Author(s)

Claire May, Connor Thompson-Poole, Sam Ingram, Mairead O’Malley, Fahmida Ali, Michael Hopling

Why was it done?

The initiative aligned with NHS policy priorities to expand the prescribing workforce in primary care. Drawing on Health Education England’s research into “prescriber readiness,” it introduced targeted learning interventions to bridge the gap between academic preparation and clinical practice. The focus was on equipping students with the skills and confidence to contribute meaningfully to prescribing decisions, while embedding practical, patient-focused learning that supports prescribing competence and helps reduce the perceived burden on placement providers.

What was done?

University of Brighton and University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust co-developed a two-week pilot hospital placement to integrate student pharmacists into clinical teams. Embedded within a four-week experiential block, the placement aimed to meet prescribing-related outcomes at the required proficiency level outlined in the professional regulator’s Initial Education and Training (IET) Standards for Pharmacists, with a focus on patient-centred care and prescribing competence.

How was it done?

A two-pronged approach prepared students for placement through two weeks of simulation-based workshops focused on prescribing and clinical communication skills. This was complemented by hospital placements guided by a structured logbook, which included tasks such as patient histories, discharge planning, and clinical observations. Activities aligned with Supervised Learning Events (SLEs), including the Medicines Related Consultation Framework (MRCF), enabling students to demonstrate prescribing competencies in practice. The logbook also supported reflection, peer discussion, and multi-source feedback. Together, simulation and placement formed a cohesive framework for meeting IET standards and fostering prescribing readiness. Stakeholder engagement focused on risk-assessing activities and aligning them with Entrustable Professional Activities to ensure relevance and safety.

What has been achieved?

Module evaluation and assessment outcomes showed increased student confidence in clinical communication, medicines optimisation, and prescribing decisions. Students gained clearer insight into their role within multidisciplinary teams, while supervisors reported greater engagement and contributions to patient care. These insights informed the evolution of the experiential learning strategy and shaped future prescribing-focused educational interventions.

What next?

This initiative exemplifies good practice by bridging academic theory with clinical application. Its co-creation model, alignment with national standards, and emphasis on simulation-based learning make it highly transferable. Future developments will explore we can embed student pharmacists more into the clinical teams to support the workforce transformation across healthcare systems.

Author(s)

Mengato D, Cancanelli L, Colicchio A, Crivellaro G, Lombardi N, Torni F

Why was it done?

Clinical pharmacy in Italy is not officially institutionalized yet and education about it across Italian residency programs is heterogeneous, with limited opportunities for structured, practice-oriented learning. To address this gap, the contest was introduced in 2023 to foster harmonization and enhance residents’ practical competencies. The main goal was to engage future clinical pharmacists in a stimulating, competitive environment that reflects real-life decision-making, encourages collaboration, and supports the development of a shared professional identity.

What was done?

A national Clinical Pharmacy Contest was designed and implemented by the Italian Society of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics (SIFaCT) to promote standardized, competency-based education among Italian residents. The initiative uses a gamified, case-based learning model to develop clinical reasoning, teamwork, and problem-solving skills in real-world therapeutic contexts.

How was it done?

Residents from Hospital Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology schools across Italy competed in teams of four. The contest included three phases. Preliminary phase: submission of a medication review based on a simulated clinical case; Quarter-finals: online Jeopardy-style quiz; Semi-finals and final: structured quizzes and guided clinical case discussions, evaluated by expert panels during the SIFaCT National Congress. Organizational challenges such as ensuring fair participation and developing standardized evaluation tools were addressed by establishing a dedicated multidisciplinary committee.

What has been achieved?

Across three editions, 30 teams (120 residents) participated, with 48 finalists attending live sessions. A pilot survey from 40 respondents showed high satisfaction (mean 4.4/5), strong perceived usefulness (4.4/5) and complementarity (4.3/5) with university education. 91% would recommend the contest to colleagues, and 85% rated its usefulness in deepening clinical knowledge as 4 or 5/5. Participants reported improved clinical reasoning, teamwork, and awareness of the pharmacist’s clinical role.

What next?

The contest represents an innovative and scalable educational model that supports harmonization of clinical pharmacy training and inter-university collaboration. It could be adopted across Europe to strengthen clinical competencies, foster professional identity, and promote patient-centered care.

Author(s)

Connor Thompson-Poole
Sam Ingram

Why was it done?

The University of Brighton introduced an Experiential Learning Strategy in 2023 to enhance pharmacy education through progressive, practice-based learning. The strategy aimed to allow students to apply their knowledge through the Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) degree and strengthen their clinical preparedness and professional identity. This initiative is in response to the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) Initial Education and Training of Pharmacist (IETP) standards of 2021, which emphasise real-world competence and interprofessional collaboration.

