Overview
Are you a hospital, mental health or community trust pharmacist?
Do you work for a CCG or a GP surgery? This programme has been developed by
adapting our regular and well-established prescribing programme and adding a
specially designed clinical health and assessment diagnostics module. It is a
part-time, blended learning programme which enables pharmacists to qualify as
independent prescribers. You develop the knowledge and skills to practise
as prescribers with an additional emphasis on clinical skills. On qualification
you will meet the RPS Competency Framework for All Prescribers.
Which programme is right for me?
This information is for the CLINICALLY ENHANCED PROGRAMME for
hospital, mental health and community trust pharmacists, and for CCG and GP surgery
pharmacists. If you are a community pharmacist or a nurse, midwife,
physiotherapist, podiatrist, paramedic, radiographer or dietitian please go to our page on
the Standard Independent / Supplementary Prescribing Programme. Please note
that GP Pharmacists may apply for either programme on a self-funded basis.
Entry points and application deadlines
The Clinically Enhanced Pharmacist Independent Prescribing
programme runs over a standard eight months. If you work part-time we can run the
programme over an extended period of time. Details can be provided by the administration team.
All application forms are to be emailed to pgtpharmadmin@kent.ac.uk
Please do not post application forms as we are currently operating a virtual campus.
Remaining entry for this academic year (2019/2020)
- April 2020 start date - deadline 31 January 2020.
Entry points for next academic year (2020/2021)
- September 2020 start date - deadline 19 June 2020
- April 2021 start date - deadline 22 January 2021
Teaching
The Prescribing Programme is delivered by distance learning with a total of nine study days at the University, 12 days clinical practice (overseen by a designated medical practitioner) and 20 hours of clinical skills practice (overseen by a clinical supervisor). For more information, download our guide on The Role of the Clinical Supervisor (PDF 200KB).
About Medway School of Pharmacy
Medway School of Pharmacy is one of the few regional schools of pharmacy in the UK, a collaboration between the University of Kent and the University of Greenwich.
The impetus for the formation of the Medway School of Pharmacy came from the local community, who recognised the shortage of qualified pharmacists in all branches of the pharmacy profession in Kent.
The School is now recognised as an established school with accreditation from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Graduates are employed in health disciplines in Kent and the south-east and more broadly across the UK.
National ratings
In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, research by the School of Pharmacy was ranked 8th in the UK for research intensity.
An impressive 100% of our research-active staff submitted to the REF and 93% of our research was judged to be of international quality, with 81% of this judged world-leading or internationally excellent. The School’s environment was judged to be conducive to supporting the development of world-leading research.
Course structure
Take the Clinically Enhanced Pharmacist Independent Prescribing programme as a standalone qualification; OR continue on to Medicines Optimisation. The prescribing programme can be used as either the first or second year of the Medicines Optimisation qualification.
On successful completion, the School notifies the appropriate professional / regulatory body that you have qualified as an independent / supplementary prescriber.
The dates for the cohorts that are coming up are as follows:
Cohort 51 (April 2021)
- Tuesday 27 April 2021
- Wednesday 28 April 2021
- Thursday 29 April 2021
- Tuesday 22 June 2021
- Wednesday 23 June 2021
- Tuesday 14 September 2021
- Wednesday 15 September 2021
- Thursday 16 September 2021
- Wednesday 20 October 2021
- PAPPs: 17,18, 23, 24, 25 November 2021
- OSCE day: 16 November 2021
- PAPP resit opportunities: 19, 20 January 2022
You will need to attend all of the study days and you will be allocated a PAPP date.
Modules
The programme consists of two compulsory modules at level 7
- Independent Prescribing in Practice (40 credit)
- Clinical Health Assessment and Diagnosis (20 credit)
No modules information available for this delivery.
Teaching and Assessment
Module 1
- Legislative Essay: written assignment reviewing recent legislative changes in relation to prescribing and give an account of the impact on their practice with a particular focus on accountability and responsibility as it applies to your scope of practice.
- Pharmacology Essay: an essay demonstrating pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic knowledge applied to the student’s own area of practice.
- Evidence-based Assignment: written assignment analysing the primary evidence as it applies to a specific patient within your scope of practice.
- Practical Assessment of Prescribing Practice (PAPPs): a high-fidelity clinical situation tailored to your individual scope of practice.
- Portfolio of Evidence: completed guide to the placement, a log of hours, reflection on progress. Portfolio entries are mapped to professional competencies and standards as required by the GPhC.
Module 2
- OSCE: students will take six OSCE stations.
Programme aims
This programme aims to:
- prepare pharmacists to practice as supplementary prescribers
- prepare nurses and midwives to practice as supplementary/independent prescribers
- develop the knowledge and skills required by an allied health professional to practice as a supplementary prescriber
- meet the standards set by the respective professional or regulatory body as required within the legislative framework.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
You will gain knowledge and understanding of:
- the legal and professional framework for non-medical prescribing
- local health service provision and systems
- national and local frameworks for medicines use
- national and local budgetary constraints on prescribing
- models of consultation
- principles of diagnosis
- applied advanced physiology
- pathophysiology, natural history and progression of defined conditions
- changes to pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in certain patient groups
- principles of monitoring.
