The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7403 p653
3 June 2006

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· DTB
· Education
· Independent prescribing (2)
· Medicines use reviews (2)
· Section 60 Order
· Council election
· The Council

Letters to the Editor

Education

Tutors must not take their roles lightly

From Mr K. Kiang

I think David Thomas’s comments on newly qualified pharmacists are unfair (PJ, 27 May, p623). It should be emphasised that the preregistration year is designed to address his concerns over the competency of preregistration trainees in proprietary medicines and minor ailments, and in many other areas of pharmacy practice. It is important to recognise that both the tutor and the trainee are equally responsible for the preregistration year. Tutors should expose their trainees to as many different experiences as possible and trainees are actively encouraged to seek learning opportunities whenever possible.

I fully share Mr Thomas’s views and frustration if the preregistration trainee does not take the initiative and seek to achieve the standards in the competences. However, it should be noted that the tutor has the ultimate say in deciding if his or her trainee is fit to practise as a qualified pharmacist and, therefore, the trainee should not be signed off if the competences have not been achieved. Tutors should realise that in signing off a trainee, he or she has taken the responsibility of assuring the Royal Pharmaceutical Society that the trainee has met the standards prescribed.

The preregistration year is hard work for both the tutor and the trainee and the role of a tutor should not be taken lightly. Signing off an incompetent trainee is as grave a mistake as a dispensing error, since the would-be newly qualified pharmacist could put the wider public at risk.

Kevin Kiang
Preregistration trainee
Nottingham

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