Design and Evaluation of a “Pharmacists in Schools” Community Outreach Programme: A Pilot Study.
Keywords:
Pharmacy, Science Engineering and Technology, School children, Community outreachAbstract
Aims:To design, evaluate and pilot a novel programme that would allow school children to become “pharmacists for the day”,encouraging them to recognise the importance of science, to contribute to the Department of Health‟s Building the Community Partnership strategy and University Outreach to the community and to provide undergraduate pharmacy students with teaching experience and an opportunity to build their CV.Methods:Concept and formulation development, branding work,schools visits,questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.Results:Suitable formulations were developed and prepared by school children on visits to their schools. The children seemed to enjoy the experience and their teachers gave both positive and constructive feedback. Pharmacy undergraduate students felt they had gained valuable experience that will benefit their future careers.Conclusion: The Pharmacists in Schools outreach programme has now been successfully piloted and launched and will now be fully implemented in 20 schools in the local community.References
Coffey, C. (2005). “Students‟ attitude about service-learning: A longitudinal study.” J Pharm Teach 12: 51-68.
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) Building the community pharmacy partnership(www.cdhn.org/bcpp/index.asp). Accessed 12thFebruary 2009.
Donnelly, R.F. (2010). “Pharmacists in Schools: Promoting Pharmacy to Future Generations.” Pharm J 284: 83.
DTI Economics Paper No.16: Science, Engineering and Technology Skills in the UK(2006) Department of Trade and Industry, London.
Kirby-Smith, J. (2008). “Investigation of student views on industrial pharmacy.” Pharm Ed 8: 7–11.
Norris, P. (2007). “Diversity amongst international pharmacy students.” Pharm Ed 7: 379–386.
Northern Ireland Curriculum: http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/(Accessed 3rdMarch 2010).
Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland Performance Standards for Pre-Registration Students http://www.psni.org.uk/documents/62/Performance+standards.pdf(Accessed 25thFebruary 2010).
Eleven Plus exam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleven_plus_exam(Accessed 28thFebruary 2010).
Queen‟s University Belfast Degree Plus Award: http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/degreeplus(Accessed 25thFebruary 2010).
Queen‟s in the Community: http://www.qub.ac.uk/home/QueensintheCommunity/(Accessed 25thFebruary 2010).
Scott, J. (1990). A Matter of Record(Polity Press, London).
Seston, L., Hassel, K. (2009). Pharmacy Workforce Census 2008: Main findings(Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, London).
Silverthorne, J. (2009). “Student perceptions of group function in a pharmacy problem-based learning course”. Pharm Ed 9: 23-28
Smith, F.J. (2006).Conducting Your Pharmacy Practice Research Project. Pharmaceutical Press, London.
Stupans, I. (2009). “Pharmacy students‟ English language skill development: Are we heading in the right direction?” Pharm Ed 9: 6-10.
Taylor, K.M.G., Harding, G., Bissenden, B., Shepherd, O., Shooter, B. (2004). “It made me feel like a pharmacist, not just a science student‟: Pharmacy undergraduates‟ attitudes towards extemporaneous dispensing practical classes.” Pharm Ed 4: 137-142.
Vosper, H. (2009). “Staff and student perceptions of Pharmacy final year research projects.” Pharm Ed 9: 11-17.
