Online/Paper Resources To Look At When At Work

Hey folks, I hope everyone is doing well. Now all of you guys would’ve started pre-reg by now and I hope you are finding your feet, remember it’s a marathon not a race. It’s so important to ease your way into your training year and ensure that you take the first few weeks just to get used to your surroundings, your shifts, and build a schedule around work!

This blog follows on from our previous blog regarding the best apps for you to download (if you haven’t already be sure to check it out). We will be looking at a few key online/paper resources that you will absolutely need through your pre-reg year, so let’s get straight into it!

NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) Guidance.

This is literally going to be the bread and butter for your pre-reg year. This should be one of your main go to sources for clinical information and it’s imperative you familiarise yourself with this as it will play a big part of your revision for the exam.

This resource summarises very effectively the main conditions that you will be assessed on during the exam but also for common conditions you may see in practice. It details the structured approach in the management of both acute and chronic conditions (All online!).

I would advise going through the GPhC pre-reg framework for the exam which will entail what conditions you will be assessed on and their weighting for the exam (we will be doing a special blog on this in the future so keep an eye out!). Then using this information look at the NICE guidance on this topic. For example, in the management of Asthma; a very common condition in practice. Use the guidance to see the structured approach for both adults and children. There will be a lot of information for you and it’s this guidance that you will be assessed on in the exam. 

MEP (Medicines, Ethics, Practice)

Now a lot of you guys would’ve seen this at Uni, some may have had modules based solely on the MEP which may have made you very tired and annoyed especially when you keep losing your hard copy (although this is totally my fault…). When you get into practice you will know how important the MEP is. 

The MEP can be accessed online via the RPS (Royal Pharmaceutical Society) and if you are a member of the RPS you will get a printed copy for free.

The MEP is such a pivotal resource in practice. It provides pharmacy legislation as well as prescription legislation and medicinal legislation. Overall it encompasses a lot of the legalities that you will face when you are a qualified pharmacist which in turn will allow you to act within your professional boundaries at all times. So be sure to get your copy and get your head around it, I always keep a pdf copy on my phone for whenever I need it!

Practice Pharmaceutical Calculations: Michael Bonner/David Wright

Now, even though as pharmacists we should ensure we know how to act within our profession boundaries at all times and have the most up do date clinical information; as important as these things are it is also very important you keep up to date with your calculations!

Don’t forget folks you have a clinical exam and a maths exam and you MUST pass both, it’s not a case of doing super well in one and average in the other you won’t pass otherwise, so it’s essential to give both your clinical and maths revision equal time. 

The above book is what I have used in my final year at university and also in my pre-reg year, there’s loads of different maths tools for you guys and most of them are really useful and provide a good range of questions to test yourself with. I felt in explaining the reasoning behind certain calculations and formula; this book explained it really well.

Another tip is do 5 questions a day, the idea of doing 10 sounds a bit cheesy and also, I don’t think it’s sustainable to do after a long days’ work, but 5 seems reasonable right?

So, there you have it folks, 3 resources that you can access online, or get as a hard copy. I think most pharmacists you come across will tell you what resources they use and how it benefits them. But I believe the 6 resources we have covered over these 2 blogs are absolutely essential and so be sure to take your time and go over them.

I shall see you guys next time, where I will be talking about how to tackle your competencies!

Till then stay safe.