Pharmacy - Prescribing for Pharmacists

Overview

Do you want to advance your pharmacy career by becoming a non-medical prescriber?



This programme is accredited by both the General Pharmaceutical Council and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland to train pharmacists as non-medical prescribers.



Students undertake online and work-based training and assessment in addition to a 5-day clinical skills residential in February at our Clinical Skills Centre on-campus in Belfast.



This programme has been developed to train pharmacists in Great Britain as non-medical prescribers.



Applications from pharmacists outside the UK will be considered on a case-by-case basis and must include evidence of support by the applicant’s employer.



If you are employed as a pharmacist in Northern Ireland and wish to train as a non-medical prescriber, please visit our PG Cert in Independent Prescribing.

Year 1

Core Modules

• Prescribing in Practice (0 credits)

• Clinical skills, patient monitoring and onward referral (10 credits)

• Disease Management (10 credits)

• Professionalism (10 credits)

• Influences on and psychology of prescribing and patient-centred care (10 credits)

• Evidence-based medicine and safe prescribing (10 credits)

• Consultation and communication skills (10 credits)



Course details

The programme is delivered via a combination of e-learning and work-based learning and includes 12 days in-practice training with a Designated Prescribing Practitioner, the purpose of which is to enable the student to develop and practice clinical examination skills relevant to the condition(s) for which they intend to prescribe.



E-learning modules are updated annually by subject experts and are delivered via the Queen's virtual learning environment.



In-practice training is documented in an e-portfolio, which, on successful completion, provides documentary evidence of meeting all of the competencies within the 'RPS Competency Framework for all Prescribers'.



Students attend a compulsory 5-day residential in February at Queen's, which includes workshops, clinical skills training and assessment.

Graduate

A primary degree in Pharmacy (minimum Bachelor degree) from an institution approved by the University. Additionally all students must:



• be registered as a pharmacist with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) or the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI).



• be in good standing with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and/or the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and any other healthcare regulator with which they are registered.



• have at least two years' appropriate patient-orientated experience in a relevant UK practice setting post registration.



• have an identified area of clinical or therapeutic practice in which to develop independent prescribing practice. They must also have relevant clinical or therapeutic experience in that area*.



• have a medically qualified designated prescribing practitioner (DPP) who has agreed to supervise their learning in practice*.



* Further guidance on the type of experience and DPP requirements will be provided when applying for this programme.



Note: this programme is only open to students who are resident in Great Britain.

Applicants are advised to apply as early as possible and ideally no later than 31st July 2024 for courses which commence in late September. In the event that any programme receives a high number of applications, the University reserves the right to close the application portal. Notifications to this effect will appear on the Direct Application Portal against the programme application page.

https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofPharmacy/Filestore/Filetoupload,894791,en.pdf



How to Apply

Apply using our online Postgraduate Applications Portal and follow the step-by-step instructions on how to apply.

Assignments, OSCE and practice portfolio.

1 year (part-time).

Entry Year: 2024/25

Career Prospects

Professional Opportunities

On successful completion, students can apply to the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) for an annotation to their entry in the GPhC’s Register and/or the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI) for an annotation to their entry in the PSNI’s Register.



The annotation is a public record that they can practise as an independent prescriber.