THIS week's contributor is Professor Simon Bell, Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Monash University - Changing practice for the better: As a profession that requires a tightly prescribed pathway to attain registration, we tend to regard tertiary education beyond that point as key stepping stones towards advanced practice.
Whilst it's true that undertaking a PhD can substantially expand your opportunities, at the Monash Centre for Medicine Use and Safety an increasing number of candidates are using their PhD research in combination with their day job to change practice and improve patient outcomes.
A community pharmacist who I co-supervise is undertaking their PhD on whether diabetes treatment regimens are consistent with clinical guidelines. While a second is in the final stages of completing their PhD on inappropriate medicine use in people with dementia.
Another candidate is an Emergency Department pharmacist who witnessed first-hand the impact of the opioid epidemic. They enrolled and have recently completed their PhD on the analyses of PBS opioid usage. During their studies they completed an exchange at the Karolinska Institute Sweden, researching the impact of opioid prescribing on sick leave in Sweden.
Few people are better positioned to identify ways in which medication use and safety systems could be improved than practicing pharmacists. A PhD offers you a way to make those changes happen.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 26 Aug 19
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