Pharma Education and Career

Published literature has shown that learners conceptualise and approach learning in different ways. The research reported in this paper explores postgraduate pharmacy students’ perceptions of learning and their understanding of the learning strategies employed whilst undertaking a postgraduate prescribing course.

This paper reports on the evaluation of an enquiry based learning (EBL) module in pharmaceutical chemistry which has been developed for first year pharmacy students. The module aims to encourage integration of knowledge within the multi-disciplinary pharmacy degree, leading to an appreciation of the importance that chemical properties have on the action of medicines.

Pharmacists need to be able to communicate, both verbally and in a written format, with people in the community, colleagues and other health professionals using educated, ‘elaborated’ English. The focus of the study reported in this paper is the international and transnational student group enrolled in the Pharmacy program at the University of South Australia.

Undergraduate pharmacy education is undergoing reform, largely driven by changes in the role of the pharmacist. One area of the curriculum coming under particular scrutiny is the final year research project. It has been suggested that such projects should perhaps play a lesser role in undergraduate education because research is not part of the working remit of most pharmacists.

This report describes the process of developing a new type of multiple-choice question (MCQ), called sequential multiple-choice questions (SMCQs), in order to reduce the probability of answering correctly by chance and contrast the students’ tendency to copy. In SMCQs the five possible answers to a question are connected to one another on an approximation scale towards the most probable answer.

Herbal remedies constitute an important component of any healthcare system. Increasing demand for the use of herbal remedies and reports of harm caused by inappropriate use are not uncommon. Pharmacists are well positioned to offer advice on the use of drugs and herbs; therefore natural products must be included in the Pharmacy curriculum.

Teaching medicinal chemistry in the second year of a pharmacy degree poses a special challenge as it requires teaching both fundamental chemistry and analytical techniques. It is generally felt that the current generation of students mostly lacks the basic knowledge and principle in analytical techniques.

The aim of this article is to present information related to pharmacy practice and education in two countries, South Africa and New Zealand, where there is currently a small migration of pharmacists from the former to the latter. The pharmacy profession in both countries is under the statutory regulation of a pharmacy council, and a society is responsible for professional aspects.

In problem-based learning (PBL), student-directed small groups work towards the resolution of a problem facilitated by a tutor. PBL tutors anecdotally describe groups that function poorly despite intervention and student achievement is likely to be compromised in these situations. This study explored pharmacy students’ perceptions of group function in PBL.

Objectives: To describe and assess the impact of pharmacists’ interventions in the collaborative care of patients with diabetes in a Nigerian hospital.