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Christopher Chapman is a fifth-year pharmacy undergraduate
at the University of Bradford
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The Broad spectrum feature is open to any writer.
Contributions of 1,100 to 1,200 words, commenting on topical issues,
should be sent to managing editor Graeme Smith for consideration
e-mail graeme.smith@pharmj.org.uk
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Since the beginning of February, preregistration trainees all over Britain
have begun the long run-up to their Royal Pharmaceutical Society registration
examinations with job applications and dreaded appraisals. But what does
all of this entail?
One comment that I often hear from registered pharmacists, usually over
Hobnobs and Digestives in the tearoom, is how they never had to sit an
examination. Usually it is said with a warm-hearted, commiserative tone,
and I always smile back personably and wonder if they really know just
how much more a preregistration trainee has to do now. Having finished
my sandwich placements and returned to the University at Bradford for
my final burst of academia, it is easy for me to recount the exact nature
of the task I am up against.
Before I can even consider preparing for the examination, or my final
semester of dissertation work and modules, there is the constant, threatening
weight of job applications resting upon my shoulders.
In one aspect I feel slightly more confident, having finished my sandwich
placement, but I know that other preregistration trainees, still working
in both community and hospital, have this consideration as well. What
job should I take? What hours do I want to work? Do I want community
or hospital, or some exotic discipline that avoids that juicy dilemma
altogether? If I choose hospital, do I go for a clinical diploma or a
residency, or both? If I choose community, do I go independent or for
one of the major employers?
They are questions without set answers, dependent more on personal choice
than a set pattern, but a major worry for us all. Hospitals have already
begun to interview, some have even selected their next employees, while
community pharmacies have also begun to screen potential candidates.
Now is the time that we all make the biggest choices in our lives: the
choices that determine our future careers.
If that were not enough to raise concern (and believe me when I say it
is), there are also the side considerations to think about. The new fitness-to-practise
requirements may not be fully defined as yet, but rumours and mumblings
of having to register with a primary care trust three months before starting
work tremble up the spines of many preregistration trainees. It feels
as though we are tying ourselves to a location, even before we have fully
decided where to go.
Of course, there is little point pondering the future and the route I
should take when I have yet to qualify. Before we can even reach the
examination, preregistration trainees have to pass the 70 or so competencies
set out by the Society. Not only do we need to show our ability to handle
pharmacy issues (which is hard, especially since in practice it is difficult
to gather evidence of, say, checking prescriptions), but also there are
the management concerns, the evidence required in communication and conflict
resolution, and the dreaded audit requirement.
There is also the need to search for other qualifications; all preregistration
trainees must be qualified first-aiders, for example. It is easy to lose
your breath in a panic attack as you look at your dauntingly empty evidence
portfolio and wonder where the evidence is all going to emerge.
Far and away, however, the examination is the main bead of sweat that
trickles down the neck of the future pharmacist. Granted, there is a
plethora of other concerns, but deep down I think most people concentrate
on the final push between student and professional. Why? Because you
are on your own; there are no tutor words to back you and support you,
no stalling as you search for the answer, and no helpful guides only
a telephone call away. Pharmacy is an overwhelming subject, constantly
moving and changing, and preregistration trainees can feel as though
they know nothing at times.
The actual requirements are straightforward. We have to sit two papers;
one is open-book, where we are allowed to use the British National Formula,
the Drug Tariff and the Medicines, Ethics and Practice guide to help
us; the other is a closed book paper with no reference sources available.
In addition to this we also have a calculations paper to complete during
the open book examination, which comprises 20 multiple-choice questions.
The pass mark for these examinations is 70 per cent overall (although
you must get 70 per cent in the calculation section), which is the equivalent
of a first class honours degree in a university examination.
It may sound simple, indeed 70 per cent may sound rather generous, but
everyone in the profession knows how it feels to sit an examination.
Your mind goes blank, your palms turn to pads of sweaty cold, and you
constantly wonder if you have misread the question; it is far from easy.
The questions may all be multiple choice but, if anything, that makes
it harder.
What was once a simple matter of knowing something (or not) is now a
game of guess and second guess, where two answers seem just as appealing.
All students are ready for it, although come June I doubt anyone will
feel that way.
Preregistration trainees and sandwich course final-year students do not
have it easy. We are not only learning and adapting to practice, undergoing
a process of continuing professional development in excess of statutory
requirements (the average preregistration trainee needs to produce two
pieces of evidence a week to make sure all performance standards are
met), but we are also wondering about our future.
Depending on the course, we are either currently learning about the realities
of practice and the drugs that the courses have not had time to teach
us, or studying subjects in depth while juggling the demands of a dissertation.
We are making the first key choices in our tentative steps to join the
profession. We are worrying about examinations and finances, interviews
and careers, and, of course, that constant nagging question: what if
it all goes wrong?
So, next time you are appreciative of not having to sit the examination,
remember the other issues that run thought a preregistration trainee’s
head, and maybe give them an extra Hobnob when you are in the tea room.
They will be grateful, I promise. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal