QUM Pharmacy Practice Placement (PHRM4072)

Students will need to submit a total of SIX reflections according to the schemas and submission dates as outlined below. Each reflection should not exceed 500 words. More information on SEAL reflections can be found on Blackboard under Assessment.

• SEAL Submission 1: 2 x NCS Schema - due Week 4
• SEAL Submission 2: 2 x NCS Schema - due Week 6
• SEAL Submission 3: 1 x LLL Schema + 1 x Employability Schema - due Week 8

Students should consider their individual experiences during their Placement in order to reflect effectively within each of the different schemas provided.

1. National Competency Standards (NCS) schema: Please read the relevant National Competency Standards (NCS) Framework for Pharmacists in Australia 2016 (as available through the course Blackboard site) and familiarise yourself with the Standards before attending your Placement. Students are to reflect on ONE chosen Enabling Competency from the NCS in each reflection. Each selected Enabling Competency should be different from the others. Students should reflect on the level of skills, knowledge or professional attributes they acquired/demonstrated during their Placement experience, and relate this clearly to the chosen Enabling Competency. Students are also encouraged to reflect on their own unique personal experiences (e.g. feelings, personal attributes, individual strengths/weaknesses at this stage of development, etc). 

2. Lifelong Learning (LLL) schema: Students should reflect on their own future learning needs, which will enable them to professionally manage their internship and joining the Pharmacy profession. They should focus on how their Placement uncovered specific elements of their own practice and learning that they consider to be particularly relevant to their future practice, and for becoming a lifelong learner who will remain committed to their continuing professional development.

3. Employability schema: Employability can be defined as a “set of capabilities and personal attributes that empower graduates to perform effectively in the workplace, generate opportunities, and create positive social and economic impact”. This Employability Reflection is an opportunity for Students to reflect on their own personal experiences in relation to any aspects of their individual employability at this late stage of their student career path. It is strongly recommended that students familiarise themselves with, before the placement, the UQ’s Employability Framework for necessary background information on the meaning, definitions, structure, and relevant considerations in preparation for addressing this assessment item: https://employability.uq.edu.au/about/employability-framework.

This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Successful completion of the assessment will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which AI will provide only limited support and guidance. A failure to reference AI use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct. To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI tools.

PLACEMENT PARTICIPATION

PHRM4072 is a compulsory Placement course for all Year 4 Students. Each Student must attend and complete their Placement for 4 (four) consecutive weeks and at least 150 hours in their Placement pharmacy from Week 1 to Week 4 of Semester. 

Any alterations to the set timeframe must be discussed with the Course Coordinator and approved prior to the Placement.

All Students are expected to be available to commence classes in other Year Four Courses in Week 5, as per their individual timetable.

The start and finish time each day will depend on the agreement between the Student and their Preceptor. If the Placement includes a public holiday relevant to that Placement site, the Students are expected to attend/not attend the placement site in accordance with usual practice at that site e.g. if the facility is not open during the public holiday then the Students do not attend and that time is included within the 150 hours.

It is expected that students will attend their experiential placement sites on a full-time basis from Monday to Friday over the 4 consecutive weeks of the placement period. In the case of illness, students are NOT expected to attend their placement and should inform their Preceptor and The School Office (pharm.studentadmin@uq.edu.au) as soon as possible. Students away from their placement site for greater than TWO days due (i.e. on the third day) to illness should obtain a medical certificate and provide this to the School Office and their Preceptor.

Students are advised to contact the Course Coordinator to notify of any prolonged absence (greater than THREE days) from the placement site due to illness. Additionally, irrespective of medical certificates, any cumulative absence over the 4 week period longer than 3 days must be immediately brought to the attention of the Course Co-ordinator.

PRECEPTOR'S CONFIRMATION OF PLACEMENT ATTENDANCE AND EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE

The Preceptor's confirmation that the Student has attended their Placement and their evaluation of their performance during Placement are each compulsory components of this community pharmacy Placement. Both requirements will be fulfilled when the Preceptor fills out an ePortfolio form that the system itself will email to them (as part of a process initiated by the student).

