PM0PHS: Foundation in Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences

Module code: PM0PHS

Module provider: Pharmacy; School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy

Credits: 20

Level: Foundation Level

When you'll be taught: Semester 1 / 2

Module convenor: Dr John Brazier, email: j.a.brazier@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s): IN THE SAME YEAR AS TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE CH0CHE AND TAKE BI0BF1 AND TAKE IF0RAS (Compulsory)

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module is aimed at Foundation level students who want to learn more about and develop the skills needed in pharmaceutical and health sciences education. This module provides students with an introduction to pharmacy and other health-related professions and focuses on supporting the development of knowledge and numeracy skills necessary for students studying on healthcare and health sciences programmes.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate general numeracy skills, including working with data and using algebra to solve mathematical problems.
2. Carry out calculations involving units of mass, length, volume and concentration.
3. Apply simple mathematical expressions within pharmaceutical calculations, including those relevant to drug administration.  
4. Describe the roles of various healthcare and health-related professionals, their professional responsibilities and healthcare values.
5. Demonstrate knowledge of public health issues, health behaviours and health promotion.
6. Explain basic principles of how diseases can be prevented or managed using medicines.

Module content

This module enables students to begin developing some key professional and study skills that are essential for study and practice in healthcare roles.

Numeracy Topics studied:

• Diagnostic Assessment of numeracy Skills
• Topic 1: General numeracy skills including fractions, estimation and unit conversion.
• Topic 2:  Pharmaceutical Calculations 1 involving units, amounts and dose calculations.
• Topic 3: Algebraic Skills – basic algebraic skills that include introduction to logarithms.
• Topic 4: Pharmaceutical Calculations 2 – dosage calculations, simple dilutions, unit conversions.

Pharmacy and health science professional topics studied:

• Topic 1: Roles and responsibilities of health care professionals.
• Topic 2: Professional behaviours and communication skills.
• Topic 3: Public health and health promotion.
• Topic 4: Ethical dilemmas – professional behaviours and values in healthcare professionals.

Topic 5: Case study introducing concepts of treatment of disease.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

This module will be delivered using lectures, tutorials, interactive workshops and guided independent materials using the University’s virtual learning environment.  

Study hours

At least 43 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve all of the following to pass this module:

1. The student must pass the written examination at 50% to progress onto Part 1.
2. An overall module mark of 40%

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

In person diagnostic and formative numeracy tests and online practice papers are provided to support learning and exam preparation. 

Reassessment

Additional costs