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Against a backdrop of concerns regarding the quality and equity of the final practice-based pre-registration training year, the purpose of this paper is to examine how robust and equitable current education and training arrangements in Great Britain are in preparing newly qualified pharmacists (NQPs) for practice.

In addition to considering relevant regulator, policy and research literature, this paper presents findings from a longitudinal qualitative study that tracked 20 pharmacy trainees and their tutors during pre-registration training and early registered practice. Trainees were interviewed four times over a 12-month period; tutors were interviewed twice. Semi-structured interviews explored learning and development, work environment and support received. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically using template analysis.

Currently, there are no requirements tor training pre-registration tutors, or for accreditation or quality assurance of training sites. Longitudinal interview findings showed that community trainees developed knowledge of over-the-counter and less complex, medicines whereas hospital trainees learnt about specialist medicines on ward rotations. Hospital trainees received support from a range of pharmacists, overseen by their tutor and other healthcare professionals. Community trainees generally worked within a small pharmacy team, closely supervised by their tutor, who was usually the sole pharmacist. NQPs were challenged by having full responsibility and accountability as independent practitioners, without formal support mechanisms.

The variability in trainee experience and exposure across settings raises concerns over the robustness and equity of pre-registration training. The lack of formal support mechanisms post-registration may pose risks to patient safety and pharmacists’ well-being.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the introduction of an online induction programme including an interactive webinar on a distance learning course and to present student feedback on the programme. It focuses on lessons learnt and implications for others implementing similar induction programmes.

A self-completion questionnaire was sent to all students enroled on the programme, including those who did not attend the webinar or participate in the online induction programme. This was followed up with a semi-structured interview. The analysis focused on the student experience of the induction programme.

Overall, students reported to be satisfied with the online programme. The webinar encouraged engagement with some elements of the online workshop and was felt to complement the other learning opportunities available online. The webinar was particularly valued for providing a “face” to the course, facilitating interactivity among tutors and students and helping the students to feel part of the University. Students also reported that the webinar had the advantage of allowing a social interaction between them.

A number of key changes related to multiple offerings of the webinar and the timing of activities in the online workshop were highlighted to encourage participation. Greater clarity on what is required in the induction and how long it would take would also encourage participation.

This case study is one of the few to evaluate the inclusion of webinar technology within an online induction programme and, therefore, has value in this context.

The purpose of this article is to explore factors influencing career deciding amongst pharmacy students and graduates in the UK.

Group interviews were used to devise a topic guide for five subsequent focus groups with pharmacy students and graduates. Focus groups were tape‐recorded, recordings transcribed, and transcripts analysed. Key themes and interlinking factors relating to pharmacy career deciding were identified in the transcripts, following a constructivist approach.

Participants' described making a “good fit” between themselves, their experiences, social networks etc. and pharmacy. Central to a coherent career deciding narrative were: having a job on graduation; and the instrumental advantage of studying a vocational course.

Focusing on career deciding of UK pharmacy students and graduates may limit the study's generalisability to other countries. However, our findings are relevant to those interested in understanding students' motivations for healthcare careers, since our results suggest that making a “good fit” describes a general process of matching between a healthcare career and personal experience.

As we have found that pharmacy career deciding was not, usually, a planned activity, career advisors and those involved in higher education recruitment should take into account the roles played by personal preferences and values in choosing a degree course.

A qualitative study like this can illustrate how career deciding occurs and provide insight into the process from a student's perspective. This can help inform guidance processes, selection to healthcare professions courses within the higher education sector, and stimulate debate amongst those involved with recruitment of healthcare workers about desirable motivators for healthcare careers.

The purpose of this paper is to critically reflect on evidence relating to the development and delivery of apprenticeships and its potential implications for pre-registration healthcare education.

An iterative review of English language literature published after 1995 to date relating to apprentices and apprenticeships was undertaken. In total, 20 studies were identified for inclusion. Only three related to the most recent apprenticeship initiative in the UK, and the majority were UK based.

Three key themes were identified: entering an apprenticeship, the learning environment and perceptions of apprenticeships. Successful completion of an apprenticeship relies heavily on both understanding the role the apprentice is seeking to inhabit, as well as well-structured and comprehensive support whilst on the programme. These findings are then discussed with reference to professional body requirements and pre-registration education in healthcare.

Appropriate work experience and support for learning are critical to apprenticeship success and apprenticeships should be given equal status to traditional healthcare education routes.

The introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy in April 2017 (Finance Act, 2016), acknowledgement that all National Health Service Trusts will be levy payers and the introduction of targets relating to apprenticeships for public sector employers have all contributed to growing interest in the apprenticeship agenda in health and social care.

Research on patient-centred professionalism in pharmacy is scarce compared with other health professions and in particular with pharmacists early in their careers. The purpose of this paper is to explore patient-centred professionalism in early career pharmacists and to describe reported behaviours.

This study explored patient-centred professional values and reported behaviours, taking a qualitative approach. In all, 53 early-career pharmacists, pharmacy tutors and pharmacy support staff, practising in community and hospital pharmacy in England took part; the concept of patient-centred professionalism was explored through focus group interviews and the critical incident technique was used to elicit real-life examples of professionalism in practice.

Triangulation of the data revealed three constructs of pharmacy patient-centred professionalism: being professionally competent, having ethical values and being a good communicator.

