Future proofing the next generation of pharmacists
Workplace based assessment (WBA) has become an integral component of intern training. Over 1400 interns have used a new suite of WBA tools to support their learning and progression towards independent practice.
Workplace based assessments (WBA) are structured activities that promote workplace learning, facilitate provision of feedback and provide evidence for decisions about pharmacy intern readiness to practice.
Global trends in health professional training have moved towards competency based education and assessment which uses WBA to gather evidence about performance. We are committed to ensuring that pharmacy education keeps up with international best practice and have invested in supporting the development and implementation of the WBA tools.
Early this year, we also initiated a research study to gather feedback from interns and preceptors about their experiences with the WBA tools.
“I feel myself improving very rapidly after each EPA. And that’s really important”. (Intern)
“What’s working well for me is using [WBA] as a handover tool for supervisors to know how their intern is going and to then add that continuity [of learning]”. (Preceptor)
To support preceptors and interns in their understanding of how to use the WBA tools, we produced videos, developed exemplars and published Continuing Professional Development in the Australian Pharmacist.
Our webinars on the WBA tools were attended by 474 participants representing preceptors, supervising pharmacists, interns and Intern Training Program (ITP) provider staff.
Attendees
Read our international publication Development of workplace-based assessment tools to support postgraduate training of provisionally registered pharmacists in Australia.