professionals who meet the academic and professional entry requirements:

• Nurses
• Midwives
• Physiotherapists
• Paramedics
• Chiropodists/Podiatrists
• Therapeutic Radiographers

Before applying to the course, please ensure that you read the application guidance document which provides information about the entry requirements and application process.

We recommend you follow these five steps:

1. Read the application guidance document.
2. Ensure you meet the entry requirements.
3. Obtain organisational approval, and get your application forms signed.
4. Apply in the King’s Application Portal, and ensure you upload all the required forms with your application:
   
          Statement of Commitment form
          (all applicants)
   
   

   Plus either:
   
   

          Practice Supervisor & Practice Assessor nomination form
          (Nurses and Midwives only)

   
   Or:

   
          Practice Educator nomination form
          (Allied Healthcare Professionals only)

5. Ensure the names on your application forms are the same as those registered with NMC/HCPC.

N.B. Applications will only be considered if the above required documents are attached to your application, are completed in full and submitted with the required ‘wet’ signatures.

Assessment

Students will complete the following assessments:

• Pharmacology and calculation examinations
• Clinical portfolio
• Poster presentation and viva (an oral assessment where examiners pose questions to the student to explore the content of the poster in more detail)

Teaching schedule

Attendance is compulsory (100%) at all online and campus-based lectures and seminars; therefore, it is expected that annual leave will not be taken on planned lecture/seminar days.

Attendance is monitored and absence from more than one session may entail withdrawal from the module. The dates are displayed in the teaching schedule section below, please check the dates before applying. 

Term 2 occurrence (January to July 2026):

Teaching Dates:

• Monday 26/01/2026
• Monday 02/02/2026
• Monday 09/02/2026
• Tuesday 17/02/2026
• Tuesday 24/02/2026
• Tuesday 03/03/2026
• Tuesday 10/03/2026
• Tuesday 17/03/2026
• Tuesday 24/03/2026
• Tuesday 31/03/2026

The 15 self-directed days can be undertaken anytime between 06/04/26 – 28/06/26

Assessment dates:

• Wednesday 06/05/2026 – On campus Pharmacology and Calculation examinations
• Tuesday 07/07/26 – Clinical portfolio and Poster Presentation submission deadline
• Friday 10/07/26 – On campus summative assessment: viva poster presentation

Term 3 occurrence (April to October 2026):

Teaching Dates:

• Tuesday 21/04/2026 
• Tuesday 28/04/2026 
• Tuesday 05/05/2026 
• Tuesday 12/05/2026 
• Tuesday 19/05/2026 
• Tuesday 26/05/2026 
• Tuesday 02/06/2026 
• Tuesday 09/06/2026 
• Tuesday 16/06/2026 
• Tuesday 23/06/2026 

The 15 self-directed days can be undertaken anytime between 30/06/26 - 12/10/26

Assessment dates:

• Wednesday 12/08/2026 - On campus Pharmacology and Calculation examinations
• Tuesday 06/10/26 - Clinical portfolio and Poster Presentation submission deadline
• Friday 09/10/26 - On campus summative assessment: viva poster presentation

Further information

Key syllabus topics include:

• Consultation, history taking, clinical reasoning and differential diagnosis
• Evidence-based practice and clinical decision making
• Achieving adherence
• Polypharmacy and de-prescribing
• Professional  accountability
• Ethics in practice and multidisciplinary team working
• Legal aspects of prescribing and prescription writing
• Supplementary prescribing and clinical management plans
• Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics
• Clinical Governance
• Influences on prescribing
• Public health
• Sustainability
• Artificial Intelligence
• Calculations and numeracy