Undergraduate and preregistration education and training

Undergraduate and preregistration education and training

Since 1997, pharmacy has been a 4-year undergraduate course, leading to the MPharm degree. National initiatives to increase NHS staffing numbers have led to recognition of the need for greater numbers of pharmacists to undertake new roles and provide a greater range of pharmacy services. Most universities have increased their intake of students, and in recent years a number of new sites have become accredited. There are now a total of 25 Schools of Pharmacy across the UK. Two universities offer sandwich courses delivered over 5 years, incorporating the preregistration year.

To become a pharmacist in the UK, all graduates must complete a 1-year period of preregistration training under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. In addition, all trainees must pass a registration assessment. The General Pharmaceutical Council sets the standards for the training, and monitors the quality to ensure that it is acceptably high across all sites.

A full revision of the preregistration training programme was undertaken by the RPSGB in preparation for the intake of the first graduates from the new 4-year degree in August 2001. The aim of the new training programme was to develop pharmacists who had patients as their primary focus and who were fit for practice in any sector of the profession. Putting patients at the centre of care was a clear theme within Pharmacy in the Future, the document dealing with pharmacy’s part in delivering NHS change agenda in the late 1990s, so the change in focus was timely.¹² Cross-sector experience was introduced at this time, although logistically it has not been possible to implement this across all sectors. The work of the Modernising Pharmacy Careers Board looking at developments in undergraduate and preregistration education may suggest a new approach to this in the coming years.¹³ This will address a range of issues including the context for theoretical learning; late exposure to pharmacy practice; the large variation in quality of preregistration training and tutors; and a need for greater coooperation between higher education institutes and employers.

The current training programme comprises performance standards which state what a newly qualified pharmacist is expected to be able to do. These were devised in consultation with members of all sectors of the profession and describe generic skills required of all pharmacists. The examination syllabus was revised and updated at that time, and now has a strong emphasis on the ability of pharmacists to perform calculations.

The shift to a more outcome-focused programme enables preregistration trainees to assess themselves against the performance standards and so iden-tify what their learning needs are, hence reinforcing the culture of CPD that is being developed throughout the profession. In tandem with the trainee, pre-registration tutors also have to demonstrate a commitment to CPD and main-tain a portfolio in which they document how they have identified and met their learning needs.

The vast majority of hospital trainees undergo an in-house training programme that typically consists of a planned rotation through the main sections within the pharmacy department. This will often include periods in the dispensary, wards and clinical services, medicines information, techni-cal services and quality assurance. Depending on the size of the hospital and the scope of services offered, there may well be a period of training at a neighbouring hospital for specialist experience. Most in-house training programmes are supplemented by a programme of regionally taught courses, which may be delivered either as 1-day courses or as residential blocks.

Trainees undergo formal assessments with their tutor during the year, and the results of these are sent to the registration body. In addition, the registra-tion body requests copies of the in-house and taught course programmes, and may sample the tutor portfolios to enable closer monitoring of the quality of training.