Introduction Inter‐Professional Education (IPE) is becoming an integral part of many professional programmes throughout the United Kingdom, ensuring health professionals are competent to work as part of an inter‐professional team upon entry into their profession. IPE has become a fundamental component of curriculum content in health and social care degrees. Aims Research aim – to evaluate a simulated IPE intervention. Methods A one day IPE intervention, “Evening On‐Call” was run involving nursing and medical students and pre‐registration pharmacists (student pharmacists in year 5 of training) in an on‐call setting. This IPE incorporated manikin and actor patients in a simulated ward. During the intervention, the 3 groups of students are assessed under observation on their clinical, prioritisation and communication skills. Participants perceptions of this intervention were evaluated by completion of a questionnaire to capture their perceptions regarding the experience, the pre‐IPL briefing and post‐IPL feedback and perceived relevance of this training. Free text sections collected additional comments and a follow‐up questionnaire was sent 6 months later. Results Initial questionnaire feedback was predominantly positive for each professional group. The majority perceived the simulated IPL had given them a greater understanding of other professionals’ roles, had enhanced their professional confidence and would help them prioritise workload once qualified. The 6‐months follow‐up questionnaire supported the initial questionnaire findings. Some responses highlighted that participants believed the simulated IPL had helped them work more effectively with other healthcare professionals, communicate more effectively and better prioritise their workload. There may be some evidence of sustained self‐reported effectiveness in teaching certain professional and clinical skills to participants using this type of simulated intervention.

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BackgroundIncreasingly the global policy direction is for patient-facing pharmacist prescribers. The ‘UK Prescribing Safety Assessment’ (PSA) was developed for medical graduates to demonstrate prescribing competencies in relation to the safe and effective use of medicines.ObjectivesTo determine PSA performance of final year undergraduate student pharmacists (year 4) and pre-registration pharmacy graduates (year 5) and explore their opinions on its suitability. SettingScotland, UKMethodsFinal year undergraduates (n= 238) and pharmacy pre-registration graduates (n= 167) were briefed and undertook the PSA. PSA questions were mapped to specific thematic areas with 30 questions over 60 minutes. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics. A questionnaire was completed to gauge opinions on appropriateness of the PSA.Main Outcome Measure PSA scoresResultsMean total PSA score for pre-registration graduates (64.4, SD 10) was significantly higher than for undergraduates (51.2, SD 12.0,) (p<0.001). Pre-registration graduates performed significantly better across all question areas (all p<0.001 other than ‘adverse drug reactions’, p<0.01). Hospital pre-registration graduates performed statistically significantly better than community with higher overall scores (67.4, SD 9.8 v 63.2, SD 9.8, p<0.05). Positive views on the appropriateness of the approach and the usability of the online interface were obtained from participants. ConclusionHospital graduates performed better than the undergraduates, but there is a need to improve prescribing skills in all, most notably in diagnostic skills. The PSA is acceptable to the participants. These results will help inform pharmacy curricula development and provides a cross-disciplinary method of assessment of prescribing competence.

Introduction Inter-professional education (IPE) is becoming an integral part of many professional programmes throughout the UK, ensuring health professionals are competent to work as part of an inter-professional team upon entry into their profession. IPE has become a fundamental component of curriculum content in health and social care degrees. Aims Research aim - to evaluate a simulated IPE intervention. Methods A one day IPE intervention, ‘Evening On-Call’ was run involving nursing and medical students and pre-registration pharmacists (student pharmacists in year 5 of training) in an on-call setting. This IPE incorporated manikin and actor patients in a simulated ward. During the intervention, the 3 groups of students are assessed under observation on their clinical, prioritisation and communication skills. Participants perceptions of this intervention were evaluated by completion of a questionnaire to capture their perceptions regarding the experience, the pre-IPL briefing and post-IPL feedback and perceived relevance of this training. Free text sections collected additional comments and a follow-up questionnaire was sent six months later. Results Initial questionnaire feedback was predominantly positive for each professional group. The majority perceived the simulated IPL had given them a greater understanding of other professionals’ roles, had enhanced their professional confidence and would help them prioritise workload once qualified. The 6 months follow up questionnaire supported the initial questionnaire findings. Some responses highlighted participants believed the simulated IPL had helped them work more effectively with other healthcare professionals, communicate more effectively and better prioritise their workload. There may be some evidence of sustained self-reported effectiveness in teaching certain professional and clinical skills to participants using this type of simulated intervention.

Student and pre-registration pharmacist performance in a UK Prescribing Assessment': room for improvement and need for curricular change Background Increasingly the global policy direction is for patient-facing pharmacist prescribers. The 'UK Prescribing Safety Assessment' (PSA) was developed for medical graduates to demonstrate prescribing competencies in relation to the safe and effective use of medicines. ObjectivesTo determine PSA performance of final year undergraduate student pharmacists (year 4) and pre-registration pharmacy graduates (year 5) and explore their opinions on its suitability.