Welcome to the April 2024 PDA Education Update

Throughout the year, we will continue to offer our members a range of professional development programmes.

In this course, you will explore how to build and maintain positive, supportive relationships so that you can feel happy and confident at work. In particular, the course will cover:

The course will take approximately four hours to complete and will be open to you until Wednesday 1 May.

The rest of the programmes will be available during the annual summer school and throughout the year. Keep an eye on your inbox for further updates. Also, visit the events page on the PDA website.

As part of our commitment to our trainee members, we are offering a series of events and resources between April and June to provide support with the upcoming June registration exams.

We know that you will be looking for revision support, help with stress management, and a clear understanding of the assessment process. This is why we have put together a series of FREE resources available to eligible PDA members. This includes the following:

This jam-packed online programme features timed mock exams, over 100 practice questions, revision tips, and discussion forums for help and support.

Led by an experienced pharmacist with a background in writing questions for the assessment. These live sessions will give you the opportunity to practice your calculations and see how the answers are reached.

We will advise you on what happens on the day and provide you with guidance on regulations in relation to fit to sit, appeals, and nullification, and give you our top tips.

This online workshop will help you to manage the stress of exams.

We provide training and support to all our PDA Reps to ensure that they can help our members and do the best job possible. This year, as well as the usual online induction and level one face-to-face training, we are also offering some follow-on training. This includes the following courses:

• Negotiating skills
• Organising and recruiting
• Recognising and tackling discrimination

We are also holding a brand-new conference for all pharmacists who are actively involved with the PDA, which will provide an opportunity for you to discuss the current issues facing pharmacists and how we can work together to tackle them. Find out more here.

Being a PDA Rep is a great way to play a role in supporting our work and raising awareness of the issues that pharmacists face. It also supports the development of skills that can be used in your career. If you’re interested in becoming a PDA Rep, learn more here.

Last month, we held the ‘Locum Matters – the positives and pitfalls of being a locum’ event. This event saw PDA locum members come together to find out more about their rights, receive advice on booking shifts and getting paid, and hear the latest developments on Pharmacy First. Attendees were able to speak to PDA Legal Operations Manager, Ruth Williams, and ask her any questions that they had.

PDA Head of Education, Kate Kensington said, “This event supports our locum members by bringing them together and providing an opportunity to hear their views about Pharmacy First, rates of pay, and other issues affecting them. It also allows us to offer information, advice, and guidance and ensure they get paid for their work, stay safe at work, and share top tips for working as a locum. We will continue to provide support for our members in a range of ways, including via events, factsheets, and guides.”

We are committed to supporting our locum members and regularly host Locum Matters events throughout the year. If you would like to attend our next meeting, please make sure that your communication preferences are up to date and keep an eye on your inbox for further information.

With the number of PDA Student Reps growing, we have seen many of them completing the PDA Reps induction training.

The training includes drop-in sessions for support and development, a self-directed online programme, and a face-to-face course. Once they’ve completed this training, reps will understand the skills and abilities needed for the role, their legal rights, and the history of trade unions.

PDA Student Reps, Molly Chambers and Isla Shah, who have attended the training said, “We learned a lot over the two days, not only about being a student rep, but also about continuing to be a workplace rep.

The educators who led the course were engaging and created a positive learning environment. We left feeling much more confident in our abilities as reps, and we’d like to express our gratitude for this opportunity and urge other reps to endeavour to attend training sessions if given the chance.”

The course, PDA Reps – Part 1, is the first of a series of courses designed for reps. These courses are available to PDA members from all sectors and have recently been made available to student reps.