Perioperative Medicine in Action

Week 1: The surgical epidemic Week 2: Risk assessment and shared decision-making? Week 3: Protocols in surgical care Week 4: An age old problem Most FutureLearn courses run multiple times. Every run of a course has a set start date but you can join it and work through it after it starts. Find out more This RCoA endorsed course is aimed at all interested healthcare professionals, both medical and allied health professionals. This would include anaesthetists, surgeons, care-of-the-elderly physicians, pre-assessment nurses, surgical ward nurses, operating department staff, physiotherapists and medical managers, emphasising that enhanced care and improved outcomes depend on a multidisciplinary approach. Healthcare professionals might find the the Certificate of Achievement for this course useful for providing evidence of Continuing Professional Development (CPD), or commitment to their career. Although some of the statistics and guidelines are UK specific, the key concepts and learning aims are relevant at an international level. This run of the course will include Spanish translation of course materials / el curso ofrecerá traducción al español. You can use the hashtag #FLPeriopMed to talk about this course on social media.

Topics Covered

• Defining the high-risk surgical patient and the need to change the way we care for them
• An introduction to perioperative medicine and the Royal College of Anaesthetists vision for improved perioperative care
• New perioperative care pathways
• The role of risk assessment and risk assessment tools including cardiopulmonary exercise testing and risk scoring systems
• Shared decision-making: what it is, why it is so important and how to achieve it.
• The principles of enhanced recovery
• How healthcare professionals and patients can engage with protocols
• Protocols in the care of the emergency surgical patient
• The unique perioperative problems of the elderly
• How to improve perioperative care for the elderly
• The current economic climate and how perioperative medicine is the value proposition