I recently had the opportunity to attend the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists/United Kingdom Clinical Pharmacy Association Annual Meeting in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and to present to that group about the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative in the US.
First let me say that there is something rather exciting about staying in what was once the most heavily bombed hotel in the world. It was also quite elegant and quite pleasant, I might add.
More to the point, however, my presentation was included in other presentations that talked about how pharmacists in the United Kingdom are planning for advancing their practice, and I found the discussions uplifting:
- Dr. Sue Ambler presented on their planning for the growth and development of their profession including three workstreams aimed at enhancing pharmacy education both in schools of pharmacy and within practicing professionals.
- There is a Pharmacist Independent Prescribing certification within the UK (more in articles I hope will appear shortly) and certified pharmacists actually practice outside of (dare I say beyond?) the constraints of a collaborative practice agreement.
- I was educated on a notion of professional competence that not only includes clinical expertise, but also notions of commitment to education (of others and self), to research, and to leadership within the profession. Thank you, Nina Barnett, for your patience with my understanding.
- Dr. Catherine Duggan from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society presented work on the development of practice standards. The RPS has both methodologies and data that are worthy of notice.
- I learned of the development of professional positions that did not require migration through administrative positions in order to advance within the profession.
- I saw presententations by pharmacy students who had earned their way to fulfilling practice requirements by providing team-based medical care needy populations in Africa.
- Capitalizing on Belfast as the home of the ill-fated Titanic, the tip-of-the-iceberg theme of the convention was "The hidden 5/6: the real role of pharmacy" and all the presentations were about the difference pharmacists make in outcomes in the United Kingdom.
In general, the approach to professional development in the UK appears to be thoughtful and planned. When one considers where clinical pharmacy practice is in the UK, it shines a light on where we are trying to go. There is much we can learn from each other.When one considers the austerity within which they have accomplished what they have, it is awe-inspiring.
Finally, I can tell you that the people with whom I met were professional, and earnest, and charming, and committed. It was my privilege to spend time and learn from them. I hope you get the opportunity to work some of them. I hope I do, too!
Dennis
The contents of this blog reflect entirely my own opinions, and are neither the opinions of my employer (Baxter Healthcare Corporation) nor of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
#PPMI