6

Leveraging off disruption

With adjustment and uncertainty, has fortunately come great innovation and creation. Lives around the globe have been disrupted due to COVID-19. But we have been able to leverage off some of the changes.

We have focused on re-engineering our activities. The APC team has been agile, supportive and full of innovations. We’ve re-designed services that will serve us well into the future. This includes:

“I am very proud of the team who adjusted to working from home so well, supported each other and have not skipped a beat. They have really lived our values in this time.” – APC CEO Bronwyn Clark

Changes to Accreditation processes

We have committed to safeguarding the wellbeing of individuals involved in our accreditation activities. During COVID-19 we have worked with education providers to ensure that programs delivered to students continue to meet the requirements of the Accreditation Standards, the Pharmacy Board of Australia (PharmBA), and the needs of the pharmacy profession.

We re-scheduled reporting periods to reduce workload pressures on program staff during frequently changing circumstances. Instead of regular, ‘real time’ updates from providers, they will provide us one aggregated update in November 2020.

We have postponed most Site Evaluation Team visits this year. However, we have planned one virtual site visit with The Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand’s (PSNZ) EVOLVE Intern Training Program.

We are able to run multiple interviews over Zoom with all participants including the:

  • program manager
  • PSNZ CEO
  • program staff
  • interns, AND
  • preceptors

This will allow us to be more adaptable in the way we undertake site visits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advancing our exam processes

Online proctored exams

In April 2020 we re-scheduled our exams after Pearson VUE had to close its test centres internationally.

The Intern Written Exam is delivered solely in Australia. This meant we could provide candidates the option to sit the exam remotely. The exams team worked incredibly hard with Pearson VUE to plan the design of this delivery mode. We established a Remote Delivery Examinations Project (RDEP) External Reference Group to advise us on the best way forward. This group included:

  • Emeritus Professor Lloyd Sansom AO, Chair APC Examinations Committee
  • Associate Professor Curtis Lee, The University of Newcastle
  • Dr Joanna Moullin, Curtin University
  • Professor Sarah Roberts-Thomson, The University of Queensland
  • Professor James Tognolini, The University of Sydney

The online proctored exam, delivered via OnVUE, allows candidates to sit their exam anywhere that has:

  • a reliable device with a webcam
  • a strong internet connection, and
  • a room where they will not be disturbed for the duration of the exam

The Pharmacy Board of Australia has agreed to allow interns to sit both exams in the same month.

Virtual workshops

The Examination Team has held their first ever virtual item writing workshop using Zoom. In these workshops we train Subject Matter Experts in how to best develop questions for our exams.

We’re so appreciative of the willingness and enthusiasm of the workshop members to participate via Zoom. Juggling multiple screens while maintaining a focus on a highly technical task is quite challenging.

The output of the online workshop met the same expectations as per our usual face-to-face workshops. This is encouraging because we will likely see an increase in the need to continue writing questions as we review and update the KAPS exam specifications.

Changes to Skills Assessment policy

Given travel bans and rescheduled exams, we understood that the journey of overseas-trained pharmacists could be interrupted. And for some, this would potentially mean being unable to receive registration due to expiring skills assessment letters. To mitigate this, we extended the validity period of the letters to ensure candidates are not disadvantaged during this challenging time.

Working from home

Our main goal was keeping our staff and community safe. Like many organisations, this meant working from home in late March 2020.

This required us to purchase additional equipment and technology to set our team up to work from home as though they were in the office. Staff coped extremely well with the transition. Through our staff survey in June 2020 staff reported an increase in productivity and mental well being. We also saw a preference for the flexibility to work some days from home when things return to the ‘new’ normal.

Working from home encouraged us to learn more about each other. During themed virtual ‘catch ups’ each week we’d chat about family/cultural traditions, favourite holiday destinations, museums, movies, books or what’s on our ‘bucket’ list. This reduced feelings of isolation and increased employee morale.

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.
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