Do you like the idea of working in a dramatic and exciting environment, where you'll be part of a dynamic team in an operating theatre? Then perioperative practice could be a great career option if you want to open up a whole host of opportunities for your future. Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) work alongside surgeons, anaesthetists and other medical staff to provide care for patients at all stages of the surgical process.

• You’ll have the opportunity to practise your skills in our simulated operating theatre, enabling you to experience the operating theatre environment.
• The course is regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) so you’ll benefit from experienced staff, specialist labs and great links to NHS Trusts and our partners in the private sector.
• Our clinical placements opportunities enable you to gain valuable hands-on experience in a number of perioperative environments.
• You’ll get the chance to work in the real world as part of interdisciplinary teams in a variety of care settings, so you’ll be able to see how ODPs contribute to all sorts of specialist areas.
• You’ll have the opportunity to hear the experiences and viewpoints from service users and carers, who are part of the Public Partnership Group.

On our Operating Department Practice course you’ll get a strong grounding in the theory exploring what’s involved in the three interconnected aspects of the role: anaesthetic, surgical and post anaesthetic. From the very beginning, you’ll be supported in your studies by academic staff and qualified practitioners who understand what it’s like to be an ODP. As the course progresses, you’ll move beyond the fundamentals to delve into the role research plays in perioperative practice and explore leadership and management strategies.

Placements

Clinical placements are a compulsory element of the course and these will be undertaken in a range of settings. This provides a number of opportunities for you to develop the required clinical skills and experience a variety of placements and the diversity of procedures in the perioperative environment. Your placements will be equivalent to 758.5 clinical hours in Year 1, 612 clinical hours in Year 2 and 814.5 hours in Year 3.

These placements which will be allocated by the University, will be undertaken in up to two or three different hospitals. As placements are undertaken in the hospitals listed below you must be prepared to travel to any or all of these.

• Airedale General Hospital
• Bradford Teaching Hospital
• Calderdale Royal Hospital
• Dewsbury and District Hospital
• Harrogate District Hospital
• Huddersfield Royal Infirmary
• Leeds Teaching Hospital including Leeds General Infirmary, St James’ University Hospital, Chapel Allerton Hospital and Wharfedale Hospital
• Pinderfields Hospital
• Pontefract Hospital

Placements are also undertaken in some private hospitals including BMI The Duchy Hospital Harrogate, Huddersfield BMI, Leeds Nuffield, Spire Elland and Spire Leeds, Spire Methley Park and the Yorkshire Clinic. For more information visit our placements page.

Your Career

Recent graduates from this course have become theatre practitioners in NHS hospitals.*

Other opportunities may include roles as perioperative practitioners, specialist practitioners, team leaders, managers, educators and academics both in clinical settings and universities, as well as working in other areas where critically ill patients are cared for. The course enables graduates to apply for Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration and then work as a perioperative practitioner.