Unit Outline

Pharmacy Skills in Practice 3B focuses on the issues and concepts associated with professional pharmacy activities and clinical pharmacy practice. You will build on your knowledge of introductory material covered in Pharmacy Skills in Practice 3A to focus on the prescription of non-prescription products by pharmacists for a range of conditions managed by community pharmacists. Another major focus will be professional ethics and legislation related to pharmacy practice.

The overall objective of the unit is for you to develop a sound practical knowledge and understanding of pharmacy practice. As well as lectures, tutorials and practical sessions, this unit also features three weeks of placements in the health care environment (community pharmacy and hospital pharmacy). Particular emphasis is placed on the integration of knowledge gained from all units within the pharmacy course and application of that knowledge to solve practice-related problems.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Analyse situations and utilise decision making skills when assessing professional, legal and ethical aspects of pharmacy practice.
2	Identify and resolve drug related problems in the context of pharmacy practice.
3	Dispense and supply medicines, accurately and efficiently in accordance with legislative and accepted professional practice standards.
4	Demonstrate appropriate communication skills, incorporating patient-centred care principles, in the management of acute illness and chronic disease.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	CSA355 AND All Year 2 BPharm Units
Co-requisite	CSA306

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Significant changes have been made to this unit since its inception. From 2020 weekly modules on themes related to the practical cases have been introduced to focus on specific areas of management. In addition, in 2020 as a scaffolding activity to assist students prepare for fourth year we changed the oral exam to include a top 20 drugs. These drugs will be the focus of oral counselling in second semester.

How will I be Assessed?

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
ASSESSMENT TASK 1:	Placement Assessment	Week 9	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
ASSESSMENT TASK 2:	Practical Assessment	Week 9	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
ASSESSMENT TASK 3:	2 hour Practical Exam	Exam Period	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
ASSESSMENT TASK 4:	Oral exam	Exam Period	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Placement Assessment

TASK DESCRIPTION:

As part of your placements there will be two assessment items.
Written assessment: You will need to successfully complete the written assessment for your community and hospital placement. Successful completion means that each exercise is answered fully and accurately and demonstrates a sound knowledge of community, hospital and rural pharmacy practice.
Preceptor assessment: Your preceptors will assess your attitude, participation, willingness to learn, empathy, as well as personal attributes such as communication, timeliness, motivation and reliability during your placement. An average of your preceptor scores will form the basis of your mark for this assessment task.

TASK LENGTH:

2 x 500 word reflective learning pieces

DUE DATE:

Week 9

WEIGHT:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME


1	Your final mark will be an aggregate mean of your preceptor assessment and your written work. Further details and assessment criteria will be available on MyLO.	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment Task 2: Practical Assessment

TASK DESCRIPTION:

You will participate in weekly workshops sessions in CSA357.
Early in semester these sessions will not be assessable but will provide you the information and skills to be able to complete simulated dispensing of ‘real’ prescriptions. You will have four assessed workshops in week 9-12. Assessment is weighted 10% for oral counselling and 10% for written reports. A rubric
for your oral counselling and written reports will be provided before the assessable workshops commence.

TASK LENGTH:

DUE DATE:

Week 9

WEIGHT:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME


1	Further details and assessment criteria will be available on MyLO.	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment Task 3: 2 hour Practical Exam

TASK DESCRIPTION:

All examinations in Pharmaceutical Skills in Practice 3B will take place within the formal University examination periods at the end of first semester. You can find out the dates of these examination periods from the University website or from Student Services. As well as the ordinary examination period, it is
important that you note the timetable for Deferred and Supplementary Examinations. You should ensure that you are available should you be required to sit a Deferred or
Supplementary Examination.
It is important to realise that the School runs practical examinations in all of its Pharmacy Skills in Practice units. Practical examinations, including Deferred and Supplementary practical examinations, can only be
undertaken in Hobart.
This will be an open book exam. No LAP conditions will apply to this exam.

This task is a HURDLE task.

TASK LENGTH:

2 hours

DUE DATE:

Exam Period

WEIGHT:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME


1	Analyse situations and utilise decision making skills when assessing professional, legal and ethical aspects of pharmacy practice.	LO1
2	Identify and resolve drug related problems in the context of pharmacy practice.	LO2
3	Dispense medicines accurately and efficiently in accordance with legislative and accepted professional practice standards.	LO3
4	Demonstrate appropriate communication skills, incorporating patient-centred care principles, in the management of acute illness and chronic disease.	LO4

Assessment Task 4: Oral exam

TASK DESCRIPTION:

You will sit a 15 minute oral exam assessing your knowledge on OTC conditions and treatments and prescription medicines. More information regarding this exam will be provided during Semester 2. This task is a HURDLE task

TASK LENGTH:

15 minutes

DUE DATE:

Exam Period

WEIGHT:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME


1	Identify and resolve drug related problems in the context of pharmacy practice.	LO2
2	Dispense and supply medicines accurately and efficiently in accordance with legislative and accepted professional practice standards.	LO3
3	Demonstrate appropriate communication skills, incorporating patient-centred care principles, in the management of acute illness and chronic disease.	LO4
4	Analyse situations and utilise decision making skills when assessing professional, legal and ethical aspects of pharmacy practice.	LO1

How your final result is determined

To pass CSA357 you will need to have passed both the practical examination and oral examination, attend all workshops classes, and submit all assessment. The final mark for CSA357 is a composite of the marks for CSA355 and CSA357, based on a 1/3 weighting of CSA355 and 2/3 weighting of CSA357.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late Penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.