Exploring how initial pharmacy education prepares people for practice
A mixed-method study combined survey evidence with 32 depth interviews to explore how initial education and training prepares pharmacists for practice and how it may need to evolve.
The brief
- As part of its strategic work, the GPhC commissioned Enventure Research to examine how well initial education and training prepared pharmacists for practice and how it should respond to changes in professional roles.
The approach
- The research used an online survey followed by 32 in-depth telephone interviews.
- Three stakeholder groups were included: recently registered pharmacists, employers and supervisors, and pharmacy policy makers.
- 1,489 survey responses were received, with interview participants selected to reflect a mix of settings, nations, and registration histories.
The outcome
- The final report combined quantitative analysis with the richness of qualitative feedback and set out actionable conclusions.
- The GPhC used the findings to inform its review of initial education and training.
- Enventure Research also delivered a workshop presentation to the education advisory group.
“We have recently worked with Enventure Research on a piece of research looking into pharmacists’ initial education and training and preparation for practice. Enventure have been excellent to work with, both professional and friendly in their approach. They kept us informed of progress throughout the project, managed all deadlines despite the tight timescales and were very responsive to any requests, changes or queries. The research was a very robust piece of work and provided us with a detailed report that clearly summarised the key findings as well providing the richness of the feedback from participants.”