MSc Clinical Pharmacy / Course details

The leadership and management unit offers pharmacists the opportunity to develop personal leadership skills and behaviours and apply them in their workplace. This unit has three components: orientation activities, materials to facilitate five online learning community sessions, and a follow-up event to apply learning to practice.

The unit is assessed using the submission of a personal development plan, business and marketing plan for a new pharmacy service plus associated oral presentation for all options.  

The unit aims to introduce students to core strategic and organisational behaviour principles and tools; enable students to develop personal leadership skills and behaviours, and enable develop a business and marketing plan for a priority area in their workplace. This includes developing knowledge of the management, sociological and organisational influences on the provision of healthcare and critically analysing their impact on pharmaceutical service provision. It also aims to promote the development of leadership skills and apply these to the healthcare environment. 

This course unit is delivered online using Blackboard. All learning material is presented in week-by-week folders to help students manage their time. The learning will be split into three components:

• orientation activities (e-lecture / webinar, reading, reflective exercises)
• materials to facilitate five online learning community sessions (reading, reflective exercises, business and marketing plan and PDP development)
• a follow-up webinar event to apply learning to practice (reflection on PDP).

The online and face-to-face workshops and tutorials included in the course allow students the opportunities to broaden their knowledge and provide the opportunity for group discussion of more complex practice-related issues. They also provide an opportunity to develop the student’s communication and consultation skills.

• Recognise their own values and principles and understand how emotions and prejudices can affect judgement and behaviour
• Recognise team roles and different perspectives and their impact on effective working relationships.

• Critically examine personal and professional ethics
• Critically evaluate information to challenge existing practices and processes
• Apply investigation tools to encourage innovative thinking and approaches to leadership.

• Design a framework for giving, receiving and learning from feedback
• Employ strategies to provide encouragement and manage differences of opinion
• Apply the appropriate leadership style and team working approaches to different situations and people
• Access and critically evaluate a variety of sources of information to inform service improvement
• Contribute to organisational decision-making via the synthesis of contextualised evidence-based recommendations
• Explain the need for change to colleagues and patients using a recognised change-management model.

• Identify their strengths and limitations and understand the impact of their behaviour on others
• Assess personal development needs and plan development activities
• Identify and create opportunities to work in collaboration with healthcare colleagues
• Manage change effectively and respond to changing demands
• Acquire an open-minded and creative attitude tempered with scientific discipline and social awareness  
• Evaluate his/her own academic and personal progression
• Learn effectively for the purpose of continuing professional development and in a wider context throughout their career including identifying competency against a professional competency framework.

• Provisional marks and feedback for coursework returned within 15 working days.
• Exam marks and final marks returned after ratification at exam board.

An up-to-date reading list for the unit is available on Reading lists online via Blackboard.

Other scheduled teaching and learning activities: (27 hours)

• 2 x 1-hour tutorial with Education Supervisor using a nominated online communication tool, e.g. Zoom
• 2 hours e-lectures/ webinars
• 1 hour PDP presentation
• 8 hours leadership podcasts
• 2.5 hours MBTI® workshop (identification and discussion of Myers Briggs type)
• 10 hours online discussions in learning community.