Overview

In the fast changing world of pharmacy and healthcare provision, standing still is not an option, but you may, understandably, feel under-equipped to meet these new challenges. Let Keele help you meet the challenges set by the Government’s initiatives for healthcare. In addition, the requirements for pharmacists to demonstrate their commitment to continual professional development is as strong as ever and is reflected in the General Pharmaceutical Council’s announcements regarding the assurance of the continual fitness to practice of pharmacists.

Our Clinical Pharmacy Practice Programme is designed for pharmacists working in any sector of practice. Our distance learning programme in Clinical Pharmacy Practice aims to provide you with a wider view of health care, and equip you with sufficient knowledge, skills and confidence to be able to develop and extend your clinical and professional role as part of a multidisciplinary health care team. The programme links to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Advanced Pharmacy Framework to enable you to meet the relevant competencies and provide evidence for your continued professional development.

The Centre for Professional Development and Lifelong Learning at Keele University, has a reputation as a UK leader for providing online distance learning programmes tailored to the needs of the pharmacy profession.

We are closely in touch with current practice, through our advisors and are continually updating the programme to meet the changing requirements of the health service and individual practitioners. The programme is highly acclaimed by students, employers, purchasers and external course assessors for its structure, content and end value in relation to service, professional and career development. We are happy to put you in touch with some of our former students for their independent view.

To support health professionals in their own professional development, we have developed a variety of CPD Plus modules. Course participants may choose to study one module only as a ‘stand alone’ course or choose different pathways to reach the awards of Certificate (60 credits), Diploma (120 credits) and Masters (180 credits). Practising health professionals also have the option to study these modules without academic credits. This means that you won’t have to complete any assessments but also that you won’t be able to progress towards an academic award.

These different options give health professionals choice and flexibility to meet their own specific professional development needs and to advance their professional practice. The distance learning format of the courses enables busy health professionals to study where and when it is most convenient to them.

Module aims

The aim of this module is to provide course participants with a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the evidence base that supports the therapeutic interventions in the management of joint and bone diseases, in relation to patient care and medicines optimisation.

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this module and undertake the assessments will be able to:

• Critically evaluate the management of patients, in line with the module content on joint and bone disease, considering individual patient characteristics, expectations and health beliefs
• Demonstrate your ability to apply your knowledge and understanding of therapeutics, in line with the module content on joint and bone disease, to optimise patient care in complex situations, considering the evidence-base and current professional practice
• Evaluate and reflect upon the application of your learning from the module on joint and bone disease, and its impact on your current and future practice

Entry requirements

Applicants must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), or equivalent for pharmacists working overseas, and be practising either full or part-time. It is also essential that you have the support of your workplace to access patient data where necessary for course learning activities and assessment.

Normally, only applicants with the minimum of a second class degree classification (or equivalent for applicants from outside the UK) in Pharmacy will be accepted onto the programme without interview. Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The University reserves the right to interview prospective students and take up academic references. The final decision in any case rests with the University. Candidates are also admitted on the basis of perceived and potential competence to complete the programme.

Our stand-alone credit bearing short courses are open to pharmacists and other practising healthcare professionals, registered with their appropriate professional body, who are in a patient facing role, and who have studied to at least undergraduate degree level, or who have at least 5 years of experience of practising in their field.

CPD short-courses, without associated academic credits can be studied by all practising healthcare professionals.

English language proficiency requirement

If English is not your first language, you must either:

Hold a degree from a school where English was the language of instruction

OR

Take the IELTS (average of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in all categories).

Please note that IETLS exams must be no more than two years old at the start of the course for which you have applied.

English language proficiency requirements are not applicable to students studying the module without academic credits as a CPD short course.

Module content

The principal areas covered in this course will be rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout and osteoporosis.

Teaching and assessment

The Clinical Pharmacy Practice Programme is designed principally for distance-learning. We provide online distance-learning materials so that you can study where and when it is most convenient for you. Our methods of delivery allow us to revise and update the course quickly to meet your changing needs as a pharmacist. All of our learning materials are updated annually, by the academic team and our extensive network of clinical practitioners working in the NHS. Any additional key changes in clinical practice that occur, post annual update, are added to the learning materials as they happen.

The Clinical Pharmacy Programme is fully supported by a team of experienced, friendly, and approachable academic, administrative and technical staff based at Keele. The Programme is also supported by our network of experienced, practising hospital and primary care pharmacists. You’re not on your own! You will require the equivalent of 100 hours of study to complete a 10 credit course. Remember that the online nature of our course materials, and the fact that a good proportion of the assessed work focuses on your daily practice, means that you can integrate study and work.

Assessment is entirely by coursework for the Clinical Pharmacy Practice Programme. A variety of Practice Based Assignments (PBAs) are used to maximise your opportunities for experiential learning. These PBAs will assess your knowledge, problem solving skills, and data interpretation skills in relation to application of knowledge to practice, patient care and medicines optimisation. They also assess your ability to critically appraise the literature and relate published theory to everyday practice

For this module the PBA is composed of two sections

1. Formulation of and critical evaluation of the pharmaceutical care for a patient case related to the module content, in which the evidence is cited and referenced to explain the therapeutic options available and justify the options selected for the patient.
2. A critical reflective account on how the learning from the module has been applied in practice and how it will continue to affect personal professional practice.

The nature of the assessments develops your written and oral communication skills. Practical skills and key life/transferable skills are assessed within the methods described above. Each method of assessment is supported by clear criteria for marking; these are explained in the Course Handbook. The minimum pass mark is 50%.

Those studying the module without credits, as a CPD short course, are not required to undertake the module assessments.