Scaffolding patient counselling skills in Australian university pharmacy programs

This paper presents the results of an appraisal of the extent of, and approaches to, scaffolding for development of counselling skills of pharmacy students across Australian universities. There were two stages in the work. The first involved mapping of university pharmacy programs and examination of placement handbooks from all but two of the fourteen universities offering pharmacy programs in Australia. The second involved a series of consultations and interviews with key representatives of various pharmacy stakeholder groups and individuals at a national level and in each state and territory of Australia. University academics and preceptors described significant roles in supporting students to build these skills especially within the preplacement and during placement phases. Across Australian pharmacy schools, scaffolding for development of counselling skills through a range of approaches is evident. There appears to be support for this approach from both students and preceptors. The results of this research has relevance both for other health professional programs and other programs which include experiential workplace learning with respect to the preparation of students for workplace activities. [Author abstract, ed]