Carmen Abeyaratne¹
Steven Walker¹, Alex Edwards¹ and Ben Emery¹
1 Monash University 

In Australia, pharmacy practice is underpinned by the National Competency Standards Framework (NCSF).(1) Pre-registrant pharmacists (i.e. interns) complete a year-long supervised program to meet core competencies of the NCSF. 

In 2016, an extension work-integrated learning (WIL) program was established to fast-track intern development of more advancing NCSF competencies.(2) To evidence this, interns are expected to complete a series of workplace-based assessments (WBA) as part of a year-long workplace learning plan (WLP). 

In 2023, a more overt portfolio-based WLP was established. For each of the five NCSF domains (Domain 1: Professional practice, Domain 2: Communication/Collaboration, Domain 3: Medication management, Domain 4: Leadership and Domain 5: Education), interns were required to select a range of WBAs for their portfolio submission. Interns complete supervised training in either a hospital or community setting and were expected to liaise with their supervisor to select WBAs catered to their development needs and advancement goals. 

In 2023, 231 (n=110 hospital, n=121 community) interns were enrolled in the program. For Domain 2, the most commonly performed WBA was “written communication to a Doctor” (81%)forcommunityinternsandan“inpatient/progressnote”(58.1%)forhospitalinterns. For Domain 3, the most commonly performed WBA was a “primary care case” (82.6%) for community interns and a “Best Possible Medication History” (92.7%) for hospital interns. For Domain 5, the most commonly performed WBA was “supervision of a learner” (58.7%) for community interns and a “continuing education presentation” (78.2%) for hospital interns. 

This is the first pre-registrant program in Australia which uses a portfolio-based WLP to assess advancing competencies. 

Utilising portfolio-based WLP evidence allows for structured documentation of development in NCSF domains of competency.(3) 

Take-home messages/implications for further research or practice 

Similar portfolio-based WLPs may be adopted by other pre-registrant or early career training programs. 

References (maximum three)