South Eastern Regional College recently held a presentation to celebrate the achievement of the first cohort of students to complete the BTEC National Certificate in Pharmacy Services.
The presentation was attended by; students, assessors, lecturers and representatives from the Northern Ireland Centre for Pharmacy Learning and Development (NICPLD), who have been instrumental in the introduction of the NVQ in Pharmacy Services in Northern Ireland.
The students and their managers were welcomed to the College by course co-ordinator, Karen Orme, who praised their excellent results as evidence of dedication and perseverance.
These students are the first to qualify with both the BTEC and NVQ Level 3 in this region, allowing them to become registered Pharmacy Technicians with the RSPGB. It is hoped that the combination of a knowledge based qualification and a vocationally assessed qualification will lead to a more focused pharmacy technician, who not only knows the theory and practice, but has also been assessed and proven competent at doing it.
It is important that the training for student pharmacy technicians produces a wide base of technical skills; these skills support the delivery of pharmacy services in today’s health service. Throughout the two year journey, the pharmacy managers have facilitated training opportunities for the budding technicians, developed a mentoring programme and assisted with the relatively new assessor role to ensure successful completion of the combined qualification.
SERC has supported the students, the assessors and the managers throughout the process and encouraged this cohort of newly qualified technicians to now develop their mentoring skills to become trainers to the 2009 cohort of students.