Abstract
In Australia, pharmacists have traditionally been involved with vaccine education, advocacy and distribution. An emerging role for pharmacists in Australia is the administration of vaccines. Consequently it is appropriate that undergraduate curricula evolve simultaneously to ensure graduate preparedness.A comprehensive vaccination training program was designed and developed by the author after detailed study and mapping of existing programs in Australia and overseas. The intended program was then validated through the use of four focus groups, which were conducted by the author in three countries (Australia, The United States of America and Sri Lanka) to verify the appropriateness and reliability of the developed program. The program, featuring nested injection skills training was piloted in 2015. It was delivered to pharmacy students in Australia and Sri Lanka and competency was assessed by established vaccinators, using validated Objective Structured Clinical Assessments (OSCA). Student knowledge of theory was assessed utilizing multiple choice questionnaires. For comparison, pharmacy students in the United States of America completing their established program undertook identical assessment. The applied content of the vaccination training program was delivered to fourth year students and first year students enabling comparison of understanding.
The developed program allowed Australian students to demonstrate comparable skill competency and appropriate knowledge, to that of the USA students completing an established injection skill and vaccination training program. There is a perceived value in early introduction of injection skills training. The developed training program validated by established vaccinators and academics nationally and internationally, may be adopted by pharmacy schools in Australia and overseas.
Note: Please note that pages 16-43, and 47-72 are available in hard copy only.
| Date of Award | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Patrick Ball (Supervisor), Kwang Yee (Supervisor) & Hana Morrissey (Supervisor) |