Pharmacist-Pharmacy Technician Intraprofessional Collaboration and Workplace Integration: Implications for Educators

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2020

Keywords

collaboration; community pharmacy practice; continuing professional development; pharmacy technician; pharmacy technician education

Abstract

Globally, concerns have been expressed regarding the impact of regulation of pharmacy technicians. After more than a decade of experience with technician regulation in Ontario, Canada, uptake of the full scope of practice for technicians has been sporadic at best. The objective of this study was to examine barriers and facilitators to intraprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and pharmacy technicians for the purpose of identifying possible curricular or educational interventions to enhance workplace integration. A qualitative, interview-based study of 24 pharmacists, technicians, educators, pharmacy managers, and owners was undertaken using a semi-structured interview guide. Key findings of this research include: i) Confirmation of suboptimal utilization of regulated technicians in practice; ii) identification of crucial knowledge and skills gaps for both pharmacists and technicians; and iii) proposals for undergraduate education and training, and continuing professional development learning opportunities to address these gaps. In order to achieve the promise and potential of regulation of pharmacy technicians, system-wide change management-beginning with education-will be required and will benefit from multiple stakeholder engagement and involvement.

Faculty

Faculty of Applied Health & Community Studies (FAHCS)

School

Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning

Journal

Pharmacy

Volume

8

Issue

2

First Page

1

Last Page

13

Version

Publisher's version

Peer Reviewed/Refereed Publication

yes

Terms of Use

Terms of Use for Works posted in SOURCE.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Original Publication Citation

Jetha, M., Walji, A., Gregory, P., Abdulla, D., & Austin, Z. (2020). Pharmacist—Pharmacy Technician Intraprofessional Collaboration and Workplace Integration: Implications for Educators. Pharmacy, 8(2), 95. doi:10.3390/pharmacy8020095

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