Program Overview

Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs), unique among undergraduate Allied Health Professions in the UK, receive specialised training for operating theatre roles. Throughout your training, you'll develop autonomy as a practitioner, collaborating with anaesthetists, surgeons, and other professionals to prepare and assist in surgical and anaesthetic procedures, thereby enhancing patient care experiences.

Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) play a crucial and unique role in patient care. They are responsible for a wide spectrum of tasks essential for the smooth running of perioperative environments. As an ODP you may prepare and maintain operating theatres, ensure the availability of equipment and drugs, manage patient safety and support patients' emotional and physical needs throughout their surgical journey, from pre-anaesthesia to post-anaesthetic care in recovery. Staying calm in pressured environments, ensuring safety and ensuring everyone has a voice to speak up when needed are all vital skills you’ll be developing on the course.

• Leads to eligibility to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for registration as an ODP (please see Accreditation section for more information).
• You will learn through simulated activities such as role play and clinical skills development. Facilities replicate those found in hospitals, including a mock operating theatre and scrub room, mock ward setting, high dependency bays, and utilising high-tech manikins which respond to the treatment provided4.
• Learn to collaborate and thrive as an ODP and within multidisciplinary teams to coordinate safe, evidenced-based care delivery.
• Practice placements sourced for you by the university, providing you with opportunities to develop clinical skills and become a safe, confident and competent practitioner2,5.
• Study one academic module at a time, with five weeks of learning followed by one week of assessment per module.
• All eligible students on this course can apply for a minimum payment from the government of £5,000 per year. You can apply for additional payments if you incur childcare costs

Why you should study this course

Careers in operating department practice enable you to develop a mix of technical, management and communication skills to support a diverse range of patients during their most vulnerable moments.

• The role of ODPs is dynamic and varied. Increasingly, ODPs are also adapting their knowledge and skills to work in non-traditional acute settings like emergency departments, intensive care, interventional radiology, cardiac catheterisation, MRI, CT scanning, and endoscopy units.
• Teaching and learning are supported by highly trained, clinically current and experienced staff, clinical partners, service users, fellow ODP students and those from other health courses across the school.
• We focus on your future employability, offering you insight into roles in areas such as surgical first assistance, critical care, leadership and management.