Remote Consultation Certificate of Credit

Course highlights

• 10-week online course covering remote consultation skills and clinical history taking
• A systems-based approach to assessing health conditions remotely
• Practical and relevant – apply learning directly to your clinical environment
• Taught by clinical experts and experienced academics with backgrounds in urgent and integrated care

The Certificate of Credit in Remote Consultation is a 10-week, level 7 (postgraduate level) short course designed for healthcare practitioners who want to strengthen their ability to take comprehensive clinical histories and make safe, evidence-based decisions in remote or telephone-based settings.

This 20-credit course is drawn from the Applied Clinical Decision-Making module within our Postgraduate Certificate in Advancing Integrated Urgent Care Practice. You’ll learn how to gather and interpret clinical information remotely, apply a systems-based approach to assessment and diagnosis, and manage care effectively across a range of clinical conditions.

The course builds the core consultation and history-taking skills required to deliver person-centred care, recognise red flags, and support timely referrals — essential capabilities for today’s digitally enabled healthcare environment.

Advance Your Remote Consultation and History-Taking Practice

As healthcare delivery increasingly shifts to digital and hybrid models, strong history-taking and clinical reasoning skills are vital to ensure safe, high-quality care.

This course equips you with the practical tools and academic understanding to excel in remote clinical environments — and prepares you for progression into advanced or specialist practice.

You’ll explore a systems-based approach to assessment, diagnosis, and management — enhancing your confidence and competence to deliver high-quality, person-centred care across a range of clinical conditions.

As digital healthcare delivery continues to expand, this course will equip you with the critical knowledge, skills, and confidence to provide safe, effective, and compassionate care from a distance.

Who This Course Is For

This course is ideal for registered healthcare professionals working across urgent, primary, and community care settings, including:

• Nurses, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, and Community Practitioners
• Paramedics and Emergency Care Practitioners
• Pharmacists or Allied Health Professionals
• General Practice or Occupational Health practitioners,

It’s especially suited to those working towards specialist or advanced practice roles or seeking to enhance their confidence in clinical reasoning and decision-making in remote or hybrid models of care.

You will study one core 20 credit module called Applied Clinical Decision-Making which covers Consultation, Evidence and Clinical Reasoning, Assessment and Diagnosis, Symptom Management and care across the lifespan.

Unit topics consist of:

• Remote consultation fundamentals
• Mental Health
• Cardiovascular System
• Respiratory System
• Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat (EENT) conditions
• End-of-Life Care and Palliative Care
• Paediatrics
• Neurological Conditions
• Abdominal Presentations
• Long-term Conditions (Hepatic and Diabetes, Renal, Chronic Pain, Heart Failure)

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

You will learn through engagement with online materials and group webinars.

Teaching and Learning

The module materials encourage you to work at your own pace and prioritise topics of most pertinence to your role and practice setting.

Pace of study

The academic year is made up of three 10-week terms, known as trimesters. This course is studied over one trimester, and we recommend around 20 hours of study per week.

The course offers a structured yet flexible approach to enable you to focus on your individual development needs while aligning with the evolving demands of modern healthcare.

Assessment method

You will be assessed through these two pieces of work:

• A practical assessment in the form of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) of a simulated remote consultation
• A written critical analysis of case-based discussions from practice focusing on person-centred, evidence-based clinical decision-making

Student support and guidance

Whilst we encourage our students to become independent, life-long learners, we also recognise that offering the right support and guidance will help you to achieve your goals. There is a wealth of support available to you at the University, from your dedicated Personal Tutor and Online Learner Advisor, through to our:

• Library
• Health and Wellbeing Centre
• Careers and Employability Service
• IT Support
• Union of Students
• Develop@Derby for study, personal and employability skills

All these services, and more, are available to you as an online student at the University of Derby.

This course will enhance your professional skill set in remote consultation, clinical assessment, and decision-making, helping you respond to the growing demand for healthcare professionals who can deliver care safely and effectively at a distance.

The skills and knowledge gained are relevant across a wide range of healthcare settings, including primary care, urgent and emergency care, community and out-of-hours services, and telehealth or digital health roles.

By completing this course, you will be well-positioned to:

• Take on or expand roles that involve virtual, telephone, or video-based patient consultations
• Strengthen your portfolio for advanced or specialist practice positions
• Contribute to service transformation and digital health initiatives within your organisation
• Enhance your professional profile with evidence-based, postgraduate-level study

This Certificate of Credit also provides a stepping stone to further postgraduate study.

The Applied clinical decision-making module is part of the Postgraduate Certificate in Advancing Integrated Urgent Care Practice and academic counselling can be provided if you wish to explore continuing your studies onto that programme.

This separate Certificate of Credit can be used as part of your continuing professional development.

Utilise our Careers and Employment Service​

Whilst you are a student at the University of Derby, and for three years after you graduate, our Careers and Employment Service can assist you with job search advice, CV creation, workshops and events, as well as one-to-one appointments with employment advisers to help with career planning and interview preparation.

Academic pre-requisites

Applicants should normally have a first degree.

If you do not hold a first degree, you must have successfully undertaken a minimum of one level 6 (undergraduate) or level 7 (postgraduate) module within the past 5 years.

Professional pre-requisites

In addition to the academic requirements, you will need to be a qualified health professional with active registration as either a pharmacist (on the General Pharmaceutical Council register), Nurse or Midwife (on the Nursing and Midwifery Register), or a professional on the Health and Care Professions Register).

English language qualifications

If English is not your first language, or you have not successfully completed your highest level of qualification in English, you will need an English language qualification. For this course, you will require an overall IELTS score of 6.5, with a minimum 6.0 in each skills area.

^‡2025/26 for new entrants

Starting between September 2025 and August 2026.

About your fees

Prices are correct for the year of entry shown. These are subject to annual increase in subsequent academic years.

Flexible payment plan available

• Pay monthly for the course that you are studying

Contact us

Contact the University of Derby Online Learning: