From our Executive Director Professional Services

Glenys Wilkinson 

Executive Director Professional Services

We have had a big year. Initially our goal was getting our new accreditation standards approved by the Pharmacy Board of Australia. Suddenly, it was to ensure we could adapt to the pandemic without putting any lives and goals on hold.

I am very proud of the way APC staff have modified our policies and processes to effectively ride this wave. The health of our candidates, stakeholders and the community has been our biggest priority throughout the pandemic.

Not only have we wanted to ensure the safety of the people’s physical health, but their mental health as well. To do this we adapted our processes to reduce stress during a challenging time. We re-scheduled reporting periods to reduce workload pressures on education providers. The exams team have worked hard with Pearson VUE and an External Reference Group to reinvent the Intern Written Exam delivery mode so that it can now be delivered remotely to reduce risk and stress. And, we have extended the validity period of skills assessment letters. This is to ensure candidates can continue their journey without disadvantages.

Meanwhile we continued with improving accreditation processes, revising exam methodology, and recording high numbers of skills assessments.

Accreditation

Accreditation Standards

Our accreditation standards were approved in September 2019. Soon after, we launched the Performance Outcomes Framework and Supporting Documents to compliment the standards. The quick turn around on these documents is a credit to our fantastic team and subject matter experts here at APC.

We adopted one set of standards to create a streamlined and uniform approach to pharmacy education and intern training. Social Accountability underpins the standards to ensure graduates understand the health needs and requirements of contemporary healthcare.

It was a truly collaborative effort by:

education providers
professional associations
peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Māori associations
pharmacy students and interns, and
consumers

Following more than 12 months of extensive consultation, the new standards will assure that graduates have the knowledge, skills and behaviours that pharmacists need for the evolving nature of contemporary pharmacy practice.
As a result, the APC is now leading the pharmacy education and training sector into a new era.

Throughout 2020 we have been working closely with intern training providers to support their transition to the new standards.

Our Accreditation Standards have been recognised in FIP’s EquityRx report for embedding Social Accountability into health profession education. This approach to our standards has been regarded as important and innovative.

“The Standards consists of five main domains, the first of which is ‘Safe and socially accountable practice’ … which encompasses the responsibilities and obligations of individuals and organisations to serve society, by seeking both to prevent harm and to promote optimal health outcomes.”

“This represents an important and innovative approach that other regulated health professions could emulate.” Page. 24, FIP’s EquityRx Report.

Read more about the new standards and its key features.

Model of accreditation of CPD accrediting organisations

Whilst the accreditation standards were being approved, we also initiated a project to review our model of accreditation of CPD accrediting organisations to assure its continued relevance and improvement.
We engaged an external consultant who conducted a desktop review, held virtual workshops with external stakeholders, and prepared a report to be considered by our Board later this year.

Examinations and skills assessments

We had a productive year revising exams and processes to ensure they remain valid and fit for contemporary practice, and we received a steady flow of skills assessment applications. Looking forward, we aim to make this process easier for candidates through improved features and content on our website and candidate portal.

Technical Working Group

Maintaining the validity of our exams is a top priority. It’s our job to ensure that our assessments are contemporary and reflect the expected knowledge and competencies required for safe and effective practice as a registered pharmacist in Australia.

To ensure this we called for experts and formed an Exams Technical Working Group (TWG). The working group was established to advise us on revised content specifications for the Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KAPS) examination. The KAPS exam is a written assessment for overseas pharmacists who have received training in a country considered to be non-comparable to Australia’s training.

I am honoured to have welcomed and worked with Erica Sainsbury (Chair of the KAPS TWG), Hayley Croft, Michael Ward and Christopher Hidayat as members of the TWG to complete this work.

Skills assessment terminology

We underwent a website rebuild this year to allow our candidates to navigate complex information on our website. One improvement was renaming the skills assessment pathways. We want the terminology to be meaningful for the candidate and their specific journey. The pathways are now known as:

Knowledge Stream (formerly known as Stream A) – they sit the Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences exam
Competency Stream (formerly known as Stream B) – they sit the Competency Assessment of Overseas Pharmacists exam
New Zealand Registered Pharmacists Stream (formerly known as the Trans-Tasman Stream) – for those migrating to Australia
International Student Stream (formerly known as International Graduate Stream) – for international students studying in Australia

The Australian Pharmacy Council acknowledges Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners and custodians of country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, sea, and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to Elders, past, present and emerging.