The Bologna Process and professional regulation in the UK

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The Bologna Process and professional regulation
in the UK
Damian Day, Head of Accreditation, Royal
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
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Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain

• Regulator and professional body for pharmacists
  (c.48,000) and pharmacy technicians (c. 12,000)
• Two registers pharmacists and pharmacy
  technicians
• Accredited qualifications and training leading to
  registration
• Accredit qualifications leading to annotations
• Registration for pharmacists allows free movement
  in EEA states
• Registrants from c. 150 countries inc. all EEA
  member states

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Becoming and remaining a pharmacist

• EQF 5 Pharmacy technician
• EQF 7 MPharm
• EQF 7 Preregistration training vocational
• EQF 7 Continuing professional development
  revalidation vocational
• EQF 7/8 Specialist advanced practice advanced
  vocational
• EQF 8 Consultant pharmacist advanced vocational
  and academic doctoral

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1. The legal and legislative context
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European legislation

• Directive 85/432/EC 2005/36/EC concerning the
  co-ordination of provisions laid down by law,
  regulation or administrative action in respect of
  certain activities in the field of pharmacy
• Minimum theoretical and practical training
• Minimum training requirements MTR

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Minimum theoretical and practical training

• Plant and animal biology
• Physics
• General and inorganic chemistry
• Analytical chemistry
• Pharmaceutical chemistry, including analysis of
  medicinal products
• General and applied biochemistry (medical)
• Anatomy and physiology, medical terminology
• Microbiology
• Pharmacology and pharmacotherapy
• Pharmaceutical technology
• Toxicology
• Pharmacognosy
• Legislation and, where appropriate, professional
  ethics !

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Minimum training requirements

• 5 years, comprising 4 years of full-time
  university study plus at least 6 months in
  patient-centred care
• This is law we must comply
• Can have part time study from 20 October 2007
  implementation date of 2005/36/EC

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UK legislation

• New Pharmacy Contract 2005
• Dispensing
• Prescribing restricted diagnosis
• Patient counselling
• Medicines use review
• Higher education has to take account of this

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2. Descriptors, Learning Outcomes
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The MPharm

• Conforms to UK requirements
• Bologna integrated Masters
• 3 years B first cycle
• 1year M second cycle
• 180 ECTS for B 60 ECTS for M, so compliant
• All MPharms have Certificate/Diploma/ Bachelor
  exits which are not accredited
• All UK degrees and modules have learning outcomes
  and credit volume

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Learning outcomes vs competencies

• False dichotomy
• EQF could assist with this
• Build bridges between academia and the workplace
• Academic learning outcomes professional
  standards competencies
• No conflict with EQF

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Other regulated degrees

• Majority comply with Bologna Nursing, Social
  Work, Architecture etc
• A few do not, for various reasons Medicine and
  the MEng
• Some are changing probably the 5-year
  Dentistry BDS ? MDS

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3. Benchmarking
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Benchmarking source material

• UK Quality Assurance Agencys Framework for
  Higher Education Qualifications FHEQ
• Europe QF-EHEA (articulates with FHEQ
• Europe EQF studying now
• ECTS used
• ECVET an interesting innovation

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Useful groups

• UK Inter-professional Group most regulated
  professions represented
• Inter-regulatory education group for medical and
  healthcare regulators
• Both well aware of Bologna issues

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4. The value of Bologna to regulators
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General

• Consistency and transparency
• Acknowledgement of vocational education often
  advanced in the EQF
• Opportunity to link initial education with
  continuing professional development
• Opportunity to link academic learning outcomes
  and professional standards an artificial
  distinction, via competencies
• Build skills escalators into professions ECTS
  ECVET

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Pharmacy

• EQF Regulated vocational education for pharmacy
  technicians the 2-year Foundation Degree
  QF-EHEA short cycle
• EQF Benchmarking of register annotations for
  advanced and specialist practice
• ECVET Continuing professional development and
  revalidation
• All Pharmacy technician ? Pharmacist

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Summary

• Law is law
• The QF-EHEA and EQF are useful thinking tools
• Promote consistency and mobility
• One framework please