JUNE,Edition # 27, 2001

The on-the-job training we receive as we join the pharmacy profession has evolved greatly over the years from the apprenticeship system, to a the full degree course plus the registration year.
Several issues ago I gave you an insight into the new degree program, but what does the Pre-Registration training program consist of in 2001?
An explanation follows of the Queensland setup, for those of you not involved in some way with one of this year's programs.
The 2001 Queensland PSA course is entirely competency based, and requires graduates to prove themselves as skilled pharmacists in a wide range of areas, based on the national competency standards for entry-level pharmacists.
This means that rather than the assignment based nature of past courses, the new course consists of constant documentation of your activities to record interventions and other activities which show how you meet the competency standards.
There are a series of tutorials throughout the year which offer the chance for more in depth analysis of certain issues.
The first was designed for each graduate, to present a talk on the treatment of a given condition, as if their tutorial group (usually 3 to 4 other graduates) was a relevant community based support group.
The second will consist of a discussion of the ethical issues involved in an rather involved case study.
There was an assignment designed to test basic knowledge of drugs and disease, and to test understanding of the legal and professional requirements of pharmacists. Questions ranged from simply knowing a drug with a name that is spelt like Caltrate, up to a more complex question regarding the disposal of unused medications.
Graduates are required to complete two medication reviews (not quite as complex as those done by accredited consultant pharmacists) and two ethical reports, one based on the tutorial above, and another based on your own experience in the workplace.
Graduates are expected to use pro-forma sheets to record prescription interventions (and hospital inpatient interventions if necessary), and primary health care interventions involving lifestyle or non-prescription medications.
A total of 30 of each is expected throughout the year.
The weekly diary records your activities and the relevant competency standards they meet, in order to prove your effectiveness as a pharmacist.
At the end of the year, graduates are assessed to see that they meet the competency standards, and if so they pass the PSA course.
Passing the PSA course will be a requirement for registration with the Pharmacy Board of Queensland (this restriction was not catered for in the old Queensland Pharmacy Act). The Pharmacy Board also retains the right to examine candidates in any way it chooses, but we are yet to see what form this will take.
In line with the PSA course, an oral assessment designed at confirming one's competency as a pharmacist, rather than a test of one's ability to remember otherwise easily accessible information, seems likely.
Ends

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