What was done?

A structured experiential framework was implemented, utilising our ‘Teach > Simulate > Do’ model combining lectures, simulated clinical experiences, and real-world placements. Each year of study now includes both simulated practice activities, such as virtual clinical experiences and prescribing simulations, and direct placements across community, hospital, primary care, and specialist sectors.
A central Pharmacy Placement Operational Advisory Group (PPOAG) was established to co-create and quality assure placement provision in partnership with providers and national teams. Placement activities were supported by structured logbooks, learning agreements, and supervisor training resources to standardise expectations and feedback.

How was it done?

Over two years, the programme has expanded to over 120 multisector placement providers, offering students a total of 60 days of placement activity across the four-year MPharm degree. This expansion has opened access to previously inaccessible learning environments for undergraduate pharmacy students, including general practice, ambulance services, mental health trusts, and prison pharmacy. Simulated learning activities have been aligned with placement learning outcomes to ensure coherence between taught and experiential learning.

What has been achieved?

Student pharmacists reported improved clinical confidence and understanding of team-based care, and many students have gained part-time employment as a result of their placement experiences. Providers noted greater consistency and preparedness of students, and improved communication channels with the university. Placement networks across the region expanded significantly, increasing placement capacity and diversity.

What next?

Future work will focus on using both quantitative data, including placement capacity and completion rates, and qualitative data, such as student reflections and provider feedback, to continue to inform iterative development and quality enhancement of the programme. Continued collaboration with NHS and community partners will ensure sustainable and high-quality experiential learning for future cohorts.

Author(s)

Laura Maldonado Yagüe, Claudia Ramos Álvarez, Ana Herranz Alonso, Fernando Bustelo Paz, Eva González-Haba Peña, María Sanjurjo Saez

Why was it done?

Patient recruitment is still nowadays one of the barriers that the clinical investigation encounters: almost 80% of the clinical trials experiment delays and around 30% close due to the difficulties to identify candidates. Currently, the recruitment process in many of the hospital sites is based on the manual review of electronic medical records (EMR), which results in higher workload and higher errors and omissions. This tool aims to reduce manual screening time by 50% and increase recruitment by 20% always ensuring regulatory compliance (ICH-GCP, RGPD and national biomedical investigation laws).

What was done?

The Pharmacy Department led the initiative to evaluate TrialGPT, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system designed to optimize clinical trials patient recruitment, in the hospital setting. Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Large Language Model (LLM) are advanced techniques used by TrialGPT which enables the automatic detection of potential eligible patients through their Electronic Medical Records (EMR) matching their profile to the inclusion and exclusion criteria for each clinical trial.

How was it done?

The project was coordinated by a Clinical Trials Unit of a tertiary hospital with multidisciplinary collaboration between pharmacist, investigators and IT specialists. Anonymized data of 50 active clinical trials from oncology, neurology and rare diseases areas were used. Technical challenges such as data heterogeneity, algorithmic bias and staff acceptance were encountered, in order to address these, an iterative training model, multidisciplinary workshops and ethical evaluation were used.

What has been achieved?

Preliminary simulations indicate that TrialGPT is able to reduce half the necessary time for patients screening and improve recruitment efficiency without compromising data security or clinical precision. The model achieved high sensitivity and specificity identifying eligible patients, demonstrating a high potential to optimize hospital investigation flowcharts.

What next?

A validation phase will evaluate the real-world performance and scalability in multiple sites. This initiative exemplifies an innovative digitalization and automatization of a process which could be transferred as a model for European hospitals in order to improve patient access to clinical trials, thus, advanced therapies.

Pdf

Author(s)

V. LE BIGOT, A. BROS, F. NATIVEL, T. ADNET, D. CABELGUENNE, F. LINDENBERG, S. GENAY, P. BESNIER, S. RODIER

Why was it done?

Creation of a training tool for infusion set-ups in a digital 360° virtual reality, utilizing a fun format based on learning from errors. It is specifically designed for novice professionals, with a focus on pharmaceuticals teams.

What was done?

Errors in infusion set-ups are common and can have serious consequences on patient care. Adhering to best practices in infusion is essential to mitigate these risks. Therefore, comprehensive training for both healthcare staff on proper techniques and procedures, is crucial to ensure safe and effective infusion management. Choosing a digital navigating environment allows a remote or a mobile use and enhances interactivity between the trainer and learners when used for in-person training.

