This programme has been designed in collaboration with employers, students and service users. Pharmacists from all sectors of practice - Primary Care, Secondary Care and Community Pharmacy will have the opportunity to learn together to develop their clinical, communication and collaboration skills.
Learning and assessment
The programme uses an evidence-based blended approach to learning and students are treated as adult learners. The learning and teaching strategy includes regular (monthly) taught study days (attendance is compulsory). These will include assessed pre-study day tasks, keynote lectures, case-based problems, role play and collaborative learning. To support this learning there will also be webinars and online learning packages. The programme aims to make use of students’ own experiences, allow choice in learning and assessment, provide continual formative feedback and encourage students to move to increasingly advanced stages of personal development.
Much of the learning time will be dedicated to directed study, most of which will be work-based learning where students have the opportunity to practice and develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary to become a proficient foundation pharmacist. Work-based learning includes formative and summative assessment, reflection on learning experiences and tutorials. Students will receive regular feedback on work-based tasks, using validated assessment tools such as mini-clinical evaluation exercises (mini-CEX), case-based discussions (CBD) and direct observation of patient consultations (DOPC). They will meet regularly with their personal academic tutor and/or practice tutor to map their progress against the relevant competency framework, identify their learning needs and set objectives for the following month.
In years 2 and 3 of the programme there is also optionality for students, allowing them to choose modules which reflect their learning needs and learning style. There will be many opportunities within these options for students to participate in interprofessional learning with other healthcare professionals.
There are a variety of formative and summative assessments across the course, including eportfolio, presentations, written assignments and OSCES. We also use an innovative teaching style called team-based learning (TBL) which helps to develop teamworking skills via active learning.