Operating Department Practice BSc (Hons)

Operations are complex and there’s a big demand for care experts at each stage of a patient’s perioperative journey.

Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) are a vital part of the perioperative process. Working as part of a team in this specialist and dynamic environment, it’s crucial they’re knowledgeable in surgical, anaesthetic and recovery procedures, anatomy and physiology, illness and disease, and overall patient care, as well as legal and ethical issues.

During this operating department practice degree, you’ll dissect areas like health, research, perioperative skills and procedures, and pharmacology. Learn how to treat and communicate with compassion, making patients of all ages feel at ease in the face of potentially life changing procedures.

During our operating department practice degree, you’ll get hands-on experience and a feel for the pace of life in a real operating department in a variety of settings. Depending on where you live, your clinical placement could be in the Merseyside, East Cheshire or Greater Manchester region.

You can choose to study this course at Edge Hill’s Ormskirk campus or St James’, our Manchester city centre location.

An approved degree

Following graduation, you’ll have the skills that enable you to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a qualified ODP.

Your future career

There’s a national shortage of ODPs, for the foreseeable future, therefore there’s a high demand for operating department practitioners within the UK. After graduation you’ll be well-placed to apply for a job within an operating department in NHS trusts, independent sector hospitals, private medical sales companies, organ transplant teams, or you could continue your research in academia.

Following registration as an Operating Department Practitioner, there’s a fantastic range of patient care roles that you could move into. ODPs are involved in many aspects of critical care, including resuscitation and ICU treatments. Depending on your specialism within the field, you could apply for rewarding roles such as:

• anaesthetic practitioner
• surgical practitioner
• surgical first assistant
• surgical care practitioner
• physicians associate
• non-medical anaesthetist

All NHS staff are encouraged to embrace ‘lifelong learning’, to develop their academic and clinical skills. Some graduates revisit or continue at Edge Hill to sharpen existing abilities and develop new ones.

Our Continued Professional Development courses range from stand-alone modules to Masters level courses.