January/February 2009 - Ontario College of Pharmacists

THANK YOU PRECEPTORS
On behalf of the College, we would
like to thank the pharmacists
who served as preceptors in the
Structured Practical Training (SPT)
program in 2008. By welcoming a
pharmacy student or intern to their
pharmacy team, these preceptors
have continued the tradition
of pharmacists sharing time,
experience, and enthusiasm for our
profession with a future colleague.
Students and interns continue
to express appreciation to their
preceptors for the encouragement
and learning opportunities that the
preceptors have provided. Many
preceptors described the experience
of having a student or intern in their
practice as refreshing, rewarding,
and educational. Pharmacists
enjoyed discovering what new
graduates are learning, and seeing
where the profession is heading.
Conducting medication reviews as
part of the Meds Check Program
and running clinic days continue to
be popular activities that interns
incorporate into their rotation to
demonstrate their pharmaceutical
care and communication skills.
2008 HIGHLIGHTS
This year, more than 400 pharmacists
attended one of 22 preceptor
workshops across the province.
The one-day workshops were offered
in Burlington, London, Ottawa, Sudbury,
and Toronto. Fifteen Orientation
workshops were held for first-time
preceptors or pharmacists who had last
acted as a preceptor several years ago.
An OCP Registration Advisor and an
experienced preceptor facilitate the
Orientation workshops, in which they
explain the goals of the SPT program,
the role and responsibilities of a preceptor,
and the expectations for students
and interns, and make pharmacists
aware of what skills that they will need
as preceptors. Using videos, role-playing
and guided discussions, the pharmacists
learn how to set expectations,
motivate students and interns, facilitate
practice opportunities, and provide
feedback and assessment. In response
to feedback from preceptors, the Registration
Advisors have made a number
of changes to the Orientation workshop.
In January, the workshop was
revamped so that the entire afternoon
is now spent working in small groups
to discuss how to guide the student or
intern to complete the activities, and
how the preceptor should review the
student or intern’s activities before they
are submitted to OCP.
The Advanced workshop is offered
to preceptors who last attended
a workshop more than three years
ago and who wish to continue acting
as preceptors. The Advanced workshop
is intended to provide an opportunity
for preceptors to enhance their
teaching and assessment skills and to
share their experiences with other preceptors.
We were pleased to have
Dr. Zubin Austin continue to conduct
the “Conflict Analysis & Resolution”
workshop, in which preceptors are
introduced to the way in which conflict
may arise in the workplace, assess
how to identify their own conflict
management style, and explore how
to develop new methods for addressing
disagreements and negotiating mutually
acceptable solutions. Response
to this workshop has been positive and
we will continue to offer it in 2009. Dr.
Lionel Laroche continued to receive
a very positive response to his workshop,
“Managing Cultural Differences.”
This workshop provided preceptors
with insight on cultural differences
that may exist between Canadian
and International Pharmacy Graduates
(IPGs) and helped them prepare to
face the challenges and reap the opportunities
of being preceptors to a diverse
population of students. We look forward
to introducing new workshop
topics in 2009.
Given the increasing number of students
and interns in the SPT program,
we have expanded our network of external
pharmacists who review the
SPT activities submitted to OCP. We
thank them for their commitment to
providing coaching and individualized
feedback to students and interns on
their activities in a timely manner.
The SPT assessment forms and activity
documentation forms are available
online. The SPT Studentship
and Internship Manuals continue to be
available online for members. Several
returning preceptors have commented
that they find the current SPT experience
to be much improved and relevant
to current practice.
Once again, a sincere thank you to
our preceptors, facilitators, presenters,
and reviewers for their valuable contribution
to the SPT program and to the
future of pharmacy!
The dates and topics for Preceptor
Workshops in 2009 are posted on the
OCP website. If you would like to
become a SPT preceptor, please
contact Vicky Gardner by phone at
(416) 962-4861 x 297 or 1-800-220-
1921 x 297, or by e-mail at
vgardner@ocpinfo.com
22 pharmacyconnection • January/February 2009