PHR2012 · Professional practice 4

Overview

Upon completing this unit, you are expected to be able to describe new and extended roles for pharmacists within various healthcare environments. The unit introduces the fundamental principles of evidence-based practice, including the skills related to retrieving, appraising and applying research findings for informed clinical decisions. You will engage in learning how to interpret data from clinical trials and how clinical guidelines are developed. Additionally, the unit explores the contribution of observational studies to producing data that is both relevant to real-world scenarios and centered on patient needs. You will learn how an evidence-based practice approach, with careful evaluation of costs and outcomes, is being increasingly applied at a patient and health system level. The unit covers patient-centred and system-based approaches to the development and delivery of clinical services. The unit builds on content taught in Professional Practice 1, 2 and 3 so that you are able to formulate and communicate a disease management care plan through integration of evidence. The unit will cover safe and systematic procedures for the supply of medicines and provisional advice, including communication and other non-cognitive skills. The unit will include two 1-week placements.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook lists an examination for this unit.

In-semester assessment 100% This unit contains one or more competency hurdle assessment tasks that you must successfully complete to be able to pass the unit. You have one attempt, plus an additional assessment capped at 50% of the available marks for the task, to demonstrate your competency in the competency hurdle assessment task. If you fail to meet the hurdle requirement, you will receive a fail grade for the unit regardless of the total marks you achieve.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. Describe clinical services provided by pharmacists in a range of care settings, including those outside of hospital and community pharmacies.
2. With respect to evidence-based practice: (i) Describe, retrieve, appraise and apply evidence from primary, secondary and tertiary sources of literature to answer clinical questions relevant to pharmacy practice. (ii) Communicate evidence to patients and members of the multidisciplinary healthcare team in oral and written language appropriate for different clinical contexts.
3. In the context of a pharmacist and a systems-based approach to healthcare; (i) Explain the importance of medication safety for both individuals and organisations (ii) Describe strategies to identify, manage, report and prevent medication errors in healthcare settings (iii) Use appropriate methods to communicate medication safety messages to patients and members of the multidisciplinary healthcare team.
4. In the context of a pharmacist and a standardised approach to patient-centred care (e.g. Monash Model of CARE; (i) Demonstrate the process of taking a best possible medication history (ii) Describe and apply the processes of medication management review, medication regimen simplification, deprescribing, assessing capacity to self-manage medication regimens to individual patient care (iii) Create a medication management plan which incorporates established clinical guidelines, consideration of therapeutic goals, evidence of benefits, risks costs, and medical ethics and a comprehensive clinical review of medicine-related problems (iv) Identify, differentiate and resolve actual and potential medicine-related problems including adverse drug events, adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, overdose, sub-therapeutic dose, therapeutic duplication and contraindications (v) Demonstrate cultural sensitivity and professionalism (vi) Applying clinical reasoning and collaborative decision making to document and communicate a medication management plan
5. Reflect on identified strengths and weaknesses in communication and other non-cognitive skills via a Personalised Learning Plan to enhance professional skills required to practice as a pharmacist.
6. Develop and practice skills in a range of pharmacy settings by applying the knowledge and understanding learned from other units within the course.
7. Demonstrate safe and systematic procedures for the supply of medicines and professional advice.
8. Have an enhanced understanding of evidence-based approaches by critically evaluating costs and outcomes.

Workload

• One hundred and forty-four hours of independent study • Forty-eight hours of pre-learning activities (up to 4 hours per week) • Forty-eight hours of active learning sessions (4 hours a week) • Forty hours of small group classes including assessment (4 hours per week) • Three 1-hour skills coaching sessions • One 1-week placement

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.