Facilities within the School of Health Professions

State-of-the-art facilities

Within the School of Health Professions, we are committed to shaping our students into the best health professionals they can be. 

Our state-of-the-art facilities and equipment help students maximise their potential and develop their core skills, preparing them to embark on exciting and rewarding careers.

Clinical skill simulation

Simulated practice requires a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills to keep our patients and service users safe. When learning skills, students need an understanding of why, when and how each action is best carried out – this is where our clinical skills labs come in. They enable students to:

• Learn skills at their own pace without the pressure of getting it right first time
• Receive support from peers and lecturers
• Practice in a safe environment
• Develop professionalism ready to go out on placement.

Proposed facilities include:

• Biomechanics and neurophysiology labs
• Community home simulation suites
• Immersive simulation and control rooms
• Hospital simulation wards
• Optometry skills suites
• Paramedicine skills suites
• Physiotherapy skills labs
• Podiatry skills suites
• Social learning spaces
• And many more.
  

The PAHC is a purpose-built multi-million-pound building that is currently home to the School of Health Professions. It is the training centre for dietetics, occupational therapy, optometry, paramedicine, physiotherapy and podiatry students.

Based at our North Campus, the PAHC is in close proximity to Derriford Hospital – Plymouth’s main teaching hospital – and the Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry based at the John Bull Building. There are regular bus links between the city centre and PAHC, which are subsidised by the University.

As well as having two fully equipped lecture theatres, seminar rooms and computing facilities, you'll have access to modern, purpose-built specialist skills laboratories and excellent research facilities

These include:

• A dietetics food preparation kitchen
• A human movement and function laboratory
• Occupational therapy skills labs
• Optometry skills labs
• Paramedicine simulation suites
• Physiotherapy skills labs
• Podiatry skills labs.

Find out more about the PAHC

The CEE is our state-of-the-art teaching facility for optometry students. Situated near the main campus, it is a fully functioning clinic and offers students the opportunity to practice on real patients in their final year of study. It aims to provide eye care services to the Plymouth community and beyond.

Our clinic is separated into two sites; the second site is on the second floor of the Wellbeing Centre, which accommodates many of our specialist clinics. Both are within a five-minute walk of each other. Equipped with the latest instrumentation as well as optically trained and fully qualified staff, students have the opportunity to build upon the theory they have learnt in their first two years of study and gain experience in a range of specialist areas, including:

• Primary care
• Contact lenses
• Low vision
• Binocular vision and colourimetry
• Dispensing
• Emergency eye care
• Specialist stroke and glaucoma clinics
• And many more.