Introduction: Final Year Pharmacy Students (FYPS) undertaking clinical placements can play a valuable role in obtaining Best Possible Medication Histories (BPMH), contributing to patient care. While Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are now widely used, integration of these systems into undergraduate learning is currently limited. Furthermore, FYPS currently have restricted EMR access during their clinical placements which can be viewed as a system limitation, hindering entrustment of learners. This study sought to evaluate the safety of students documenting medication histories in an EMR.
Methods: This prospective study was conducted across 11 metropolitan tertiary hospitals in South Australia over 36 weeks. For each BPMH conducted, FYPS generated medication orders in the EMR, and these were reviewed by the supervising pharmacist for any potential errors. The potential harm of each error was assessed by the supervising pharmacist and an interprofessional consensus panel, using the Harm Associated with Medication Error Classification system.
Results: Of the 2262 medication orders entered into the EMR by 65 FYPS, 156 (6.9%) were entered incorrectly. The most common type of errors identified was wrong directions (n=65/156, 41.7% of errors) followed by medication omission (n=28, 17.9%). Most errors were assessed as ‘no harm’ (n=82/156, 52.6%) or ‘minor harm’ (n=46/156, 29.5%), with only one instance classified as potential ‘serious harm’.
Conclusion: Findings suggest that FYPS can accurately enter data into the EMR, with error rates comparable to other pharmacist activities. Entrusting learners to contribute to patient care with supervision levels that are appropriate based on their skills, knowledge and attitudes is important as supervision is a limited resource. Importantly, the decisions around EMR access levels for FYPS should be balanced with consideration around potential patient harm that could come from not training our available healthcare workforce in optimal use of EMRs or enabling them to make meaningful contributions to patient care.

Introduction: In Australia, pharmacists are required to accumulate 40 points of continuing education each registration year. Continuing education opportunities have traditionally included conference attendance, specialist workshops, evening lectures, workplace education and reading pharmacy journals. The advent of new mediums such as podcasting offer pharmacists more flexible learning opportunities than traditional approaches. A podcast, in its most basic form, is a digital audio file, made available on the internet for downloading and listening to at a time of the users choosing.
Methods: A group of Australian pharmacists founded and host The Purple Pen Podcast, a long interview format podcast. Whilst the Podcast was originally pitched at Hospital Pharmacists, feedback from listeners indicates that the listenership includes pharmacy students, community pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. Topics for each episode are sourced from the hosts’ clinical practice, the latest medical evidence, contemporary issues in pharmacy practice and feedback from listeners. The Podcast is not sponsored and does not accept speaker suggestions from pharmaceutical companies to minimise any conflicts of interest.
Results: There have been 166 episodes of the Purple Pen Podcast released between October 2016 and October 2024. The podcast has been downloaded over 265,791 times, an average of over 1600 listeners per episode. The most popular episode, entitled “Type II Diabetes” has been downloaded a total of 4031 times since release in September 2022. Other popular episodes include Coronavirus, Deprescribing Psychotropics, Cholesterol Update and Chronic Kidney Disease. Whilst the majority of podcast listeners are based in Australia (89%), the Purple Pen Podcast has been downloaded from 141 countries.
Conclusion: Podcasting is a viable alternative medium for the provision of education to pharmacists. The Purple Pen Podcast provides listeners with free continuing education at a location and time of their choosing.

Introduction: In 2020, a large tertiary healthcare network launched the Clinical Pharmacy Orientation Program (CPOP) to address challenges in providing consistent clinical training across multiple sites. Led by pharmacy educators, CPOP combines interactive presentations with case-based learning in a virtual simulated environment, reaching pharmacists across various locations. This study aims to analyse several years of evaluation data to identify the program’s strengths and evolution opportunities from the learners' experiences and perspectives.
Methods: This retrospective mixed-methods study analysed learner feedback from August 2020 – August 2024. Routine online surveys, employing a 5-point Likert scale, assessed five key areas: understanding of the clinical pharmacist’s role, content quality and relevance, presentation and delivery, learning environment, and overall satisfaction. Open-ended questions gathered suggestions for improvement. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics, and qualitative data underwent inductive thematic analysis.
Results: Over the four years, 306 learners completed the program, with 203 (66%) completing the survey. There were high levels of agreement (Strongly Agree or Agree) across the key areas: 95% of learners agreed the program enhanced their understanding of the clinical pharmacist’s role. Similarly, 95% rated the content as high-quality and relevant. The program’s presentation and delivery received 88% agreement, while 95% of learners agreed that it provided a positive learning environment. Overall, 95% expressed satisfaction with the program. Open-ended responses highlighted the need for enhanced technical support, additional interactive activities, and deeper exploration of complex topics.
Conclusion: This study highlights the CPOP’s strengths as an innovative, future-ready pharmacy education program as evidenced by consistent positive feedback over four years. Enhancing technical support and interactivity could further improve the program. These insights offer direction for refining simulation-based training, ensuring continued longevity in the evolving landscape of healthcare education.