On January 30, 2020, GMU PharmD and Master in Clinical Pharmacy students, accepted the challenge to be evaluated for their prescribing skills using an international standardized prescribing test prepared by the British Pharmacological Society. This Mock exam came after several months of training and preparation. The final summative Prescribing Skills Assessment (PSA) test is planned for June-2020.
One day before the mock exam. The British Pharmacological Society teamvisited the College of Pharmacy and discussed matters related to the logistics, preparation and implications of the exam. On the day of the test and before 9:00 AM (UAE-timeline), Mr. Peter Wright, Head of Technology & Delivery-British Pharmacological Society was live over the phone from London (4:00 AM UK-timeline) with the in-house institutional lead faculty members, associate dean academics and GMU-IT manager to handle any technical issue on the spot.
It is worth mention that, passing the PSA test is a prerequisite for UK-physicians to be licensed.
Vice Chancellor for Quality & Global Engagement and Dean College of Pharmacy commented: We are happy to be leading this initiative specially among colleges of pharmacy in the Middle East region. It is obvious that this will have an impact on the quality of pharmacists in the years to come. Another important outcome of this exercise is that the feedback from such exams will help identify areas of weakness in the curriculum and will be used for continuous quality improvement.
