For newly qualified pharmacists
Qualifying as a pharmacist is a big achievement.
But it is only the beginning.
This resource hub provides real-time practical support to ensure you develop the capability, confidence and professional judgement you need to prescribe safely and effectively.
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Benefits of becoming an RCPharm member
Prescribing support for newly qualified pharmacists
Monday-Friday 9am-5pm
Our experienced advisors are here to guide and support you with difficult prescribing decisions and ethical dilemmas. Whether you are working in the community, in primary care or in hospital, we can provide advice to help you make informed decisions and use your professional judgement.
Wellbeing support
Workplace pressures and the demands of a new job can be significant. Whether you are getting to grips with multi-tasking, dealing with imposter syndrome feelings, or navigating long hours alongside continued professional development, these resources will help you define professional boundaries and protect your wellbeing.
Recruitment support
Want to know how to make your CV stand out, or how to prepare and excel in interviews? You can hear from industry insiders to discover more about what they are looking for in candidates, and how to navigate tricky interview questions to help you secure your first role in pharmacy.
Getting Started Toolkit
Our Getting Started Toolkit provides week-by-week guidance and support to build confidence and capability. It brings everything together in one place, giving you practical guidance you can dip in and out of. These resources have been designed to ensure you can get started safely as a newly qualified pharmacist, build your resilience and professional judgement, and develop your career.
See below for more information.
Preview of our Getting Started Toolkit
Please note that you must be a member to view our Getting Started Toolkit. Click here to become an RCPharm member and have access to all our resources for newly qualified pharmacists.
The transition from trainee to independent prescribing pharmacist takes time. However you feel, we are here to help you bridge the gap.
We will guide you through your first year of practice. We will help you be successful at work. We will support your ongoing professional development and create the foundation for a rewarding career.
Your first weeks in practice
Find out how to prepare for prescribing in practice, secure your first role, and your first day at work. Build your skills in decision-making and communicating with patients and teams.
Topic 1
Preparing for prescribing
Apply the principles of safe effective, evidence-based prescribing.
Topic 4
Working with teams and professional skills
Collaborate effectively in teams and identify roles and expertise.
Building resilience and professional judgement
Learn to navigate complex cases and prescribing dilemmas, challenging situations, errors, and complaints. Discover when to seek guidance, take action, or rectify issues and learn.
Topic 5
Reducing risk in prescribing
Identify risks and understand governance to keep patients safe.
Topic 6
What to do when things go wrong
Spot prescribing incidents, errors, and near misses and take action.
Topic 7
Prescribing dilemmas in practice
Manage new situations and seek the right support and guidance.
Developing your career
Think about your onward career development starting with management, leadership, mentoring and continued learning, with introductions to credentialing, research, and what it means to work in multiple sectors.
Topic 11
Discover career progression through credentialling and the e-portfolio.
Frequently asked questions about RCPharm’s new prescribers support
The Royal College of Pharmacy (RCPharm) is providing real-time, practical, structured support to ensure new prescribers can continue to develop the capability, confidence and professional judgement they need to prescribe safely and effectively. Click the link below to read frequently asked questions and answers.
What are you offering newly qualified pharmacist prescribers?
This is designed to support the continued development of newly qualified pharmacists through their first year of practice as they navigate the transition from trainee to independent prescriber. Through real-time access to expertise, sector-based learning, professional guidance and extensive resources, newly qualified pharmacists can grow their skills and confidence with support as they develop their experience in applying their knowledge in practice.
What specific support and resources are you offering?
Our support includes:
- Support line for new prescribers: Real-time expert guidance by email and phone (9am-5pm) from our team of experienced pharmacists to support prescribing, and reflective discussion after an issue or incident.
- Getting Started Toolkit: Trusted guidance and week-by-week support across a wide range of areas to build experience, best practice, capability and confidence as new prescribers develop their practice.
- Sector based learning for community, hospital, and primary care pharmacists: Develop skills in complex decision-making and professional judgement through real-world scenarios for prescribing in all settings.
- Recruitment support: CV and interview support to help newly qualified prescribers secure their desired role.
- Ongoing Career Development: Management and leadership skills to create the foundation for a rewarding career alongside an introduction to credentialing and the e-portfolio. Credentialing is a formal peer-reviewed process that recognises a pharmacist’s advanced clinical skills and competencies. The e-portfolio is the digital system where pharmacists compile evidence of their learning and practice to prove they meet these standards.
- Wellbeing support: Set up healthy work habits from the start, learn how to cope when things go wrong and how to prevent burnout.
- Professional Liability Insurance: Click here to find out more.
“The transition from trainee to prescribing professional is a sharp one for newly qualified pharmacists this year, starting in their first role. The College is here to support that journey, complementing provisions by employers and statutory bodies. We have designed this combination of support and learning based on feedback from trainees to build confidence, capability and professional judgement and will continue to add to this over time.”
Louise Goldring, Director of Education
Source: insta_photos/Shutterstock.com, Paul Stuart