Introduction: Pharmacy operations affect the environment through energy consumption and waste generation, including packaging and plastic waste, expired and unused medicines. Improper disposal of medicines can harm ecosystems, wildlife, and contribute to antibiotic resistance. Community pharmacies can mitigate these impacts by adopting sustainable practices, such as safe disposal programs, consumer education, and effective inventory management. This study aims to examine the current practices and attitudes of community pharmacy professionals toward environmental sustainability and to identify barriers and enablers in promoting sustainable practices.
Method: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with pharmacy students, interns and pharmacists including proprietors and managers working in local community pharmacies. The survey contained twenty Likert scale multiple choice and open-ended questions. Internal consistency of the results was measured using the Cronbach's alpha test. Ethics approval was obtained from the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee.
Results: 80% of participants (86) agreed they had a professional responsibility to adopt and promote sustainability practices in their community pharmacy workplace. Key barriers to implementing sustainable practices included lack of time (86%), limited knowledge and awareness (73%), lack of incentives (66%), difficulty sourcing eco-friendly supplies (47%), and limited space or facilities (44%). 15% of pharmacists reported they had specific plans to adopt more sustainable practices. Commonly adopted measures included reducing paper use, recycling, and proper waste disposal. One-third of participants responded non-pharmacological and lifestyle recommendations as a means to help reduce medication use and its environmental impact. Pharmacy students identified a gap in their knowledge and understanding of sustainable practices, highlighting the importance of integrating environmental sustainability education into the pharmacy curriculum
Conclusion: Our study highlights a gap in sustainability education within the pharmacy curriculum and emphasizes the need for guidelines, training programs, and educational resources to support community pharmacy workforce in adopting environmentally sustainable practices.

Introduction: The Royal Commission into Safety and Quality in Aged Care made recommendations to improve medication management in residential aged care facilities (RACF). In response, the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care announced the Aged Care On-site Pharmacist (ACOP) measure, requiring pharmacists to be credentialed to access funding.
Methods: The Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) was engaged to develop accreditation standards for education programs that would credential ACOPs. In order to identify training requirements, APC conducted a survey of pharmacists attending aged care and accredited pharmacists’ conferences to seek their views. Questions included training needs, curriculum content, valuable components and/or gaps in existing programs, and assessment methods. Results were collated, analysed and used to inform the standards criteria and performance outcomes framework.
Results: Of the 58 survey respondents, 80% were pharmacists with experience in conducting medication management reviews (MMRs), and 50% were working in aged care.
Most respondents agreed that additional training was required beyond pharmacists’ initial training and should include aged care sector and clinical content. Some believed entry criteria should be limited to pharmacists with a number of years of clinical experience.
Feedback also suggested that the broad range of applicable experience and qualifications of pharmacists, including hospital pharmacists with geriatric expertise, and pharmacists conducting MMRs in RACFs would need to be considered in relation to learner resources and recognition of prior learning (RPL) processes. Networking and mentoring were identified as critical to support learning due to aged care pharmacists working in challenging and professionally isolated environments.
Conclusion: The survey results contributed to the development of standards criteria including entry requirements, RPL processes, assessment methods, and learner support. Feedback from experienced pharmacists was valuable in developing an indicative role description and curriculum, and the performance outcomes framework which describes what graduates of an accredited ACOP program can do.

Introduction: With the expanding scope of practice in hospital pharmacy, upskilling pharmacy assistants/technicians has become a priority. Completion of the Certificate III/IV in Hospital/Health Services Pharmacy Support, a course which involves several self-paced modules, is required to provide a foundation before further credentialling for expanded roles. Previous students received ad hoc support from their mentor, assessor and colleagues, yet completion rates were variable and some found the modules difficult to complete. Therefore, there is a need to develop more proactive, structured support.
Method: Fortnightly tutorials were implemented for technicians undertaking the course at a tertiary hospital. The impact was explored through feedback from the technicians and their pharmacist mentors. Pharmacists who were already mentoring the assistants/technicians and therefore familiar with the course requirements were assigned tutorial topics to deliver. Each tutorial was constructively aligned to the content in a module, and incorporated department-specific information. Technicians were encouraged to ask questions and share ideas during the tutorial. After 6 tutorials, semi-structured interviews were conducted with all the technicians (n=4) and their pharmacist mentors (n=3), and the data were thematically analysed.
Results: Several themes were identified from the interviews: (1) richer learning experience through discussion, (2) increased support and accountability to complete the course, (3) greater collaboration and awareness of the technician role, and (4) opportunity for pharmacists to develop other skills. All participants reported that the tutorials were a positive experience and favoured continuing this structured approach, but raised that attendance can be challenging due to busy workloads. The tutorials also provided an opportunity to develop training materials that could then be used for future assistants/technicians.
Conclusion: This initiative reinforced the benefit of providing proactive, structured support in a group setting, especially when technicians are undertaking self-paced courses. It highlighted that involving pharmacists in technician training has benefits for both groups.

Introduction: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training has shown to improve healthcare students’ mental health knowledge and confidence. Simulated patient role-plays (SPRPs) provide a safe environment for students to practise MHFA skills, assessing their behaviours before they face real-life situations. This study aimed to explore students’ role-play performances post-MHFA training, and student experiences of participating in role-plays with trained actors.
Methods: MHFA training was provided to student cohorts across medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, and pharmacy programs at The University of Sydney. Post-MHFA training, students participated in SPRPs with trained actors. These sessions were observed by peers, tutors, and lived experience educators (LEEs), with students immediately engaging in self-assessments using validated rubrics, feedback, and debrief discussions. Scores from self-assessment, tutors, and LEEs for each of three scenarios were compared. Focus groups were conducted post-training to gather insights on student experiences, and transcripts underwent inductive thematic analysis.
Results: A total of 201 tutor, 192 LEE, and 197 self-assessments were analysed. The mean self-assessment scores were the lowest, while LEE scores were the highest. No significant differences were found between disciplines. Students received the lowest scores on the scenario involving provision of support for a person with suicidal thoughts, highlighting challenges in suicide assessment. Seven focus groups were conducted with 19 students across disciplines, who expressed uncertainties regarding appropriate actions following conversations. However, students described the role-plays to be highly valuable and authentic learning experiences and noted the value of role-playing with trained actors as opposed to peers or the tutor.
Conclusion: Embedding MHFA training within healthcare curricula supports students to confidently handle mental health conversations and situations, however further training in mental health crises may be needed. SPRPs, enacted by trained actors, offer a valuable approach to assess and enhance students’ mental health support behaviours in a controlled, reflective environment.