• Throughout the Placement, Students are expected to seek guidance and constructive feedback from their Preceptor. This is how they will know how they are progressing and/or if they need to approach anything differently.
• Students are encouraged to meet with their preceptor (about mid-way through the placement) to discuss their progress, using the SPA form to guide the discussion. Students can use the SPA Form as many times as they like during the Placement, to initiate, guide and inform discussions with the Preceptor, at a mutually suitable time. These SPA forms would be 'formative' submissions to allow feedback and would not be the final evaluation of the student.
• Towards the end of the placement period (e.g. from Wednesday of the last week) the student should upload at least ONE scanned copy of their formative SPA form to the link on Blackboard (under the Assessment tab) entitled "Formative SPA Form Submission Link" 
• The student will be prompted to submit to their preceptor via the ePortfolio 
• This process will then trigger an email to the Preceptor that will allow them to complete the final 'summative' student evaluation via an electronic SPA form and allow them to confirm student attendance for 4 consecutive weeks full time 
• This email that the Preceptors will receive will have in the subject line: "Work Assessment from UQ ePortfolio - Surname (of student), Firstname (of student)".
• please note - the 'Surname' and 'First name' will appear as they are in Blackboard, i.e. there will be no preferred names, nicknames, etc. 
• The Preceptor will indicate their confirmation of your placement attendance as well as their evaluation of your Placement performance as either Needs Attention, Developing, or Satisfactory across several criteria outlined on the SPA Form.
• The Course Coordinator will review these evaluations and take necessary action where/if needed.
• The final decision regarding the overall Pass or Fail mark for this assessment component of the course will be made by the Course Coordinator, in discussion with the Preceptor. 
• Students are able to confirm submissions and review pending or marked submissions by using the 'My Results' section inside the UQ ePortfolio, or by viewing if the item is indicated to have been submitted in the top right hand side corner of the submission page. Students will be able to view the mark in 'My results' once the mark has been released. The result will appear as 'pending' prior to the mark release. Once marked, the mark will appear as N/A since it has no numerical value. 

Patient centred care is the fundamental foundation that underpins all aspects of pharmacy practice. Recognising the cultural, social and physical diversity of patients is essential to the delivery of a holistic healthcare solution. As part of building an increased awareness of the diversity of patients encountered across the Community Pharmacy setting, students are required to submit a 2000 word report with the following guidelines:

Identify a particular group of patients serviced by your pharmacy. Some examples may include, but are not limited to, people in the following categories:

• Physical or Cognitive Disability 
• Aged care/Elderly
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
• Mental Illness 
• Culturally/Linguistically Diverse People
• Patients on opioid replacement therapy 

Consider how your pharmacy caters for the holistic care of your selected patient demographic. Please consider a broader scope beyond just the usual clinical duties of a pharmacist (i.e. usual duties such as webster packs, MedsCheck, medication counselling, etc). Some questions to consider may include:

• What protocols/procedures/trainings (if any) are in place to assist in the care of these patients (E.g. specially trained staff)?
• What physical assistance (if any) does your pharmacy provide (E.g. wheelchair ramp access, wide aisles, etc)?
• How does the layout of the pharmacy consider patients in your specific patient demographic?
• Discuss with your Preceptor or other pharmacy staff and consider interviewing some patients/carers for feedback and to gather anecdotal evidence of their personal experiences. Students are encouraged to think creatively about how to gather information relevant here. 

Perform a literature review of the current evidence for best practice in the care of patients in your chosen demographic. Consider recommendations from relevant governing or professional bodies, Royal Commission recommendations, and relevant publications from contemporary research. 

• Identify any gaps between current and best practice and create a plan specific to your placement pharmacy, to address gaps/implement any new recommendations to optimise holistic patient care in your chosen patient population. 

Your report (maximum 2000 word limit) should have the following headings:

• Introduction/Background: Provide a brief introduction and some background information on the selected patient demographic and describe the context of why this patient group was selected.
• Current Practice: Describe the current physical provisions/operational procedures in place at your current placement pharmacy to aid in the care of patients in your selected demographic. Include key points from any patient/carer interviews and discussions with your Preceptor or pharmacy staff, and ensure any direct quotes are appropriately identified with quotation marks.
• Best Practice: Summarise the evidence from the literature and describe the current best practice standards for providing care for patients in your selected demographic. 
• Future Plan: Identify and discuss any gaps between the current practice at your pharmacy and "best practice" in the care of patients in your selected demographic and create a plan to address these gaps. It is important that any recommendations are specific to your placement pharmacy, achievable, appropriate and likely to be effective in improving practice.
• References: Use Vancouver Style to provide any references used in the report (not included in word count).
• This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Successful completion of the assessment will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which AI will provide only limited support and guidance. A failure to reference AI use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct. To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI tools.