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Specialist Mental Health Pharmacist Training Pathway

Attendance mode
Part-time

Start date(s)
March

Duration
12 months

Location
Distance learning

UK students can apply

Entry requirements

To be eligible for this programme, you must: 

  • be an experienced pharmacist registered with the GPhC 
  • be working within a Community/Primary Care Mental Health Team (CMHT) 
  • be working with patients with severe mental illness (SMI) 
  • be employed within the NHS, or through an NHS commissioned mental health service 
  • have a written declaration of support from your line manager 
  • have agreed ongoing work-based educational supervision/clinical supervision from a mental health specialist employed by a mental health provider organisation 
  • complete the programme application form 
  • agree to undertake a gateway training needs analysis (TNA), facilitated by the education provider, at the beginning of the programme 

Learning and assessment

This is a part-time distance learning pathway and you will be provided with distance learning material on the University's virtual learning environment (VLE). Team-based learning will be employed as an active and collaborative teaching approach. You will be given four hours of learning material (pre-learning) at the beginning of each unit. You will then undertake a ‘readiness assurance process’ (RAP) individually and in teams to ensure you have the required underlying knowledge for the unit. You will then complete team ‘application exercises’ (AEs) to apply your knowledge to authentic cases.  

The application exercise sessions will all be online, and you can decide whether to complete them ‘synchronously’ (in a live online session), or ‘asynchronously’ over the period of five days using discussion boards, Microsoft Teams, or other suitable methods of communication.  

Finally, the unit will be summarised in the last week of the unit with a 1-hour webinar/question and answer session.  

The assessment will include the completion of an electronic portfolio. This will be structured to enable you to include evidence to demonstrate competencies against the Framework of core mental health competencies for all pharmacy professionals.

You will be required to include:

  • A learning needs assessment
  • One pharmaceutical care plan
  • A Quality Improvement Project (QIP). This is a project or audit that shows baseline measurement, improvement, and then further measurement repeatedly over the duration of the pathway. This will run for at least two improvement cycles. You will describe and evaluate the variation in data over time with support from the University programme team, educational supervisor and learning in Units 3 and 10
  • An educational assignment –  this could be in the form of a reflection of an educational experience to patients, carers or members of the Multi-Disciplinary Meeting (MDT) team
  • Work-based assessments such as mini-CEX (Clinical Evaluation Exercises) and case-based discussions (CBD).  We will provide you with a library of validated formative assessment tools similar to those outlined in the Advanced Practice-Mental Health Framework and the RPS Advanced Pharmacist Curriculum to facilitate this.

For further information please contact the pathway team at mhpharmacist@bradford.ac.uk

Study support

You will be supported throughout your studies by an educational supervisor, personal academic tutor (PAT), university materials and resources, pathway, and administrative staff.

Research

Over 80% of outputs in Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy, Chemistry and Engineering are rated as Internationally Excellent or World Leading (REF 2021).

Staff teaching on the programme are active members of the School’s Medicines Optimisation Research Group.

This is the current course information. Modules and course details may change, subject to the University's programme approval, monitoring and review procedures. The University reserves the right to alter or withdraw courses, services and facilities as described on our website without notice and to amend Ordinances, Regulations, fees and charges at any time. Students should enquire as to the up-to-date position when applying for their course of study.