Education & Development

The UKCPA Education & Development Community supports and promotes pharmacy training, education and professional development skills for all pharmacy practitioners.

Cardiovascular

The UKCPA Cardiovascular Pharmacy Community is one of our specialist communities, providing you with access to dedicated resources and expert training.

  • Access to an extensive cardiovascular pharmacy resource library
  • Expert training and education delivered by leading cardiovascular pharmacists
  • Focused forum discussions
  • Dedicated cardiac pharmacy networking and training events

Overview

The UKCPA Education & Development community is passionate about fostering pharmaceutical education and mentoring skills across all sectors and levels of practice.

Our committee is passionate about fostering pharmaceutical education and mentoring skills across all sectors and levels of practice. Our members deliver learning events on a variety of continuing pharmacist education and training topics, such as career development, designing learning activities, as well as leadership and coaching. 

The UKCPA Education & Development committee are experts in the foundational requirements and experiences of undergraduate and trainee pharmacists, and in best practice educational methods for clinical practitioners. 

Our pharmacy development community is also at the forefront of using technology to facilitate learning, delivering a much-needed session on how to effectively teach online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Members have also hosted multiple social media discussions on topics related to pharmaceutical education training.

Why join our community?

The UKCPA Education & Development Community supports and promotes the essential role that all pharmacy practitioners have in educating and mentoring others.
Pharmacy development forums
Connect with other pharmacists and support each other throughout your career via our forums.
Insights and training
Access pharmacy education experts to support you in educating and mentoring your team.
Extensive educational resources
Support your continuing pharmacy education with access to an extensive resource library, submitted by practising pharmacists.
Training & networking events
Attend in-person and online events to expand your network and learn from fellow practitioners throughout your continuing professional development.

Key milestones

Training

Sharing pharmacy training expertise

Our community contributes regular articles on a wide variety of pharmacy education and training topics.

Research

Research into the impact of delayed pre-registration 

In 2021, the committee researched the impact of pre-registration exam delays amid the COVID-19 pandemic on provisionally registered pharmacists.

Pharmacy career guide

Find out what it takes to become an education and training pharmacist with our career planner.

Continuing pharmacy education, or CPE, is a career-long commitment to training, ongoing learning, and professional development. Pharmacy practitioners are required to stay on top of evolving best practice guidance, changes in technology, and medicines guidance. Pharmacy continuing education programmes are designed to help pharmacists keep their knowledge and skills up to date in an ever-changing landscape. 

By joining UKCPA, you’ll have access to our Pharmacy Education & Development Community to support you to continue your learning at every stage of your career.

Continuing pharmacy education is important for pharmacy practitioners as guidance changes regularly; new research is carried out, knowledge evolves, and regulations change. Pharmacists’ skills therefore need to be kept up to date in order to deliver the best standard of care and advice to patients. 

For anyone working in pharmacy, continuing education is simply part of the job. By taking part in pharmacist training and education online or in-person, practitioners can ensure they are staying at the forefront of new developments, innovations, and the industry as a whole. All of this is vital to ensure patients are receiving the highest quality care.

Pharmacy teams often have an education and training pharmacy lead who is responsible for the development and delivery of a range of pharmacy education and development programmes for their team.

Many pharmacy professionals are involved in education within their usual role, either by being a foundation trainee tutor, teaching other medical professionals, or teaching undergraduate or postgraduate pharmacy students.

Many pharmacy professionals find this aspect of their job very rewarding and enjoy helping their students grow in knowledge and skills, or can see the benefit of updating their multidisciplinary teams on various aspects of medicines use.

Some pharmacy professionals specialise in education and training, taking on academic roles within universities. As a teacher practitioner, they are able to use their practice experience and expertise to design and deliver teaching programmes, and will support students through their studies. They may also be involved in research studies, supervising student projects, and organising work placements.


Join UKCPA today to get involved with our pharmacy professional development community, whether you’re interested in leading pharmacy training or continuing your own education.

The forums provide an opportunity to chat with each other and share problems and solutions, which is invaluable in practice and prevents individuals from working alone or reinventing the wheel. We inspire each other with stories of achievements and support each other when we need advice or guidance.

Anna Bischler - Associate director, medicines use and safety

Committee members

Co-Chair
Kiran Channa
Operational Head of Pharmacy
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Past Chair
Karen Gunnell
Interim MPharm Programme Director & Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice
School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering, Keele University
Secretary
Parminder Nain
Specialist Virtual Ward Pharmacist
University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire
Membership Lead
Sania Akhtar
Specialist Frailty Pharmacist
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire
Membership Support
Niamh McGarry
Lead Clinical Education Pharmacist
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Education Support
Shane Artis
Lecturer in Postgraduate Pharmacy Education
Keele University
Standards & Consultations Lead
Charlotte Clark
Clinical Writer
Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Group member
Vicky Simcock
Advanced lead pharmacist for workforce development
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
Group member
Lizzie Mills
Associate Professor
UCL School of Pharmacy
Group member
Jill McDonald
Deputy Chief Pharmacist
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Group member
Chris Bonsell
Medicine Management Lead
Leeds Palliative Care Network

Resources

Get involved

We are always looking for people for the following roles:

Educators

Speakers and tutors for learning events, including conference workshops, masterclasses and webinars.

Commentators

We are looking for practitioner members who can comment on national consultations.

Writers

Members who have a flair for writing to produce article for our resource library

Become a member

Join UKCPA for less than £3 a week and access all our communities, education and resources.

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