The aim of this advanced practice postgraduate MSc is to support practitioners to attain Excellence in the core skills and knowledge they require to provide all aspects of advanced pharmaceutical care in the workplace. The focus of the course is on the development of advanced knowledge and skills in: Education, Training and Development; Management and Leadership; and Research and Evaluation. The programme is designed on a philosophy of student centred workplace learning, specifically aligned with the ACLF (Advanced and Consultant Level Framework, www.codeg.org). The programme will support further development of self reliance and an independent approach to learning in support of professional development. Practitioners undertaking this advanced practice programme are expected to take responsibility for their learning and achieving the course objectives through work-based professional development.

Length and mode
There will be 10 learning sets and a requirement for completion of a series of work-based assignments over 12 months.

Calendar
Annual intake of students is in September.

Provisional Dates for 2010-11
Download pdf document with dates from September 2010.

Fees
The fees for 2010-11 are likely to be £2,300 (to be confirmed).
The APL/APEL (Accreditation of Prior Learning/Accreditation of Prior Experience and Learning) fee for mapping those without a postgraduate Diploma in Pharmacy Practice will be £400.

Programme structure
The MSc programme is organised as:

• 10 learning sets every 4 or 5 weeks.  (The first learning set will be a full day and the remaining learning sets will be half days.)
• A series of work-based assignments (linked to the ACLF).
• Professional Portfolio development linked to the ACLF.

Assessment
The learning outcomes for this programme are underpinned by the ACLF (Advanced to Consultant Level Framework http://www.codeg.org/ ).  Assignments will be marked according to School of Pharmacy marking guidelines.  Practitioners’ portfolios will also be assessed at viva.  The viva will also assess the practitioner’s knowledge and experience across all core competency areas for each ACLF cluster at “Excellence” level of competence.

Final award
Transcripts are issued to students by Registry about 3 weeks after the Exam Board meeting. 

All students who are awarded the advanced practice “fast-track” MSc are invited to attend the School’s main graduation ceremony, usually held on the last Wednesday in November.

Entry requirements
Applicants must:

• be an experienced practising pharmacist in a Band 8 post

AND

• have completed the Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma in Pharmacy Practice at the School of Pharmacy, University of London, or equivalent from another University (at discretion of the Course Director);

OR

• provide a portfolio of evidence of prior learning and experience and undergo a formal interview with an approved APL/APEL panel.

Note: All applicants will be required to submit a CV.

How to apply and application form
Application must be made here by means of the online application form.

Programme Team
Professor Ian Bates
Course Director

Mrs Alison Innes
Course Coordinator
email: alison.innes@pharmacy.ac.uk

Mrs Jo Ray
Course Administrator
email: jo.ray@pharmacy.ac.uk