How was it done?

A multicenter working-group of 9 pharmacists with expertise in infusion and healthcare simulation was formed, divided into three subgroups: two for content creation and one for reviewing. Firstly, the priority issues were selected, drawn on the guidelines issued by learned societies. An illustrated presentation of the most frequently encountered infusion errors was developed using an online Learning Management System platform, integrating the teaching content into a 360° virtual reality environment.

What has been achieved?

A virtual patient pathway was designed in 3 different environments: an operating room, a post-operative recovery room and a ward. Within the virtual spheres, 12 “points of interest” (POIs) were defined as a clickable elements, focusing on predefined key themes. Each POI was illustrated with photos or videos and included errors that required learners to answer up to three multiple choice questions (MCQs). In total, there were 25 MCQs. Additionally, each POI featured an explanatory debriefing slide that was presented afterwards.

What next?

This training tool will be tested under real-life conditions at a national pharmacy congress. It will be approved by a panel of experts/learned societies, then evaluated by trainers/learners, so that it can find its place in the training programs of all healthcare professionals involved with infusion set-up.

Pdf

Author(s)

Elisa Vitale, Quentin Perrier, Arnaud Tanty, Claire Chapuis, Armance Grevy, Agathe Landoas, Dorothée Lombardo, Prudence Gibert, Lénaik Doyen, Benoit Allenet, Pierrick Bedouch, Sébastien Chanoine

Why was it done?

In France, during their 5th year of study, pharmacy students complete a six-month full-time equivalent internship in a hospital setting. At our hospital, most students spend six months in a care unit to perform pharmaceutical care and promote quality use of medicines. These missions are carried out in collaboration with all healthcare professionals, either under the direct supervision of a pharmacy resident, senior pharmacist, or independently. While tasks assigned to pharmacy students in the care unit with direct pharmaceutical supervision were well known, other students reported difficulties in understanding what was expected of them, as well as a lack of confidence when integrating an established interprofessional team.

What was done?

The aim was to create and evaluate a specific training session for all pharmacy students joining a care unit for the first time.

How was it done?

Four hospital pharmacists collaborated to define the learning objectives and select the appropriate teaching tools. A pre- and post-training self-assessment questionnaire consisting of seven questions was created to evaluate students’ self-efficacy regarding the learning objectives and their satisfaction with the training.

What has been achieved?

A four-hour training session, divided into five sequences, was created. The objectives were: 1) Highlighting the challenges of joining an interprofessional team, 2) identifying the tasks and learning opportunities for pharmacy students, 3) simulating a medication reconciliation, 4) managing pharmaceutical issues through problem-solving exercises.
Regarding the evaluation, students reported that they: a) were more enthusiastic about the idea of working in a care unit after the training course (85% vs. 74%, p=0.001); b) had a clear understanding of their mission (84% vs. 53%, p<0.001); c) felt more confident in performing a medication reconciliation (93% vs. 35%, p<0.001); d) were more aware of the pharmaceutical resources available to them (95% vs. 27%, p<0.001); e) had a better understanding of how hospital pharmacy is organized (58% vs. 19%, p<0.001). Additionally, 99% found the training useful, and 94% felt that the training methods aligned with the training objectives.

What next?

Assess the long-term impact of the training and its effectiveness in ensuring that pharmacy students perform pharmaceutical care successfully and confidently

Pdf

Author(s)

Stine Hygum Sørensen, Henrik Nielsen, Ulla Kloster, Anne Grethe Nørgaard Kyndi, Maja Vad Mortensen, Dorthe Ludvigsen

Why was it done?

The concept of medicine at Gødstrup Hospital is based on Patient involvement in the medicine process. Consequently, the patients bring their own medicine, which is stored in the patient’s room, and additional medicine is supplied in original packages. Medicine dispensing is performed in the patient’s room to allow patient participation. The medicine rooms at the hospital are quite small, because the majority of the medicine is with the patient, but it also makes medicine rooms unsuited for on-site training of new nurses.

What was done?

Virtual Reality (VR) technology was applied for introduction of newly hired nurses to medicine rooms at the hospital.

Newly hired nurses are given a four hour introduction to the concept of medicine at Gødstrup Hospital, Denmark. The introduction is given by an interdisciplinary team of a clinical pharmacist, a pharmacologist and an experienced nurse. The introduction is given in collaboration with the Centre for Research and Education (NIDO) once a month. This ensures that newly hired nurses are given the same, relevant introduction when needed.

Introduction to medicine rooms is part of the training for nurses in introductory positons. Using VR newly hired nurses are given a different and exciting introduction to medicine rooms.

