Intern Experience Survey released

MORE than 90% of intern pharmacists believe that their period of supervised practice enabled them to gain the skills and knowledge to practise as a pharmacist independently, according to a new report from the Pharmacy Board of Australia.

The Board has published the final report of its Pharmacy Internship Experience Survey, a large-scale poll of “recent” pharmacy interns and preceptors across the country.

An overwhelming majority of preceptors surveyed also agreed that the internship period gave their interns the necessary skills.

The Board said it undertook the survey about the intern year in response to “anecdotal feedback which had suggested there were some concerns with aspects of the internship experience”.

In particular the Board cited alleged inconsistencies in the quality of the training and supervision experience.

A total of 413 surveys were completed, after input was sought from about 1,156 recent pharmacy interns and 955 preceptors identified from the period between 01 Nov 2016 and 28 Feb 2017.

Of the total, about 240 surveys were completed by current interns at the time, or those who had been interns within the previopus year, while around 150 identified themselves as a “preceptor” or “delegated pharmacist”.

Although almost all of the interns and preceptors who responded to the survey agreed that the experience had helped new pharmacists gain the required skills and experience, a number of issues were highlighted for further consideration, the Board said.

These included time management and stress on interns, and their orientation to the workplace setting.

Qualitative responses from interns showed concerns about balancing full-time work and full-time study or “work-life balance,” an executive summary noted.

The report also suggested work could be done to address support for preceptors, and their teaching skill and ability to provide feedback.

Time spent with interns, the knowledge of preceptors about the Intern Training Program requirements and the purpose of the supervised period were also raised as possible areas for improvement - along with “preceptors’ rapport, interest and enthusiasm for teaching”.

The Pharmacy Board said now the report was published, it would explore possible actions to help improve the quality of the supervised practice experience for both interns and preceptors.

This may include development of new content for the Board’s Intern pharmacist and preceptor guide and “engaging with stakeholders to identify how best to provide additional support to interns and preceptors to facilitate good learning outcomes across all internships” - see the full report at www.ahpra.gov.au.