PC3302 - Pharmacy Practice (Research Honours) 1

This subject will further develop student understanding of pharmacy practice and counselling, including legal and ethical issues, clinical and extemporaneous dispensing and communication skills. Students will also become familiar with the principles of pharmacoeconomics and drug stability and be introduced to the process of clinical trials. Students will also complete 80 hours of supervised clinical pharmacy placements in hospital or community pharmacy or industry in both urban and rural settings. Finally, the student will commence an independent (with supervision) research project relevant to an area of contemporary pharmacy practice. This project will introduce the student to the area of pharmacy research, looking specifically at qualitative and quantitative research methods, research statistics and clinical trials. Students will consolidate their knowledge of their research topic by undertaking a critical analysis of the current literature culminating in the production of an academic literature review.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate the clinical and extemporaneous dispensing functions of a pharmacist, including patient history taking, maintaining prescription records and patient counselling, relating this to professional practice through experiential placement;
• Describe and interpret the pharmacoeconomic principles as they apply to various practice settings;
• Explain the process involved with clinical trials including drug stability and the physiochemical principles related to drug interactions;
• Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of research methods in undertaking an independent research project which includes critical analysis and synthesis of the literature to produce an academic literature review for presentation in written and oral formats;
• Describe, interpret and apply accepted standards of practice, codes of ethics and the regulations and quality standards which govern the supply and use of medicines in Australia when considering issues relating to the acquisition, storage, dispensing, sale and supply of pharmaceutical products and be able to provide evidence based information to patients on their use.

Subject Assessment

• Written > Examination (centrally administered) - (30%) - Individual
• Written > Literature review - (20%) - Individual
• Oncourse - (30%) - Individual
• Performance/Practice/Product > Practical assessment/practical skills demonstration - (20%) - Individual.

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.