Community Pharmacy Programme - PATHWAYS TO CERTIFICATE, DIPLOMA AND MSc AWARDS

Why bother with postgraduate study?
Our distance learning programme in Community Pharmacy aims to provide you with a wider view of medicines management and healthcare. We aim to equip you with sufficient knowledge, skills and confidence to be able to develop and extend your clinical and professional role as part of the primary healthcare team. In the fast changing world of Pharmacy and healthcare provision standing still is not an option, but you may, understandably, feel under-equipped to meet the new challenges. Let Keele help you meet the challenges set by the changing NHS, formation of clinical commissioning groups and the Health and Social Care bill - Your future starts now.

 

Educational Aims
Keele's Postgraduate Community Pharmacy Programme aims to:

> Provide you with a broad view of the issues relevant to pharmacy practice in primary care and medicines management in community pharmacy and primary care

> Equip you with the clinical and professional knowledge base and skills necessary to fulfil and extend your role in community pharmacy and primary care

> Provide you with a structured learning programme that will help you apply your knowledge and skills in daily practice

> Encourage you to develop the self-discipline of private study and self-directed learning that will be continued beyond Keele's Programme in your Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

In addition, you will develop valuable practical skills including written and online oral communication, and the ability to design a project, collect, analyse and interpret data.

 

A course to meet your needs
The Community Pharmacy Programme is designed for distance learning (DL). We provide mainly online DL materials in our Virtual Learning Environment so that you can study where and when it is most convenient for you. Our methods of delivery allow us to revise and update the course quickly to meet your changing needs as a pharmacist. You have the flexibility of registering on courses for 9, 21, or 33 months, part-time, depending on your needs and the end qualification you want to attain from Keele. There is also the possibility of extending the overall period of study if you wish.

There are six key modules that make up the Certificate and Diploma courses for this pathway.

Applicants must be registered with the GPhC and be working full or part-time in community pharmacy or primary care. Registration takes place in September each year. Applications must normally reach the University by mid-July. (NB for students wanting to study flexibly, applications are welcomed all year).

 

Attendance at Keele
There is no need to attend Keele. All of our course materials are tailored to learning at a distance for the Certificate and Diploma courses.

 

MSc

If you decide to study for another year, after achieving the Diploma, you will register on our Professional MSc course.

 

Our Reputation
Our Community Pharmacy Programme was first established in 1994, and we are proud of our high completion rate. It has developed an excellent reputation, and it is highly acclaimed by students, employers, purchasers and external course assessors for its structure, content and end value in relation to service, professional and career development. We are happy to put you in touch with some of our former students for their independent view. Many of our past and current students are sponsored by employers including Boots, Co-op, Lloyds, Safeway, Tesco, Weldrick, and PCO's throughout the UK.

 

“Having worked in community pharmacy for 2 years and having a keen interest in developing my clinical skills further I chose to complete the Keele Community Pharmacy Diploma…I chose the Keele course because it covered modules which were relevant to both community and primary care. I found the course really enjoyable, well organised and received excellent support from the course tutors. I won’t say that it was easy fitting in working full time and studying but it is so rewarding at the end of the 2 years... Everything I have learnt has been relevant to my role...” (Student 2007 intake)

 

“…a well run programme owing much of its success to the commitment and drive of the individual tutors…high commitment of staff to students and their wish to provide the best learning experience for students as possible”.(Previous External Examiner)

 

“…an excellent programme supported by teaching teams with relevant experience... The electronic portfolios... provide example of good practice and the timely feedback received by the student from the teaching team is excellent!”.(Current External Examiner)