APC year at a glance

To better support our candidates, students and education providers we:

• delivered the Intern Written Exam remotely
• extended online proctored exam to Competency Assessment of Overseas Pharmacists (CAOP) Examination candidates
• conducted virtual site visits with education providers
• published a revised Intern Year Assessment Blueprint mapped to the APC Performance Outcomes Framework
• initiated the Workplace based Assessment (WPA) Project to develop and test new intern assessment tools
• developed online training modules for Site Evaluation Team members
• redesigned our website for easier navigation
• initiated a project to improve the candidate portal experience.

Read more about how we’ve put our people first over the last year.

To enhance our professional services we:

• collaborated with over 145 dedicated pharmacists and community representatives as subject matter experts across our committees, working groups and special projects
• completed a review of the Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KAPS) examination
• adopted the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing¹ (referred to as AERA standards) as the benchmark for APC examination development and delivery
• convened 4 meetings of the Intern Year Assessment Blueprint Working Group comprising PharmBA and APC representatives to support improvements in pharmacist intern assessment
• established a Technical Working Group for the Workplace assessment project and supported 6 meetings to develop new intern assessment tools
• met with with the Council of Pharmacy Schools at least 3 times and with the PharmBA 8 times.

[1] Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Joint Committee on the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing of the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National council on Measurement in Education@ 2014

To share our knowledge in pharmacy education and accreditation we presented on:

• Developing a culturally safe workforce in Australia, Life Long Learning in Pharmacy Conference, Ireland – virtual
• Out of the frying pan and into the fire …. pivoting examinations in the pandemic – Life Long Learning in Pharmacy Conference, Ireland – virtual

Read more about APC presentations.

To progress our strategy to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples we:

• continued our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan journey
• welcomed Ms Chastina Heck a Nywaigi, Mamu, Bidjara woman and hospital pharmacist to our Indigenous Health Strategy Group
• initiated the project “Embedding cultural Safety in Pharmacy Education and Assessment”
• received partial funding from the Pharmacy Board of Australia for the project Embedding cultural safety in pharmacy education and assessment.
• completed a literature review to evaluate approaches to cultural safety training for health professionals in selected countries
• prioritised engagement with and procuring services from First Nations businesses
• signed a pledge to Close the Gap.

Read more about our strategy to improve health outcomes for First Nations peoples.

To contribute our expertise to the health professions we:

• actively led the work of the Health Professions Accreditation Collaborative (HPAC) Forum through our CEO as Chair of this Forum
• continued participating in the advisory group for the Enhancing Quality in Pharmacy Practice (EQuiPP) project
• supported the pharmacy profession by responding to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care consultation on National Safety and Quality Primary Healthcare (NSQPH) Standards.
• contributed to the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the Health Professions consultations on the:
  • draft Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Amendment Bill
  • Shared Code of Conduct
  • Regulatory principles

To progress quality in accreditation across health profession we regularly met with:

• Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (Ahpra)
• Universities Australia, and in particular their Health Professions Education Standing Committee (HPESG)
• Tertiary Education Quality Standards Authority (TEQSA)
• Commonwealth and State Education and Health Departments
• Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare