Usually, a single Workplace Education Supervisor (WES) is allocated for the duration of the programme, but if cross-site working is more likely to occur at a Trust, it may be more feasible to allocate a different one for each rotation the Post-registration Foundation Pharmacist undertakes. A tutor guides an individual through a programme of study and acts as a role model, teacher and assessor. They are not merely a provider of information but act as more of a facilitator for learning by helping trainees to identify gaps in their knowledge and skills base and giving advice on how to address them. Tutors need to provide learning opportunities that challenge existing opinions and current understanding. Tutoring is essentially about improving work based performance.
Workplace educational supervisors need to fulfil the following roles to help support students studying a PgDip in Clinical Pharmacy:
Meet with their Post-registration Foundation Pharmacist at least once per month to discuss general progress and identify any difficulties they may be having. Please use this form to log the outcomes of these meetings - the form can be downloaded as a Word document
Facilitate completion of supervised learning events (SLEs) for their Post-registration Foundation Pharmacist. Whilst the use of other suitable practice supervisors is encouraged to facilitate a range of opinions, workplace education supervisors should complete some of these themselves to gain a first hand insight of performance
Provide specific and prompt feedback on any SLEs completed – ideally this will be the same day, but should be no later than the following day
Approve their post-registration foundation pharmacist’s list of nominated peers for obtaining multi-source feedback
Escalate performance issues (including a lack of engagement with the programme) to the departmental lead for education and their Post-registration Foundation Pharmacist’s Academic Educational Supervisor
Meet with their student at least once a month to discuss progress and any difficulties the student may be experiencing. If a student is struggling to meet deadlines, the practice-based tutor should encourage and help the student to produce an action plan to address the relevant issues
Since the needs of individual post-registration foundation pharmacists will vary, some may need additional support and guidance, e.g.
Advice on how to logically approach patient management and the level of research involved in clarifying and resolving problems
Preparation for (and participation in) ward rounds
Tuition in therapeutics
A practice-based supervisor is another member of pharmacy staff that has responsibility for supervising early years pharmacists during a rotation. For clinical rotations these supervisors will usually be senior pharmacists (e.g. band 7 or above) that have completed a postgraduate diploma in cinical pharmacy. Senior pharmacy technicians may fulfil this role in areas such as aseptic services or the dispensary.
Practice-based Supervisors need to fulfil the following roles to help support students studying a PgDip in Clinical Pharmacy:
Provide an introduction to the rotation in line with local requirements
Provide day-to-day support to pharmacists during their rotations
Conduct supervised learning events and provide appropriate and timely feedback
Escalate performance issues (including a lack of engagement with SLEs) to the pharmacist’s line manager
The programme team recognises the challenges of cross-site working and acknowledges that service needs may require tutees to work on a different site to their WES for prolonged periods (e.g. up to four months). During this time, the contact time between the student and their WES (or combination of WES and other wrokplace facilitators) needs to be maintained through means such as:
The WES visiting the site where the student is working to conduct workplace-based assessments and monthly meetings
Suitably experienced (and trained) pharmacists based at the site where the student is working condcuting the required workplace-based assessments
Using video conferencing facilities (e.g. MS Teams, Zoom) or the telephone to conduct the monthly formal meetings – whilst exchanging e-mails is a good way to keep in regular contact it isn’t suitable for these meetings
If students and their WES are permanently based on different sites, the programme team recommend that the allocation of a different WES (that works on the same site as the student) is explored.
The programme team recommend that pharmacists meet with their WES at least once per month to discuss:
Engagement with on-line materials in the previous month - data will be shared by the Programme leader
Supervised Learning Events (SLEs) completed since the last meeting, with attention paid to the feedback the pharmacist received and actions taken to address the suggested areas for development
Upcoming webinars and workshops, including any support the student needs for completing the pre-requisites
The key points learnt after completing on-line learning activities, attending workshops or webinars etc. Pharmacists should be asked to reflect on how they have changed their practice and whether there are any aspects that require further tuition or self-directed study
Assessments due in the next couple of months – discuss progress that the student has made so far (e.g. identifcation of a suitable patient for a case report) and agree a date for the WES to receive a draft for proof-reading
Any other concerns or issues of note
We recommend using this form to record the details of these monthly meetings.
If a pharmacist’s WES is on a prolonged period of absence (i.e. more than a month), due to either sickness or being placed on a secondment, arrangements need to be made for a temporary or permanent change of WES. In such cases, the pharmacist should discuss this with their line manager (or whoever is responsinble for assigning WESs in the department) and inform their Personal Tutor at LJMU. If a WES leaves their employing Trust part-way through their pharmacist’s course of study they must:
Honour any dates for SLEs arranged before they leave – if these clash with annual leave booked during this period, they should be arranged
Continue the formal monthly meetings with their pharmacist
Meet (before they leave) with the tutee’s new WES to discuss the student’s progress to date, assessments due for the current modules and any issues / concerns about the pharmacist. Alternatively, these details should be handed over to the Lead Pharmadcist for Education and Training if a new WES hasn’t been allocated before they leave