OU course in diabetes care

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Robster65

Robster65

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Been flicking through the OU courses and noticed the following...

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/sk120.htm

If anyone's interested in the above, there should be financial assistance available from OU.

Might be hard to distance the course content from personal experience but would be interesting.

Rob
 
Robster65 said:
Been flicking through the OU courses and noticed the following...

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/sk120.htm

If anyone's interested in the above, there should be financial assistance available from OU.

Might be hard to distance the course content from personal experience but would be interesting.

Rob
Click to expand...
Oh, I'm very interested! It's shame that the next course is one year away... I think some of us have already finished the course. Any feedback??🙂
 
HI Kay.

There's a lot of reviews on the OU site, all but one of which are very positive. The only negative was from a nurse who took it and found it too basic.

Not sure if I would want to do it or not. Lots of other courses which take my fancy but don't want to commit the time at the mo.

Rob
 
Robster65 said:
HI Kay.

There's a lot of reviews on the OU site, all but one of which are very positive. The only negative was from a nurse who took it and found it too basic.

Not sure if I would want to do it or not. Lots of other courses which take my fancy but don't want to commit the time at the mo.

Rob
Click to expand...

I did this course a couple of years ago, shortly after my diagnosis, I found it to be very good and learned a lot from it, so I would certainly recommend it - although it's not cheap if you just want to learn about diabetes. Useful if you are pursuing an OU degree though and want to add to your qualifications.🙂
 
Ive always wondered about this on and off, as the comments were pretty positive if I remember...

What does it cost?
 
Robster65 said:
The only negative was from a nurse who took it and found it too basic.
Click to expand...
Hi Rob
If she (he?) is already working as a nurse, I'd like her to have known everything on the course and think it's too basic!!:D

I've done accounting with OU a few years back. They are a good, well-organized organization and I have a faith in them!

Kay🙂
 
Sugarbum said:
Ive always wondered about this on and off, as the comments were pretty positive if I remember...

What does it cost?
Click to expand...

It's something like ?250. I've been doing OU courses since 1984 and their teaching materials are second to none. The only downside for me with this one was that the tutorials were held in Oxford on Saturday mornings so I was unable to make any of them. (Tutorials will be held in your region, but that doesn't necessarily mean close to where you live! Depends on numbers of students and availability of tutors).

I was pretty new to diabetes at the time so most of the material was new to me, but people who have been diagnosed for a while may already know a lot of the science stuff. A lot of the course is concerned with, as the title suggests, diabetes care - the kind of care available, the people involved in that care and their roles, NICE guidelines, the National Service Framework for diabetes etc. Going from memory (Shiv now has my course materials!) there was a computer marked assignment, another that involved a bit of research and interpretation of data, and a final project.
 
Thats not bad is it? Id definately pay that. Im looking at doing a diabetes course for work at the moment which they arent keen to fund which is costing ?1,700! And its distance learning so only 5 study days over 6 months with a 30 points post reg accreditation.

I think Id rather pay for the OU course and work can jog on....😉 It can just be for my own knowledge/enjoyment
 
I'm doing a level 2 Environment course at the mo. Last TMA due next week and exam in October.
Did level 2 Psychology last year and level 1 Social Science before that.

Their financial assistance is generous and I think now covers 10 and 15 pointers, which it never used to.

I'm torn between another next year and havign the freedom from it for a while. I suspected it might be a bit more basic than it sounds. I'll stick with asking questions on here ! :D

Rob
 
Northerner said:
I did this course a couple of years ago, shortly after my diagnosis, I found it to be very good and learned a lot from it, so I would certainly recommend it - although it's not cheap if you just want to learn about diabetes. Useful if you are pursuing an OU degree though and want to add to your qualifications.🙂
Click to expand...


do you pick any courses to get a degree? how does it work? Sounds quite fun to me :D
 
katie said:
do you pick any courses to get a degree? how does it work? Sounds quite fun to me :D
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Depends what you want to do with it. You can pick courses that lead to a career-style degree and specific qualification, or just pick what you fancy and get a BA at the end of it (even with science courses included). That's what I've been doing - have done Arts, Maths and Science foundation, Astronomy and planetary science, Ancient Greek, 5th Century Athens, History of Mathematics, Rise of Scientific Europe, Study of Fossils and Diabetes Care. Plus, probably some others I've forgotten about! 🙂
 
My mum did her degree with Japanese equivalent to OU. She was in her 60s and I'm very proud of her! I'm all for the adult education.:D
 
That's an awesome list Northerner ! 🙂

I'm dead jealous now. I really, really want to do philosophy but it involves a lot of reading and lots more pondering, and I want to get out and about more next year.

If you find a course that grabs you Katie, do it. If you're on low income (actually, not that low) you can get a grant too. I think it may be ?1000 now but I've not properly checked on that.

The Rise of Scientific Europe is another I looked at last year but I wanted to do something more wishy-washy and wordy so I did this one. 🙄

Rob
 
I think the OU is as good if not better than the courses I did at Sheffield Uni (Russian Lang and Lit, French, Philosophy, plus various other minor courses). I've been on two summer schools too, one in Manchester (arts) and one in Brighton (Science). Met some great people too!

I'm always surprised it hardly ever gets mentioned as an option when they are saying how so many young people can't get into bricks and mortar unis.
 
The only trouble with OU for school leavers is you don't get to spend all day with a bunch of smelly teenagers and evenings in the pub to discuss what you should have been doing all day.
I'm only guessing, since I never went to uni. :D

I'm targeting only stuff I have an interest in since I'm inherently lazy and tend to get a bit behind with reading and note taking. I have about 4 days to complete a 2000 word essay on public/political response to environmental disasters and so far I have abot 2400 words and none of it answers the question. I may be busy tomorrow. :confused:

I was just browsing the courses and I've seen at least a dozen I'd love to do. Art history is one but languages are beyond me. They do a level 1 Welsh language now. Too much memory work.

Rob
 
A taster of the OU diabetes courseis availalble free here:
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/category.php?id=10

I have a first degree and a postgrad diploma from the OU. I really would like to do an MSc but they double the charge if you are outside the UK and theres no way I can afford it ( I think its very unfair since I pay UK tax😡)
 
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The OU language courses have a reputation for being really tough (unless it's a 'dead' language like Ancient Greek!). I always get behind with stuff, no matter how good my intentions at the start! Good luck with your TMA! 🙂
 
Thanks. I'll try to stay away until it's almost done. 🙂

Rob
 
I am not sure I am brave enough for the diabetes course a the moment but I can heartily recommend the OU for those who want to study for a qualification or just for fun. They are really good for people who want to learn but can only fit in a few hours here and there, who can't attend a regular college or uni due to health, family or work commitments and they are a darn sight cheaper:D

I did a range of IT related courses a few years back. I have never had so much fun and would have gone beyond the level 2 ones I did except that I couldn't face the exams. I had other issues at the time so abandoned my plan to got to degree level but I do miss the fun and I am always on the look out for a new distraction.

Maybe we can use this thread to exchange experiences of course we have done! All courses are sugar and carb free, naturally😉
 
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