1 Get to know your trainee
An effective induction period is the basis of an optimal training experience for your pre-reg, as is developing a relationship where there is mutual respect and trust.
Sit down with your trainee for an initial discussion, agree a learning contract and discuss expectations of each other. This is a good way of formalising any agreement and outlining target outcomes for the forthcoming year.
Identifying your trainee's level of competence and learning style at the beginning of the year will help you determine how much of your input is required to help their development. Remember, for some trainees this may be the first time they are working in a pharmacy or community setting; others may have had extensive experience through work experience and summer placements. A tailored approach to training is therefore required.
2 Plan and organise
It is important to familiarise yourself with the learning and development outcomes as these form the basis for assessing your trainee's performance. Encourage your trainee to develop an outline plan for the year and decide on details such as holidays, study time, cross-sector placements and any time to be spent outside the pharmacy. Remember to schedule in dates for reviews and make sure you and your trainee keep track of paperwork. In addition, ensure that you have all the reference sources required.
3 Build a learning culture
As a tutor, your main goal should be to create the right opportunities for learning. Simply asking your trainee to shadow you while you give advice to a patient is a powerful learning opportunity, builds on good practice and results in more productive working. Encourage your trainee to take responsibility for their own learning and set their own learning objectives, making sure they are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed). Setting clear learning objectives is crucial to evaluate their learning and enables you to check if the learning has had an impact.
A great way of learning is to build external relationships with colleagues and partners who you can approach to share learning. Simply observing how another pharmacy operates can help improve and build on current best practice.
Use coaching and probing questioning techniques to get your pre-reg thinking, rather than giving them the answer. Ask questions like:
- What will you do differently next time?
- What did you learn from the experience?
- How will you respond to this situation in future?
4 Involve your staff
Make sure the rest of your staff know what the role of the pre-reg is, encourage open communication and make use of the skill mix in your pharmacy. A reliable member of staff could be assigned as a mentor. Towards the end of the year you may wish to assign your pre-reg as a mentor for a new member of staff.
5 Identify performance gaps
Progress reviews should not only be instigated as a result of critical incidents. Observation and questioning are important to find out where the gaps lie. As well as the formal progress reviews carried out every 13 weeks, it is a good idea to schedule regular reviews. This will help you find out how your student is getting on and give you a chance to address any gaps in performance and plan learning opportunities.
6 Follow up errors
Encourage your trainees to keep an error log. If they make an error then they are probably feeling very guilty about it. Be consistent in helping them identify where they may have gone wrong and decide on action plans to avoid repeating the same errors.
7 Recognise success and motivate
A few words of encouragement can have a much better impact than criticism. When your trainee performs well, show them that you have noticed and use motivation as a tool to aid continuous learning. If you notice improvement as a result of a learning activity you had asked your trainee to do, explain that their improvement was a result of the learning activity and how this relates to their performance standards. This will, in turn, build their confidence and enhance performance.
8 Use the opportunity
Being a tutor provides a great opportunity for CPD; many pre-reg tutors find that they learn from their trainees. Your pre-reg will have been exposed to novel knowledge and skills at university or at a different pharmacy. Remain open to this new channel of potential learning as it is a mutually beneficial activity where you can both learn from each other. Remember to evaluate whether the learning opportunity made a difference to your pharmacy and your team.
9 Lead by example
Your attitude towards learning can make a huge difference to how learning is perceived in your pharmacy. Enjoy passing on your skills and knowledge at every opportunity. As a pre-reg tutor, you should be committed to a process of continuous quality improvement for your skills as a pharmacist and a tutor. It's important to evaluate and refine your practices and activities on an ongoing basis to continually improve in the pursuit of excellence, so remember to get feedback from your trainee using feedback forms and during appraisal meetings.
10 Be proud of your role
Finally, remember: as a pre-reg tutor, you are setting the standards for our future pharmacists, with the aim to produce pharmacists capable of and committed to delivering excellent patient care Ð and that is a role to be proud of.
Noma Al-Ahmed is the course director for ProPharmace's pre-registration training programme - www.propharmace.com