New ICCPE syllabus focuses on the importance of Continuing Professional Development

Irish Pharmacy Journal, October 2005

For the last two years, the phrase "Learning, the best medicine" has been at the core of ICCPE programming.

At first glance, it may seem little more than a clever phrase, prominently positioned on promotional materials. On further reflection, however, one can see the healing power of learning. True, the opportunities for continued learning provided by ICCPE allow Irish community pharmacists to heal any gaping wounds which may exist in their knowledge or skills. But, more importantly, the learning gained in ICCPE programmes enables pharmacists to apply new and relevant information to their daily practice, ensuring that the medicines their patients are prescribed are safe, indicated and effective. That is to say that learning with ICCPE enables pharmacists to make certain that patients in their care receive the best medicine.

In its forthcoming Autumn/Spring syllabus - in particular, its focus on Continuing Professional Development - ICCPE will be encouraging its members to conduct the learning equivalent of a medication review.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the theme for this semester's national roadshow, which will be rolled out to venues in 26 counties between October and March. The focus of the roadshow will be to encourage pharmacists to explore ways in which learning and experience can be used wisely to continually improve ways of working. It will look at the importance of establishing personal objectives for continuing education and will introduce a range of quality resources and learning opportunities to assist in the CPD process.

"The goal of the CPD roadshow is to encourage the type of reflective practice which unites learning and good practice into a single entity," says ICCPE Director, Orla Sheehan. "By committing to our own self-development, we are automatically working to promote quality and adaptability in the pharmacy profession," she says.

New additions to ICCPE live learning are plentiful and topical. In response to the findings of the National Taskforce on Obesity, a new course titled Tackling Obesity addresses the possible roles that community pharmacists can play in helping to curb the continuing growth in obesity levels in this country. Ongoing inward migration has introduced the average Irish community pharmacist to people from a variety of ethnic, social, cultural and religious backgrounds. Pharmaceutical Care to Ethnic Communities will deal with the health and pharmaceutical needs of various ethnic groups, covering medicines management issues, language and communication concerns, and highlighting the importance of promoting an understanding of beliefs, values and customs and the dignity of every patient. In the light of investigations at Leas Cross, a residential working conference - Pharmaceutical Care to People Living in Nursing Homes - will focus on the many implications for medicines administration, medication review and documentation inherent in the provision of care to patients in nursing homes. Other new courses include Adverse Drug Reactions, Biochemical Tests and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, Rationalisation of Antibiotic Use in the Community, Managing Upper GI Disease, HRT - What Are the Options? and Drug Interactions.

Adding value to the services provided in community pharmacy is a goal of ICCPE training. Several courses provided under the heading Service Development focus on potential initiatives which can enhance the role of community pharmacy in primary care, thus reducing the long-term burdens - financial and otherwise - on secondary care. Establishing a Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Clinic follows on from the Spring 2004 roadshow on Management and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease by setting out procedures for setting up a CVD clinic, including targeting patients, screening, quality assurance and standard operating procedures. Establishing a Community Pharmacy Anticoagulation Clinic is a day-long course building on the success of last term's Managing Warfarin in the Community module. In terms of accessibility, cost effectiveness and continuity of patient care, the community pharmacist is ideally placed to monitor patients on warfarin and other anticoagulants. This course will provide a starting-point for any pharmacist wishing to instigate such a service.

Another new addition to the ICCPE programme is the Mental Health Certificate. The Certificate will be awarded by ICCPE to pharmacists who complete a programme of five lectures (to be held in Cherry Orchard Hostipal, Dublin, between January and March) and submit an assigned task based on the lectures. Topics covered during the lectures will be Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Psychotic Disorders, Eating & Behavioural Disorders, and Addiction.

Collaborative training is a practice which enhances understanding and communication between healthcare professionals. In the coming months, ICCPE will collaborate with the ICGP in the delivery of courses on Workplace Health and Hormone Replacement Therapy, with the HSE-Midlands area on Oral Chemotherapy in the Community, with the National Poisons Information Centre (NPIC) on Management of Poisoning in the Community, with the IPU and the Equality Authority on Pharmabilities and with the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) on Health Literacy.

Community pharmacists operate within the realm of business as well as healthcare and effective management of the pharmacy's financial and human resources is critical to the quality of service provided. As well as returning courses such as Assertiveness Skills, Managing Your Time, Workplace Health and Broadening Your Outlook, new courses on Recruitment and Selection and Dealing with Conflict have been introduced for ICCPE's Autumn/Spring syllabus.

A range of open learning courses is available in DVD, book and CD-Rom formats for home study, with a number of new courses being introduced this term. These include Drugs in Lactation, Learning From Down Under: Aligning Policy with Practice, Introduction to Paediatric Pharmaceutical Care, Pharmaceutical Care of the Eye and Evidence-based Management of Respiratory Disease.

The Autumn/Spring ICCPE programme kicks off at the PSI Annual Conference on Saturday, October 15, with an afternoon training session titled Medicines for Children - Information for Healthcare Professionals, Children and their Carers. The session will include presentations by Mr. Ian Costello, Senior Editor of the newly published BNF for Children and Chair of the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacy Group (NPPG), and Professor Pat Bush, Professor Emeritus, University of Georgetown, and the world's leading researcher in the area of educating and informing children about their medicines. Ms Katrii Hameen-Anttila from Finland and Dr Natalia Ceberetenco from Moldova will provide an insight into the work they have been doing in their respective countries to empower children to use medicines appropriately. The session will also include a contribution from Ms. Frances Foley, who is currently developing educational material to promote safe use of medicines by children, as part of her MSc in Community Pharmacy at Trinity College Dublin.

A copy of the ICCPE programme for Autumn 2005-Spring 2006 will be distributed to all Irish community pharmacists in early October. Full details of all live learning and open learning courses will be posted on the ICCPE website at www.iccpe.ie