Suchergebnisse

Three Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Ireland are accredited to provide education and training, successful completion of which, entitles one to register as a pharmacist with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI). Legislation (2014) mandated that these HEIs replace their existing structure (four-year degree followed by a one-year internship), with a five-year 'integrated Master's programme'. Integration includes 'in-service practical training' (placement) at the beginning of Year 4 (four months), and the end of Year 5 (eight months). Year 4 placements do not have to be 'patient-facing'. Students receive a Bachelor's degree at the end of Year 4. The Affiliation for Pharmacy Practice Experiential Learning (APPEL), established by the HEIs, manages student placements, training establishments, preceptor training, the preceptors' competency assessment process, and the virtual learning environment (VLE) that enables delivery of co-developed online modules aligned with placements in Years 4 and 5. This case report aims to describe the process by which this integration has taken place across and within these HEIs and the challenges faced by educators, students, preceptors, and other stakeholders along the way.

This paper describes the design and implementation of elements of an integrated competency-focused pharmacy programme in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SoPPS), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Ireland. Following a national review of pharmacy education and training in Ireland in 2010, and subsequent publication of legislation in 2014, the School has implemented a five-year integrated programme of pharmacy education and training, leading to the award of a Master's degree in Pharmacy (M. Pharm.). Curricular integration has been achieved by underpinning the new programme with a national competency framework for pharmacists and through the utilisation of curricular integration themes. Programme integration also encompasses embedded experiential learning placements in Years 2, 4 and 5 of the five-year programme. The new five-year integrated pharmacy programme, which commenced in 2015, replaced the 4 + 1 model of education and training where a four-year Bachelor's degree was followed by a one-year internship, which was a distinct and separate element of the students' training.