PHARMACY 764 : Medicines Information and Critical Appraisal

Medical and Health Sciences

2024 Semester One (1243) (30 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Develops advanced skills in the retrieval, evaluation and dissemination of medicines information, as well as the ability to critically evaluate clinical literature in the context of selected common therapeutic areas.

Course Overview

This course is designed to facilitate the development and application of critical thinking and clinical reasoning necessary for patient-centred clinical pharmacist practitioners. The focus of this course is on the skills, knowledge and attitudes which are needed to be able to:
  1. effectively answer enquiries about medicines and medicines-related problems,
  2. identify, critically appraise and apply the medical literature to public, population and individual patient care,
  3. apply these skills and this knowledge in a variety of practice settings, and
  4. communicate the results of this process to meet the needs of a variety of recipients.
The Critical Appraisal (CA) module of Pharmacy 764 will be delivered by the School of Population Health through their POPHLTH 709, a fully online course. The Medicines Information module of Pharmacy 764 is delivered by the School of Pharmacy and is a blended-learning approach integrating in-person learning activities and assessments with online learning.

The two modules are intended to be integrated; students will need to apply the learning from POPHLTH 709 in their Medicines Information (MI) assignments, particularly in relation to appraising and applying evidence.

Course Requirements

No pre-requisites or restrictions

Course Contacts

PHARM 764 Medicines Information:
Prof Jo Barnes, Course Director. email: j.barnes@auckland.ac.nz 
POPLHLTH 709 Critical Appraisal
A/Prof Sue Wells, Course Director. email: s.wells@auckland.ac.nz

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: People and Place
Capability 2: Sustainability
Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration
Capability 8: Ethics and Professionalism

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Describe the importance of MI in community and hospital pharmacy practice (Capability 3 and 8)
  2. Develop and frame questions appropriately to obtain relevant background information (Capability 1, 3, 4, 5 and 8)
  3. Develop and apply appropriate search strategies to retrieve and interpret medicines information. (Capability 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8)
  4. Utilise written and verbal techniques to communicate in an appropriate manner and context. (Capability 3, 6, 7 and 8)
  5. Demonstrate knowledge or clinical accountability and ethical issues relating to MI including but not limited to documentation and recording of activities (Capability 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8)
  6. Demonstrate an understanding of the quality assurance process in relation to MI (Capability 3, 4, 5 and 8)
  7. Demonstrate reflective practice in a MI practice context (Capability 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8)
  8. Critically evaluate research evidence in the context of public, population and individual patient care. (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Medicines Information Assignments 30% Individual Coursework
Medicines information Bulletin 10% Group Coursework
Online Case Discussions 10% Group & Individual Coursework
Evidence-based Medicine Assignments (POPLHLTH709) 17.5% Individual Coursework
POPLHLTH709 Midsemester Test 15% Individual Test
POPLHLTH709 Final Test 17.5% Individual Test
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Medicines Information Assignments
Medicines information Bulletin
Online Case Discussions
Evidence-based Medicine Assignments (POPLHLTH709)
POPLHLTH709 Midsemester Test
POPLHLTH709 Final Test

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 30-point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15-point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 24 hours of lectures, 24 hours of tutorials and workshops, 160 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 80 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is required at scheduled activities including workshops to receive credit for components of the course.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities including seminars/tutorials will be available as recordings.
The course will include live online events including group discussions/tutorials.
Attendance on campus is required for some assessments.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a block delivery.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Hoffmann T, Bennett S & Del Mar C. Evidence-Based Practice Across the Health Professions, 3rd Edition. Elsevier 2017.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Certain elements of the Medicines Information component of the course have been moved to online videoconferences in order to remove the middle study weekend. This is designed to reduce the travel burden and increase the flexibility of scheduling for students also working full-time. While the videoconferences themselves are scheduled at fixed times the individual preparation and group collaboration leading up to these is determined by negotiation within the groups themselves.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

The delivery mode may change depending on COVID restrictions. Any changes will be communicated through Canvas.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.