The EAHP Board, elected for three-year terms, oversees the association’s activities. Comprising directors responsible for core functions, it meets regularly to implement strategic goals. Supported by EAHP staff, the Board controls finances, coordinates congress organization, and ensures compliance with statutes and codes of conduct.
PC1 – Edutainment – using simulation for pharmaceutical technology training
Date:
12/03/2025 - 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm
13/03/2025 - 9:00 am to 10:00 am
Room:
Hall A3
Facilitator:
Juraj Sýkora
Speakers:
Abstract:
Link to EAHP Statements
Section 1 – Introductory Statements and Governance: Statements – 1.2
Section 3 – Production and Compounding: Statements – 3.4, 3.5
Section 6 – Education and Research: Statement Statements – 6.3, 6.4
Abstract
Pharmaceutical technologies include methods, techniques, and instrumentation in the compounding of drugs and other preparations used in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Training is one of the pillars of quality assurance in pharmaceutical technology.
It is time to change the way operators are trained. To promote effective and satisfactory learning, three main principles must be applied: to keep the lessons short, to promote interactive teaching and to introduce edutainment. The new paradigm is that of “blended-learning”: teaching basic knowledge at distance (e-learning/micro-learning) and bringing learners together only to work on technical skills (know-how) and non-technical skills (interpersonal skills) in an interactive and fun way. In these face-to-face teachings, there is the need to forget the ex-cathedra courses and to replace them with interactive approaches, such as peer learning (learners become the teachers), simulation and games.
Simulation is a pedagogical tool now widely used in healthcare education. Healthcare simulation is a technique that creates a situation or environment to allow persons to experience a representation of a real healthcare event for the purpose of practice, learning, evaluation, testing, or to gain understanding of systems or human actions. In other words, simulation makes an experimental situation as close to reality as possible.
Simulation in hospital pharmaceutical technology education is used in three different ways: first, as a playful pedagogical tool, with error-based simulations (cleanrooms and preparation sheets with errors), or game- based simulations (escape games, role-plays, and board games); second, as an electronic tool with virtual reality (virtual cleanrooms and serious games), or augmented reality (3D glasses); finally, to evaluate chemical contamination (fluorescein and quinine tests) and microbiological contamination (media-fill tests) during compounding.
These new approaches are beginning to gain ground in the field of pharmaceutical technology. They are very effective (better than traditional teaching), they are efficient because they rationalise the time of all those involved, and they bring pleasure and satisfaction to learners, as well as to teachers.
Learning objectives
After the session, the participant should be able to:
- List training methods and techniques used in medicine and pharmacy.
- Describe simulation techniques currently used in the field of hospital pharmaceutical technology education.
- To predict how simulation technologies could be better used in the future.
Educational need addressed
Training of hospital pharmacy personnel is essential for quality assurance in pharmaceutical technology used in hospital pharmacy. Therefore, the hospital pharmacist must know, appraise and apply suitable training methods.
Keywords
Pharmaceutical technology, quality assurance, training, education, edutainment, simulation, game.