IPU Training Unit – Spring 2023 Courses

Last Chance to Enrol – IPU Patient Medication Counselling 101 Course – Tutor Directed On-Line Workshop

The IPU Patient Medication Counselling 101 workshop will take place on Sunday 5 March. This course has been designed to encourage pharmacists to revisit and strengthen their own counselling skills. Effective medication counselling helps the patient understand their illness, their medications and improves compliance. This course will deal with the various types of medication counselling, help you to evaluate your current counselling style and provide techniques to ensure effective interactions. The course will also provide an introduction in how to utilise technology to improve the counselling service you provide to your patients. The cost is €299 to IPU Members and €599 to Non-Members. To enrol and pay, click here.

IPU Bootcamp in Pharmacy Finance

(2 Days, one month apart – Tutor-Directed Online Workshops)

This course has been designed to allow pharmacists complement their clinical skills with the knowledge and skills to understand the financial aspects of pharmacy business. It will equip pharmacists with an understanding of general and dispensary finance and help them to understand how they and their dispensary teams directly affect cash flow and profitability each month.

Day 1 will cover an introduction to business finance and an understanding of what elements the dispensary team can directly impact upon. The course will also give a detailed view of dispensary finance including understanding your HSE payment schedule, fee structure and the costs associated with dispensing. Pharmacists will return for Day 2 four weeks later, having worked through a financial end of month and claim cycle, for a more detailed look at Supplier Terms, Purchasing, Preferred Products and Dispensing, Stockholding, and managing overheads in order to have a direct positive impact on the financial health of the pharmacy(s) they operate in.

Day 1: Sunday 12 March
Day 2: Sunday 16 April

New Course Added to Spring 2023 – IPU Recognition for Prior Learning – Medicines Assistant Course.

IPU Recognition for Prior Learning – Medicines Counter Assistant Course

(Self-Directed On-line Distance Learning – 8 Weeks)

The IPU Recognition for Prior Learning – Medicines Counter Assistant Course has been designed specifically for Medicines Counter Assistants to update and revise their knowledge. The course is self-directed distance learning completed over eight weeks. This means the candidate can study and revise their knowledge, skill and competence in appraising patient needs within a pharmacy setting and recommending the appropriate course of action.

Enrolment Requirements

Enrolment is open to medicines counter assistants who have been certified on the IPU Medicines Counter Assistant Course or the IPU Pharmacy Interact Assistant Course before 2021

Cost

The cost of the course is €209 for candidates working for IPU Members; €399 for candidates working for Non-IPU Members.

Spring Date

Start Date Wednesday 22 March – End of Course Online Exam Wednesday 17 May at 7.30pm.

IPU Supervisory Development Course

(2 Days, one month apart – Tutor-Directed Online Workshops)

This course is an introduction to Leadership and Management and is aimed at learners who are in a supervisory or management role or aspire to be in the future. This interactive workshop is delivered over two days, one month apart.

Day 1 Workshop aims to equip learners to become effective in their role by providing them with a fuller understanding of their role as well as practical skills in communication and the coaching of individual team members to meet performance objectives.

Day 2 Workshop aims to equip learners with the necessary skills and attitude to develop and foster effective team working as well as efficient productivity planning and team motivation skills.

Day 1: Thursday 23 March
Day 2: Thursday 20 April

IPU Basics in Health and Nutrition

(1 Day – Tutor-Directed Online Workshop)

This course will give an overview of how nutritional supplements can assist health and wellbeing and aims to equip participants with the knowledge, skills, and competence to appropriately engage with patients and customers, while giving good advice on required vitamins, minerals, and supplements. In the highly competitive retail pharmacy sector, a sound base of the products you sell can lead to increased sales, higher profitability and make you more competitive overall.

Day 1: Wednesday 29 March

IPU Skin Solutions at the Counter Course

(1 Day, Tutor-Directed Online Workshop)

This course gives an overview of the most common skin complaints presented in the pharmacy, skincare ingredients, how they work and who they would benefit. As the first port of call for skincare queries pharmacy staff are well placed to advise and recommend practical and solution-based skincare routines to enhance the lives of their customers. An effective skincare consultation at the counter can be an invaluable service for any pharmacy to offer. Not only will a knowledgeable and skilled team member enhance the customers experience in choosing the skincare product that is right for them, but they will also deliver the business greater sales and profitability.

It provides the learner with the knowledge and confidence to provide a skin consultation at the pharmacy counter, advise the customer on how to achieve healthy skin and match the customers’ needs with the products stocked in the pharmacy.

Day 1: Thursday 27 April

eLearning Courses below are available to purchase 24/7 and are placed on the Learning Management System on the IPU Training Unit Moodle Platform

IPU Introduction to Employment Law and Employee Rights

(eLearning Course)

This course will specifically focus on the need for pharmacies to ensure compliance with employee legislation. Employment law has become increasingly complex over the past number of years. There are rich sources of information that inform employees of their various responsibilities, but also of their employment rights. With increasing inspections by relevant bodies, it is critical that employers and managers have a basic knowledge in all aspects of recruitment, selection, employment, and the management of employees.

IPU Continuing Professional (CPD) Courses for Pharmacy Technicians and the Pharmacy Team

(eLearning Courses)

These CPD courses have been designed to engage the learner using interactive on-screen content, quizzes, video presentations and a final assessment where the learner can print their own Certificate of Completion.

eLearning courses available:

IPU Irish Pharmacy Retail Sales Course

(eLearning Course)

This course provides the pharmacy sales assistant with the knowledge and understanding of the various techniques used for up-selling and cross-selling within retail pharmacy. The course has been designed for the experienced pharmacy sales assistant who wants to refresh their skills to improve and/or increase pharmacy sales. It is also appropriate for the new pharmacy sales assistant to develop their sales ability and gain essential knowledge and skill to engage with customers to maximise pharmacy sales.

The content covers the following topics:

Opening a sale
Establishing a customer’s needs and wants
Presenting and matching product and services
Handling a customer objection
Closing a sale

Other courses

Medicine in Care Homes

(Training Pack)

The Medicines in Care Homes training pack has been designed to assist pharmacists in providing training on the management of medication to care staff working in residential care settings.

**IPU NPA Medicine Counter Assistant (formerly Interact) Course – (*Blended Learning***)

This course is geared for all staff working on the pharmacy medicines counter, including full time, part-time and Saturday Staff. The course is delivered by blended learning and will increase medicine counter assistants’ product knowledge and begin to develop the skills needed to work in pharmacy.

Click here to access Information Sheets on all available training courses.

Instructions on how to ‘Enrol and Pay’ online are included on course Information Sheet.

If you have any questions, you can phone Janice or Susan in the Training Unit on 01 493 6401 / 01 406 1555 direct dial, or email training@ipu.ie.

https://ipu.ie/communication/ipu-training-unit-spring-2023-courses-5/