The course will ensure that you are familiar with and can apply the general principles of prescribing practice which you must utilise within your own area of clinical expertise. Topics will be delivered in a generic style and the speakers will occasionally refer to their own clinical experience, however the principles discussed can be applied to all areas of practice. The course will allow you to expand on your existing knowledge and apply these to the principles of prescribing.

This course has been designed in consideration of the specific learning needs of pharmacists, and will enable you to develop skills such as history taking, physical examination skills and diagnostic reasoning to support safe prescribing practice. This will provide a foundation for your development as a newly qualified independent/supplementary prescriber. Once qualified and registered with your regulatory body, you will have opportunities to expand your formulary and area of competence, in conjunction with your employer, as appropriate.

Elements of this course will be delivered in conjunction with the independent prescribing course for Nursing and Midwifery (NMC) registrants and Health and Care Professions (HCPC) registrants. The students on both courses come from different professional backgrounds and diverse clinical specialities and will have different knowledge, skills, experiences and expertise. The course facilitates inter-professional learning which encourages a collaborative team-orientated approach to learning and working. Based on this, you are expected to take an active role in inter-professional learning during the course by sharing your expertise and professional perspective.

You are expected to be active participants in your learning which means participating in discussions within the class and on the discussion board, actively seeking learning opportunities within clinical practice, and undertaking self-directed learning.

The course is underpinned by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's A Competency Framework for all Prescribers (2021). The course content and assessments are mapped against the 10 domains within this framework -

• assess the patient
• identify evidence-based treatment options available for clinical decision making
• present options and reach a shared decision
• prescribe
• provide information
• monitor and review
• prescribe safely
• prescribe professionally
• improve prescribing practice
• prescribe as part of a team