National and International collaboration
This past year our collaborations with our partners in Australia and internationally have continued to grow and strengthen. Without these strong relationships we would not be able to achieve what are doing to advance and assure quality in pharmacy education.
Regulatory bodies
As a trusted partner with the Pharmacy Board of Australia, we have progressed further work on the Intern Year Blueprint and this year have implemented the first set of Workplace Based Assessment (WBA) Tools for intern pharmacists. As pharmacy education is evolving we have started the accreditation of new ‘integrated’ programs, and we have liaised closely with the Board on how these can meet their current and future registration requirements.
Our project to develop Accreditation Standards for pharmacist prescribing training courses for the Board has been well advanced, and we have also provided advice on CPD models, registration standards, examination development and delivery and other matters relating to education. We also work closely with Ahpra and have contributed to the Ahpra Accreditation Committee work including the Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Statement of Intent, and the Glossary of Terms.
Health Professions Accreditation Collaborative Forum (HPAC Forum)
We have remained an active member of the HPAC Forum this year, and in particular our work in leading the project on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative practice. The project is exploring the vision of collaborative practitioners and developing practical guidance, which will include exemplars and published papers due at the end of 2023. We are also active in the project on developing cultural safety training for accreditation assessors across the professions. Our Deputy CEO is a member of the Accreditation Managers Subcommittee and we are in regular contact with the other accreditation authorities to share and learn from each other.
National and International pharmacy organisations
We have continued collaborating with national and international pharmacy organisations who share our goal of protecting public health.
As an active part of the Australian Pharmacy Leaders Forum (APLF) we collaborated with other peak pharmacy bodies on issues of workforce.
Our international reach includes involvement in the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and the Global Forum on Quality Assurance in CE/CPD. We also have presented and shared our research and work at several international conferences.
This year we’ve had opportunities to collaborate and work on initiatives with:
- the Council of Pharmacy Schools (Australia and New Zealand)
- the National Australian Pharmacy Students Association (NAPSA)
- the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand
- the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP),
- the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR)
- the General Pharmaceutical Council (Great Britain)
- our colleagues in accreditation and examinations in the USA and Canada (NABP, ACPE, PEBC)