This unit puts the practice of pharmacy and delivery of pharmacy services in a public health context. It emphasises a population perspective for health policy as well as clinical decision-making.
Students will develop an understanding of:
- Definitions and issues in public health including the socio-environmental determinants of health
- The role of pharmacy in a public health context
- The Australian National Medicines Policy and the Quality Use of Medicines Strategy
- The nature, role and development of health policy.
Students will develop abilities in:
- Applying population-based evidence to improve clinical decision-making
- Performing and interpreting the results of statistical tests that are relevant to evidence based practice
- Applying health economic principles to medicines use
- Dispensing, including clinical problem-solving
- Performing pharmaceutical calculations building on previous knowledge.
Students will develop an appreciation of:
- The roles of other health professionals and their relationship to pharmacy
- Key issues around medicines promotion and international health.
At the end of this unit students will be able to:
- Describe the broad public health perspectives and framework for providing; therapeutic services and care to patients, and for working with other health care professionals, in both developed and advanced countries;
- Describe the role of the expatriate pharmacist including the public health issues that they are likely to address;
- Discuss the process for formulating health policy and the impact of various health policies;
- Have a working knowledge of harm minimisation/pharmacotherapy substitution services in pharmacy;
- Discuss the principles and application of the Quality Use of Medicine Strategy of the National Medicines Policy as well as the development and application of essential medicines lists in general;
- Systematically conduct a literature review and a subsequent critical appraisal to answer a clinical enquiry;
- Interpret the results of statistical tests when critically appraising the literature to answer a clinical enquiry;
- Perform statistical and pharmacoeconomic tests that are frequently used in the reporting of health care research and that underpin evidence based practice;
- Define, recognise and using evidence-based principles, deal with medicines promotion;
- Apply knowledge of evidence based principles to complementary and alternative medicines;
- Dispense medicines and solve clinical problems;
- Perform pharmaceutical calculations relevant to the practice of pharmacy.
Final exam (3 hour): 50%; evidence-based practice assignment: 20%; Extemporaneous dispensing exam: 10%; Online calculations test: 10%; Mid-semester test: 10%.
Contact hours for on-campus students:
- Nineteen 1-hour lectures
- Two 2.5-hour workshops
- Six 2-hour practical laboratories
See also Unit timetable information
PAC1311 Pharmacy, Health and Society I
PAC1322 Pharmacy, Health and Society II