Introduction: In recent years, the number of applications for pharmacy internship applications at Queensland Health Facilities has far outweighed the number of positions available. Applicants are all similarly qualified and present comparable curricula vitae making it increasingly difficult to differentiate applicants using traditional methods of recruitment. Traditional methods of recruitment do not assess soft skills necessary for successful professional team integration. The aim was to identify if the implementation of an escape room in pharmacy intern recruitment provided a problem solving-based method to differentiate candidates’ nonacademic attributes and clinical knowledge.
Methods: In 2022, Metro North within Queensland Health conducted a two-step intern recruitment process. The use of an escape room was used for the first stage of the interview process. Interviewees (n=48) were divided into groups of four and provided with 20 minutes to ‘escape’ from the pharmacy. Applicants were assessed based on communication, teamwork, leadership, and their ability to problem solve.
Results: The use of an escape room allowed applicants to demonstrate their soft and clinical skills in a group setting. Candidates reported feeling more comfortable, that their skills and their ‘team fit’ were more accurately assessed.
Conclusion: The implementation of an escape room for an interview proved to be a useful tool to differentiate intern candidates. Panelists were provided with insight into the areas of teamwork, leadership, communication, and clinical knowledge of each of the candidates through problem-based group work questions.

Introduction: Pharmacy in Singapore encompasses diverse roles crucial for safe medication use and patient well-being. While clinical competencies have been emphasised, leadership skills development has been less prioritised. This was highlighted during a retreat organised by the Chief Pharmacist's Office in March 2022. A landscape survey was conducted in 2023 to map out existing leadership frameworks, pharmacy-specific leadership support structures and identify opportunities for improvement.
The Pharmacy Leadership Development Strategy (PLDS) was developed to cultivate healthcare leaders within and beyond pharmacy, capable of providing holistic perspectives in key decision-making and leading health ecosystems.
Methods: PLDS adapts leadership skillsets and levels from the Ministry of Health Holdings ONE Healthcare Leadership Framework, incorporating domains and performance criteria from the Ministry of Health’s Development Framework for Pharmacists (DFP). Recommendations were also based on inputs from healthcare professionals, organisational and human resource leaders with integrated findings as an addendum from the landscape survey.
Results: The PLDS outlines a Leadership Development Journey, beginning with cultivating Self-Leadership as the cornerstone of leadership development, before transitioning into Leading Others to build a supportive and high-performing team environment. It employs a “Why-How- What” Approach. “Why” involves discovering individual purpose, creating a personal mission statement for leadership development. “How” describes a systematic targeted approach focusing on leadership skillsets and competencies for specific goals at each leadership level. Lastly, “What” highlights opportunities to develop and practice leadership skills, advancing the pharmacy profession. The PLDS was successfully launched in October 2024.
Conclusion: The framework aims to build a pool of self-motivated leaders across the pharmacy workforce, equipped with strong professional identity and necessary skills to navigate the evolving healthcare landscape, drive innovation, and advocate for pharmacy practice and healthcare advancement in Singapore.

Introduction: Theoretically, one of the ways to make primary health care systems more efficient would be to increase the scope of practice of pharmacists. In Australia, several state-led trials are already underway to support pharmacist prescribing. The literature alludes to many successful global models of pharmacist prescribing practices, that have potential to provide efficient, trustworthy care to patients. In the process of developing this scope of practice, the view of the patient/consumer is one of utmost importance in order to build and support a trusting patient-pharmacist relationship. To build and maintain trust in pharmacist prescribing, there is a need to inculcate teaching and learning of how to build a trustworthy relationship with our patients.
Methods: Literature search and inductive analysis of the literature to explore important aspects of trust in professional relationships for inclusion in an educational module.
Results: Data collection underway
Conclusion: Further information in the pipeline