Master of Clinical Pharmacy - Course structure

Evidence Based Practice - VCG5011

Unit Summary

6 credit points

This unit will provide students with theoretical information on evidence-based practice as well as the skills to incorporate evidence-based medicine into their clinical practice. Topics will include: formulation of clinical questions, searching the literature for best evidence, evaluating the evidence, and applying the evidence in patient care.

This unit is available as a single unit enrolment. Successful completion of this unit does not automatically grant entry into the Master of Clinical Pharmacy, Master of Wound Care or other graduate programs. (see entry requirements).

Objectives

At the completion of this unit the participant will be able to:

• Formulate and answer clinical questions
• Evaluate the literature for validity and clinical utility
• Use electronic and paper based resources to assist in patient care
• Search relevant databases for current best evidence
• Appreciate the role of guidelines and decision support software in guiding therapy

Workload requirements

It is expected that this unit will require participants to allocate up to 12 hours per week for 13 weeks (a total of 156 hours per study period) to successfully complete this unit. Given individual differences in learning styles it is expected that this time allocation is sufficiently reasonable for students to interact with the unit facilitators, study the prepared unit materials, attend lectures and tutorials and undertake the assessment tasks.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for this course are consistent with the entry requirements for the Master of Clinical Pharmacy. There are no special prerequisites for this unit.

Methods of assessment

• Development and submission of your clinical question   10%
• Literature search strategy  20%
• Answer to your clinical question  30%
• Contribution to Online Discussion, including Tasks   15%
• Presentation (Journal Club)  25%

Prescribed text

Guyatt G, Rennie D, eds. Users' Guides to the Medical Literature. Essentials of evidence-based  clinical practice (2nd Edition) McGraw-Hill Professional, 2008.