It is not known whether our participants’ perspectives reflect those of all pharmacists in the early stages of their careers. The data provide meaning for the concept of patient-centred professionalism. The work could be extended by developing a framework for wider application. Patient-centred professionalism in pharmacy needs further investigation from the patient perspective.

The findings have implications for pharmacy practice and education, particularly around increased interaction with patients.

The data contribute to a topic of importance to patients and in relation to UK health policy, which allocates more directly clinical roles to pharmacists, which go beyond the dispensing and supply of medicines.

The methods included a novel application of the critical incident technique, which generated empirical evidence on a previously under-researched topic.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential approaches to continuing education and training delivery for community pharmacists to equip them to support mental health consumers and carers with illnesses such as depression and anxiety.

Review of national and international literature about community pharmacists’ roles, beliefs and attitudes towards mental health, continuing education delivery for the workforce and training recommendations to equip pharmacy workforce.

Training involving consumer educators was effective in reducing stigma and negative attitudes. Interactive and contextually relevant training appeared to be more effective than didactic strategies. Narratives and role-plays (from the perspective of consumers, carers and health professionals) are effective in promoting more positive attitudes and reduce stigma. Flexible on-line delivery methods with video footage of expert and consumer narratives were preferable for a cost-effective programme accessible to a wide community pharmacy workforce.

There is a clear need for mental health education for community pharmacists and support staff in Australia. Training should target reducing stigma and negative attitudes, improving knowledge and building confidence and skills to improve pharmacy staff's perceived value of working with mental health consumers. The delivery mode should maximise uptake.

Over the last two decades there has been a substantial increase in the number and range of service sector SMEs. The management competence of the owner‐manager and/or senior staff is crucial to their success. Developing appropriate competencies presents a particular challenge for professional service SMEs, since the key players are more likely to be motivated by the perceived attractions of professional practice than the commercial and managerial aspects of the enterprise. Drawing upon the experiences of community pharmacists in the UK as an empirical frame of reference, consideration is given to the key management competencies, both operational and strategic, which are required to operate a professional service enterprise successfully. Issues concerning the provision of management training for community pharmacists are also highlighted.

Focuses on retail pharmacy in the UK. Current concerns are identified, as is the general trajectory of European Union policy in this area. Consideration is given to the role played by individual pharmacists in primary health care within the NHS. Considers the potential for differential impact of the European Union proposals and draws attention to possible competitive consequences.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of the integration of digital technology into a Pre-Registration Nursing degree programme. This process illuminated student perceptions of the impact of the digital technology platform on the context of work-based learning and also potential employability in the future.

Adopting design research as an overarching methodological approach for this study enabled application of the phenomena of complex curriculum justification, design and development to an observable context. In its rawest form, this was a pragmatic and relatively a theoretical approach, nevertheless underpinned by robust mixed-methods framework, incorporating anecdote circles. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase approach to thematic analysis was adopted as a systematic, yet recursive, approach to inductive qualitative analysis.

Results of this pedagogical study were consistent with the stance that technology enhanced learning has a tangible impact on the socio-cognitive learning of students by providing a mechanism for engaging with decision making, problem solving and reflexive praxis. In particular, the Nurse Navigator System was perceived as a mechanism of enhancing the potential for the establishment of communities of practice in which the co-construction of meaningful knowledge about patient care could be established.

This pedagogical study was context specific to the curriculum model operationalised at the University of Sunderland and as such the perceptions captured are not generalizable but rather provide an insight into student perceptions of the implementation of the digital technology in the context of work-based learning and also the perceived impact on employability that this might have in the future.

Pivotal to the success of this, though, is the capacity of clinical and academic staff who can facilitate this sufficiently well in practice and a period of preparation for students so that they can understand the distinction between cognitive, psychomotor and affective domain learning and the places and integration of each across an academic curriculum.

The study revealed the concept of social interactivity for affective domain learning was impacted positively upon by the integration of technology enhanced learning (i.e. the Nurse Navigator System).

This pedagogical research provides a fundamentally unique consideration of the perceived potential impact of a digital technology platform to affective domain learning. Since this is imperative to the tacit knowledge nursing students gain during their education and training for this specific vocational and academic field this is of great value to educationalists in the nursing and allied health fields. The methodological approach adopted also has capacity for transferability to these professions.

Paramedics became nationally registered in 2018 in Australia. Prior to this, there was no central regulation of the profession with reliance on organisational regulation through employers. As paramedics expanded their scope, role and range of employers, especially outside statutory agencies, there was increasing need to engage in professional regulation. Regulation is more than a legal and bureaucratic framework. The purpose of the paper states that the way paramedics interact with their new regulatory environment impacts and is influenced by the professionalisation of the discipline. Regulation also redefines their positionality within the profession.

Two mixed-method surveys were undertaken. A pre-registration survey occurred in the month prior to regulation commencing (N = 419) followed by the second survey 31 months later (N = 407). This paper reports the analysis of qualitative data from the post-registration survey and provides comparison to the pre-registration survey which has been previously reported. Analysis was undertaken using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Themes from the pre-registration survey continued however became more nuanced. Participants broadly supported registration and saw it as empowering to the profession. Some supported registration but were disappointed by its outcome, others rejected registration and saw it as divisive and oppressive.

Paramedics are beginning to come to terms with increasing professionalisation, of which regulation is one component. Changes can be seen in professional identity and engagement with professional practice; however, this is nascent and is deserving of additional research to track the profession as it continues to evolve.