IPU Professional Academy

The IPU Academy and the IPU Training Department are not only merging into the IPU Professional Academy, but they are also undergoing a significant online platform transformation and upgrade. This will improve the user experience and will move the IPU’s Academy and Training platforms into a new sphere. The change will also bring about benefits for members and students currently enrolled on a course, or looking to continue their pharmacy learning, CPD, and development needs. These improvements have come about following significant investment in the new platform and will simplify the logon process compared to the previous Academy and Training user experience.

What are the improvements?

1. The merged department will undergo a rebranding to the IPU Professional Academy, and this will be the centre of learning for your pharmacy team going forward. The new logo has just been unveiled as the IPU Professional Academy [place logo adjacent to this section];
2. The learning centre will be positioned on a new and user-friendly platform for both the Training and Academy courses.

• All courses will be accessed through one, new Moodle platform;

4. Users will have just one

• sign on for both Academy and Training courses on the education platform going forward, which will improve the user experience. Members will be able to see both CPD webinars and training courses they have attended in one place;

5. All of the courses currently available will still be provided. You can be assured there will be no change to the high-quality courses on offer under the new name of the IPU Professional Academy; and
6. There will be one new contact email address for all your education queries. The new email address is academy@ipu.ie.

What do you need to do?

At this stage you are not required to do anything, we are just informing you now that improvements and a simplified logon process are on the way over the coming weeks. As we get closer to the ‘go live’ date, we will keep you informed of any action you need to take. Those already enrolled on courses will be notified when the changeover will take place as access to the current system may be closed for a few days during the transition. Disruption to those continuously using the Academy and Training platforms over the summer months will be kept to a minimum, however, we will provide timely notices of the upcoming changes.

When will the change take place?

The ‘go live’ date of the new system is due to take place at the beginning of July. Testing of the new system has commenced to ensure it is running smoothly before it is rolled out fully. We advise all users to check the weekly eNewsletter, your emails and to follow all the IPU Social Media platforms (X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn) for regular updates and timings. Those already registered on a course will also be informed of changes directly by the Training and Academy Department.

The IPU Professional Academy Team — here to help

The IPU Professional Academy team will be updating you regularly and will be available to support you during the transition. The dynamic team is made up of the following members in Butterfield House:

Pia Fennell, Education and Training Manager. Ms Fennell oversees the Department, including the new platform.

She is supported by a team consisting of;

• Alma Barr, Professional Academy Officer. Ms Barr has previously worked mainly on the current IPU Academy; and
• Janice Burke, Professional Academy Officer. Ms Burke has previously been the main contact for training related queries.

A new team member, also a Professional Academy Officer, is currently being recruited and further details will be announced in the coming weeks.

All queries relating to IPU Professional Academy (i.e. any queries that would previously have been sent to contacts in the IPU Academy and the IPU Training Departments), can now be sent to academy@ipu.ie.

Follow the IPU Social Media Platforms and see the weekly IPU eNewsletter for regular updates.