Intellectual skills
You develop intellectual skills in:
- reviewing and critically evaluating best available evidence relevant to a specified area of prescribing practice, synthesising information from key sources and databases
- integrating previous learning with professional skills and expertise to synthesise innovative approaches to implementing extended independent/supplementary prescribing in practice
- further developing the skills to review and critically analyse your own learning and apply this to enhance your role as a non-medical prescriber
- making sound judgements about prescribing issues in the absence of complete data and communicating conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Subject-specific skills
You gain subject-specific skills in:
- consultation and medical history taking
- physical examination of patients to aid diagnosis and monitoring
- interpretation of medical documentation with an understanding of risks and benefits of incomplete data
- monitoring patient response against objectives set within clinical management plans
- recording prescribing actions and outcomes and the evidence base behind them contemporaneously in patient records.
Transferable skills
You will gain the following transferable skills:
- critical self-reflection and the ability to enhance professional competence on the basis of feedback from self and others
- communicating with clarity in both the academic and professional setting to a range of audiences and using a variety of approaches
- effectively managing and presenting complex information using a comprehensive range of learning resources
- autonomous learning and accessing professional resources including others as appropriate.
Study support
Postgraduate resources
Postgraduate students have access to all the facilities at the Medway School of Pharmacy, including clinical skills labs and a ‘simulation man’. As the School of Pharmacy is a joint venture between the two universities, students have access to facilities at Kent’s Medway and Canterbury campuses, and the University of Greenwich.
Distance Learning
While on a distance learning programme you need to be able to organise your time carefully and negotiate with your workplace on how this programme will work for you and your employer. We will provide you with a comprehensive list of dates for submission to help you plan your placement time and to help you negotiate study leave so you can complete your assignments and portfolio.
You will already possess most, if not all, of the required skills such as navigating around a webpage or attaching a file and uploading this to a website or email. The academic skills required will depend on your level of study and how recently you last studied. The universities have good resources that you can access to help you rediscover or reinvigorate these skills as needed.
Getting to grips with the virtual learning environment (Moodle) early will be really useful to you. This is where the course is delivered. You will be able to get feedback at regular intervals to help you with your assignments, access practice quizzes and examples of the assessments, revisit lecture material when it suits you and download Course Study Guides & Workbooks for each of the four modules within the programme.
Guides
Please have a look at the following guides:
Dynamic publishing culture
Medway School of Pharmacy has a research culture and as such postgraduate students publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: International Journal of Pharmacy Practice; Nephron Physiology; Acta Physiologica; Purinergic Signalling; and European Journal of Pharmacology.
Global Skills Award
All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme. The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.
Careers
There is a high and rising demand for a range of healthcare
professionals to qualify as non-medical prescribers. There are primary and secondary care career
opportunities for pharmacists the clinically enhanced prescribing
qualification.
Professional recognition
Accreditation with the GPhC as a non-medical prescriber
Entry requirements
- Registration with the GPhC
- Appropriate experience in the area of practice in which they will be prescribing
- The ability to study at academic level 7
- At least two years' post-registration clinical experience in the UK
- Appropriate numeracy skills
- Support from the sponsoring organisation confirming service need, access to appropriate supervised practice, and a prescribing budget to meet the costs of prescriptions on completion of training
- A named designated medical practitioner (DMP) who will facilitate, supervise and support the student during their clinical placement
- A named designated clinical supervisor (CS) who will facilitate, supervise and support the student for 20 hours' clinical skills placement (this role can also be performed by the DMP)
General entry requirements
All applicants are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications.
International students
Please see our International website for entry requirements by country and other relevant information. Due to visa restrictions, international fee-paying students cannot study part-time unless undertaking a distance or blended-learning programme with no on-campus provision.
English language entry requirements
The University requires all non-native speakers of English to reach a
minimum standard of proficiency in written and spoken English before
beginning a postgraduate degree. Certain subjects require a higher
level.
For detailed information see our English language requirements web pages.
Need help with English?
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language
condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for
Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
Research areas
Chemistry and drug delivery
This group has laboratories with dedicated state-ofthe art drug delivery, nanotechnology, spectroscopy, chromatography and organic synthesis facilities. It brings together researchers in medicinal chemistry and drug design, nanotechnology and materials science, drug delivery and pharmaceutics encouraging a multidisciplinary approach to research. Research covers synthesis and biological evaluation of potential anti-cancer agents, structurebased drug design, QSAR predication of ADMET properties, controlled release, particle engineering, powder technology, pharmaceutical technology, and novel drug delivery systems, with a focus on respiratory drug delivery.
Biological sciences
This group is housed in recently refurbished laboratories with dedicated state-of-the-art molecular biological, electrophysiological, tissue culture and microscopy facilities. The research is divided into four main themes; infectious diseases and allergy; neuroscience; renal and cardiovascular physiology; and pharmacology. Examples of current work include: investigation of the use of non-pathogenic virus ‘pseudotypes’ to study pathogenic RNA, study of the properties of neuronal potassium channels and their modulation and the development of new therapies for patients that have developed acute kidney injury in collaboration with a major pharmaceutical company.
Pharmacy practice
This group conducts research in two areas: public health and medicines optimisation, with a particular focus on cardiovascular diseases and mental health. Work in public health includes studies in physical exercise, alcohol, cardiovascular screening and spirometry testing, plus pharmacovigilance. Studies in medicines optimisation include work in dementia, bipolar disorder and stroke, with an emphasis on the patient perspective.
Staff research interests
Full details of staff research interests can be found on the School's website.
Fees
See the Medway School of Pharmacy website for postgraduate fees.
Funded places available for hospital, mental health and community trust pharmacists, and for CCG pharmacists. Must be working in the HEE LaSE area.
For more information please email: pgtpharmadmin@kent.ac.uk
Funding
Search our scholarships finder for possible funding opportunities. You may find it helpful to look at both: