Welcome to the March 2022 PDA Education update

2022 highlights so far…

PDA Education launched our first all-member induction and skills programmes on our online Education Hub at the beginning of 2022 with over 150 members registering and over 50 members attending the live launch events. We have since received some really positive feedback, particularly about our mentoring and mentee courses.

PDA member Valerie Shaw said, “I am a volunteer mentor for a professional body and also facilitate leadership courses for pharmacy professionals where the specialist trainers teach mentoring and coaching skills, but I found this short course really invaluable with tips to help me become a better mentor.”

We have also delivered several live events and courses to help develop the skills and knowledge of our PDA Reps. The first Health and Safety Reps course took place in January 2022 online.

PDA National Rep for LloydsPharmacy and PDA Regional Committee member Anjlee Shah, who attended the course said, “I thought the Health and Safety training was invaluable for all reps and gave us an understanding of employer’s duties in relation to Health, Safety and Wellbeing. We reflected on the resources available to us to help shape our approach in addressing health and safety concerns that our members raise. 

Exploring our thoughts during case studies in small groups was particularly useful as we went through a systematic way to help support members. I have taken this thought process from this training with me to apply to future casework.”

We are also very happy to welcome our new cohorts of PDA Workplace Reps and Student Reps who have just started their PDA training journey.

Upcoming opportunities

Our charity partner Pharmacist Support will be delivering a workshop for PDA student members titled ‘Looking after your wellbeing while preparing for exams’. This workshop will take place during the student ACTNow campaign in March and April 2022. PDA student members are encouraged to look out for the course registration email.

We will also be running a workshop with Pharmacist Support for trainees and potential pharmacist members. The workshop titled ‘Get mentally prepared’ which focuses on the assessment will be open to all members taking part in the PDA revision programme.

For those sitting the GPhC and PSNI June 2022 assessment

Our next revision programme for the GPhC and PSNI online assessment will soon launch for all PDA trainee members who are eligible to sit the June 2022 assessment. It will also be available to potential pharmacists who are sitting the assessment in June 2022 for a second or third attempt. PDA trainee and potential pharmacist members are advised keep an eye out for the course registration email in early April.

PDA Plus partners Morph are also offering trainee members access to free live webinars from their ‘Get GPhC Ready’ series. Trainees can find more information and register here.

PDA Reps training

There are courses being planned exclusively for PDA Reps including ‘Organising and Campaigning’ and ‘Organising around Mental Health.’ These courses will be delivered face to face where reps will also have an opportunity to network with each other and share their experiences.

PDA Learning Needs Survey: the results are in!

Thank you to all members, pharmacists, trainee pharmacists, and locums from around the UK who completed the PDA Learning Needs Survey. Over 500 of you shared your views on learning and training from across all sectors of pharmacy. We have received some really insightful information to help inform the next PDA Education programme and campaigns.

We were delighted to note that over 100 of you said you were interested in finding out more about becoming more involved in the PDA or how to become a PDA Rep. If you haven’t already been contacted, a member of our Organising and Engagement Team will be in touch to explore how you would like to get involved and to give you some more information.

PDA Education Manager, Emma Tinley said, “We’ve got off to a great start this year with lots of engagement in our courses and events. I’m really excited about the education programme for this year. We have some unique opportunities and events planned and we are currently working on developing our programme further to address some of the learning needs identified in the survey.”

Please look out for our next update to find out more about how the survey has helped us to develop our education programme for members and PDA Reps.

Find out more about how to get involved with the work of the PDA and how to become a PDA Rep here.