As pharmacists continue to extend their clinical role, understanding and interpreting clinical tests is vital to help with the diagnosis and monitoring of disease states and drug therapy.

This course will provide underpinning knowledge for a range of services that pharmacists might provide for patients, and may allow you to demonstrate competence to undertake locally agreed services using the national framework.

Module 1: General principles and the interpretation of results
Module 2: Anti-coagulant monitoring
Module 3: Cardiovascular
Module 4: Respiratory
Module 5: Endocrine disorders
Module 6: Gastrointestinal and genito-urinary conditions.

All six continuing education modules in the course include:

• Self-assessment questions to test your understanding of the subject
• A case study for you to work through.

The case study involves additional reading, with reference to web sites which you may access in order to extend your knowledge.

Module 7 will contain course assessment materials and a registration form to allow you to register with the Medway School of Pharmacy as an external postgraduate student.

To order course materials please download the application form here

Completing this course will earn you 10 academic credits within the Medway Short Course Pathway.

Course registration and assessment

Module 7 contains a registration form and the course assessment information. There are two assessments that have to be passed in order to successfully complete this course.

• There will be 30 multiple choice questions (MCQs) that are designed to test your knowledge and understanding of certain aspects of diagnostic testing.
• You are required to submit two case studies out of a choice of six for marking.

Pharmacists who wish to undertake the assessment and gain formal academic credits for their work should register with the Medway School of Pharmacy by completing the registration form included with Module 7.

The cost of assessment and the issue of a Certificate in Patient Monitoring in Practice, worth 10 academic credits, is £150.

The Medway Short Course Pathway

The Certificate in Patient Monitoring in Practice is one of a number of short courses available to pharmacists through the Medway School of Pharmacy.

Many courses are delivered by distance learning, offering pharmacists the flexibility to work through the course at their own pace. At the end of each course you are required to submit an assessment which will often be based around case studies.

Successful completion of each course will lead to you being awarded a given number of academic credits. These credits can be accrued and can ultimately be used to attain a University qualification, that of a Postgraduate Certificate in Pharmacotherapeutics (60 credits).

Pharmacists who have successfully completed Skills for the Future 1 and 2 will already have accumulated five academic credits for each course.

For more information on the Medway School of Pharmacy Short Course Pathway click here or phone 01634 883150.