FARBPRA Pre-registration Training Course description

Through practical training at a pharmacy, the students will gradually develop a basis for mastering the professional role of pharmacist with a bachelor's degree. The main focus is to solve issues related to pharmaceuticals in active contact with the pharmacy's users and health personnel. The practical training period will allow the students to practise applying their knowledge and to acquire skills that can only be learnt through practice. This will contribute to promoting health and quality of life for individuals and society through active use of their expertise as pharmacists.

The student must have passed all the courses from the first year of study and may lack a maximum of one passed course from the second year.

After completing the course, the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can demonstrate broad knowledge of the pharmacist’s role in the core areas of the pharmacy
• can demonstrate broad knowledge of handling of drugs in the pharmacy
• can explain the pharmacy’s quality and internal control systems
• can describe and explain how requisition and the use of veterinary pharmaceuticals can contribute to ensuring good animal health and food safety
• can explain the use of relevant medical equipment
• can describe the national strategies for supply of medicinal products and medicinal product preparedness

Skills

The student

• can make independent assessments and dispense pharmaceuticals based on prescriptions or requisitions in accordance with laws and regulations
• masters guidance and professional advice that contributes to responsible and medically correct use of pharmaceuticals, based on evidence-based drug information
• can identify and solve problems related to pharmaceuticals
• can give advice about self-medication and inform users about the influence of lifestyle factors on health in dialogue with pharmacy users
• can carry out pharmaceutical services at a pharmacy
• can assess when self-care is sufficient and when a patient should be referred to other health personnel
• can use and follow up internal control systems, including the pharmacy’s procedures and non-conformity system
• can communicate pharmaceutical knowledge with confidence, both in writing and verbally, to all relevant groups of customers and health personnel

General competence

The student

• has insight into and an understanding of how medicine monitoring, quality systems and quality and preparatory work contribute to safe use of pharmaceuticals and increased patient safety
• has insight into and an understanding of his/her own limitations, can reflect on and be conscious of his/her own work and profession and the pharmacist’s role in the pharmacy, society and in cooperation with other health personnel
• has insight into and can identify, reflect on and handle ethical issues in pharmaceutical professional practice, showing respect for users of pharmaceutical services and providing guidance that safeguards the integrity and rights of users
• can reflect on the quality and validity of the information provided by different information sources
• has digital competence and can use digital tools and maintain digital security

Complexity is a term frequently used to describe relations in a society where formal and institutional boundaries decrease in importance. The complexity of the challenges we face today demands collaborative initiatives across levels of governments and administration, and across different sectors. The need for cooperation between traditional scientific disciplines is now acknowledged as a basic requirement for development of new knowledge.

It is inherent in complexity thinking that different but complementary perspectives are adopted to illuminate and analyze problems requiring solution. Graduates of the master program can work and lead independently of discipline, professional turf, sector or level of administration. The students’ varied background education and work experience shall create and sustain a culture based on respect for different perspectives, the ability to change perspective if and when required, and of looking for optimal solutions by de-focusing differences and re-focusing on compatibility.

The following must be approved in order to pass part 1 practical training:

• Written assignments related to the practical training, as set out in the practical training compendium

The written assignments are assessed by the practical training supervisor or lecturer from the programme. The students have up to three attempts to have the assignment approved during the practical training period. If a written assignment is not approved, it must be revised and re-submitted. A student who receives the assessment "not approved" on the first or second attempt will receive individual feedback and advice om what needs improvement to meet the requirements. If the third attempt at a written assignment is also not approved, practical training will be registered as "failed". This counts as one (1) attempt to pass practical training.

Note that there is an attendance requirement for practical training (90 percent). For more information about the attendance requirement for practical training, see ‘Assessment of external practical training’ in the main section of the programme description.

In the BSCA specialisation, campus-based lectures and seminars are the main teaching methods. Students read selected texts in advance for each day of class, and everyone is expected to participate in class through questions and through joining in discussion. In the BSII specialisation, the main teaching method is digital course sequences, and feedback on details of course content, and supervised discussion groups will be available during pre-determined time periods. Feedback on written assignments is used in both specialisations.

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• Complete an online sequence consisting of 5 modules containing videos, texts, quizzes and/or short essay questions (up to 710 characters including spaces), within a given deadline.

Portfolio exam that includes:

• 3 individual written assignments submitted digitally, each with a maximum length of 6000 characters, including spaces. References are to be included in the 6000 characters.

Students may submit their exams in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

The students receive feedback once during the course on 2 of the written assignments before the portfolio is closed. The 3rd and last submission is without feedback during the course. All the components must be awarded a pass grade before the exam as a whole can be passed.

In the case of a new exam: If the student fails one assignment, the one assignment is taken again. The exam can be appealed.

All

All answers are assessed by one examiner.

An external examiner is used regularly, at a minimum of every third completion of the course. When selecting answers for external evaluation, a minimum of 10 percent of the answers shall be included, with no fewer than 5 answers. The external examiner’s assessment of the selected answers shall benefit all students.