Ensuring Pharmacy Education Is Fit For Tomorrow's Pharmacist, UK

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 31 Jan 2010 - 0:00 PDT

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The future direction of pharmacy education will be the hot topic at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's annual education-themed conference on Wednesday March 24 at the University of Reading.

This popular conference is held in partnership with the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences and will explore some of the issues impacting on education as the profession undergoes significant change.

Discussions will look at how changing legislation and other initiatives, such as the advanced clinical role of pharmacists and new discoveries in the scientific world, will effect what students are taught. The conference also aims to see how to assess the competencies now required to produce successful pharmacists and will allow policymakers and academics to exchange ideas of best practice.

Conference Chair, Elizabeth Williamson, from the University of Reading said; "Pharmacy as a profession is changing, and our students have also changed. We need to reflect this in the content of our undergraduate degrees and the way we teach, in line with other healthcare professionals' education, and accommodate the different prior learning experiences of students.

"Newer subjects like personalised medicine and methods of teaching such as problem-based learning are being introduced and there is some debate as to whether older subjects such as pharmacognosy should still be taught, either as previously or with a different focus.

Conference speakers include those at the forefront of these national discussions who will be able to shed light on what is planned for the future of the profession and how it will affect the education of our students."

This conference will benefit anyone interested in how the pharmacy degree serves the needs of the profession. Such as academics, those involved with pre-registration training or the employment of recent graduates, and those working in the development of professional policy. The event will also include an optional pre-conference dinner, giving delegates the opportunity to network with their colleagues and peers in an informal setting.

Notes

1. Topics to be discussed during the conference will include;

- Developments within Medical Education England and their implications for pharmacy
- Requirements for assessing competence within the new integrated clinical degree
- The role of the General Pharmaceutical Council and what they mean for degree regulation
- The need to integrate science with practice and how this may be achieved

Source
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain

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