How was it done?

In collaboration with the simulation unit at NIDO we made a VR-video to enable up to 20 new nurses to see the same introduction at the same time. Hospital Pharmacy staff is featured in the VR recording and guides viewers to specific parts of the medicine room, explaining important topics such as waste disposal, hygiene and anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) groups.

What has been achieved?

The participants are positive and give the following feedback to the VR segment of the introduction: “It was significantly easier to deal with as a newbie”. “It was very visual as being there in reality”. “There was time to learn in a calm environment”, “It worked fine as a lesson” and “It is a good change from backboard teaching.”

What next?

The monthly introductions continues and further collaboration with NIDO will result in lessons with topics such as pharmaceutical formulations and drug calculations. Perhaps VR will be included in this too.

Author(s)

Mathieu Fournel, Herve Trout , Jean Eudes Fontan , Marie Cabagnols

Why was it done?

At night, our Pharmacy residents are alone to lead the patient interview, which can be stressful and complex. They currently receive a theoretical course as training, which is insufficient and lead us to reinforce their training by organizing this simulation program.

What was done?

In our hospital, treatments for accidental exposition to blood or other body fluids (AEB) are prescribed by the emergency unit doctors and are delivered by our pharmacy residents who also give associated advices. In order to improve the quality of this procedure and train our pharmacy residents, we created and tested simulation case-scenarios of pharmaceutical interview of AEB’s victims with role-playing game.

How was it done?

We based our training program on the French Health Authority guidelines. Scenarios are based on our real-life experiences and potential clinically relevant situations.

What has been achieved?

First, we evaluated pharmacy residents’ theoretical knowledge and their self-confidence about AEB interview with anonymous questionnaires.
We created five different scenarios and tested them during six role-playing game sessions in two weeks with six pharmacy residents.
Every session lasted approximatively one hour, each resident played one scenario as a resident and one as a patient. Sessions started with briefing and ended with a detailed debriefing. All our scenarios are efficient, and debriefings were interactive and interesting. Evaluation of the sessions by pharmacy residents showed great satisfaction. They evaluated our scenarios as relevant and rated simulation training higher than lecture-based courses. Moreover, informal feedbacks are very positive.

What next?

Our next step is to film a simulated pharmaceutical interview of AEB’s patient for new pharmacy resident as an example before their first interview. Simulation will be part of the training of every new pharmacy resident in our hospital. Furthermore, we would like to extend simulation training to other types of patient’s pharmaceutical interviews.

Pdf

Author(s)

Charlotte Ménage, Mickaël Le Barbu, Adrien Borowik, Christine Housset, Sandrine Voisin, Florence Lémann, Jean-Michel Descoutures

Why was it done?

An audit of the medication storage cabinets was performed in 2015 in 19 care units. Over a three month period, more than 5000 inappropriate medecines were found which are likely to alter the process of pillboxes prepation by the nurses. Our objective was to develop a training program for nurses to identify and avoid near miss events during the medication administration process.

What was done?

A simulation learning program for nurses was implemented to secure the drug pillboxes preparation.

How was it done?

A multiprofessional team (i.e., pharmacist, physician, pharmacist resident, head nurse, risk manager, hospital hygienist) collaboratively developed a simulation-based workshop. Two mobile cabinets were designed. They were composed of 28 medicine boxes, a patient pillbox and a laptop with a mock prescription. They included the use of a simulation scenario with errors (e.g., expired tablets, damaged blister packs, mixed pharmaceutical forms or dosages, non-formulary drugs). The nurses had to prepare the patient’s pillbox for one day and then were asked to solve five questions about good practices. A validated assessment grid was filled in by two team members, and finally discussed with the nurse about the successes and pitfalls as an education purpose. At the end of the simulation program, nurses had to answer a satisfaction survey.

What has been achieved?

47 nurses experienced the simulation-based workshop. It took 40 min for each nurse on the same week. 89% removed the deteriorated tablets remaining in the pillbox and did not unpack any unit dose. However, 81% were unable to prepare the right medicine, the right dose, the right route for the right patient at the right time, because of a lack of patient identification on the pillbox. Some critical procedures were considered not appropriately followed: i.e., detecting acetaminophen prescription duplicate (only 26%), throwing away medicines in the right disposable bin (21%), checking the tablet expiry dates (70%), using a drug for which the patient was not allergic (62%). The 47 nurses were all together satisfied (100%) with this workshop.

What next?

The simulation based program was adopted by the hospital department of nurse care. It is now integrated in the yearly re-assessment skills program of all nurses.