Pharmacy Practice
Pharmacy Practice integrates the pharmaceutical sciences with the professional roles of pharmacists. It includes areas such as clinical pharmacy, pharmaceutical care, health promotion and education, social pharmacy, health informatics, pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacy education. Research incorporates clinical, scientific and social techniques.
Topics that have been the focus of particular research in the School include pharmacy manpower, drug utilization, prescription/medication errors and medication safety, ethics in pharmacy practice, disposal of unused medicines, seamless care, drug misuse, health promotion and weight control interventions by community pharmacists, and formulation-related problems encountered by pharmacists.
Head of Research Group
Members of the Research Group
- Catriona Bradley (CB)
- Prof. Owen Corrigan (OC)
- Assoc. Prof. Deirdre D’Arcy (DD)
- Assoc. Prof. Martin Henman (MH)
- Assoc. Prof. Cicely Roche (CR)
TCD Collaborators
Prof. Anne Marie Healy, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (AMH)
Dr Bernard Silke, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics TCD and St James’s Hospital (BS)
National and International Collaborators
- Health Service Executive (HSE)
- Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU)
- Asthma Society of Ireland (ASI)
- Pharmacy Xcelerate Skillnet (PXS)
News: Poster Prize
At the 9th Annual Conference of the National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery (Nov. 2009), Eileen Relihan won first prize in the Research Poster competition for her work on reducing interruptions during medication rounds. Supervisors: SR, OC, BS.
Eileen Relihan (right) receiving her prize from Ms Sheila O'Malley, Chief Nursing Officer, Nursing Policy Division, Department of Health and Children.
News: Research Award
At the Helix Health Pharmacist Awards 2009, Bernard Duggan won the Practice Based Research Award for his research on seamless care (Supervisor: Sheila Ryder). Runners up were Tamasine Grimes (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland/Tallaght Hospital) and Cristin Ryan (University College Cork).
From l-r: Mr. Howard Beggs, Chief Executive of Helix Health, Award Winner Mr. Bernard Duggan, and Ms. Cicely Roche of the Awards Organising Committee.
Current Research Projects
- Design, implementation and evaluation of a multidisciplinary medication safety system for Irish hospitals (SR, OC, BS). Research student: Eileen Relihan, St James’s Hospital.
- Seamless care: Pharmacy services at the primary-secondary care interface (SR). Research student: Bernard Duggan.
- Exploration of community pharmacy-based antimicrobial monitoring and its use as a sentinel surveillance system (SR, OC, HSE). Research student: Paul Knox.
- Evaluation and analysis of DUMP [Disposal of Unused Medicines Properly] campaign returns (SR, MH, HSE, AMH). Research student: Julie Ryan.
- Community pharmacists’ role in mental health care (SR). Research student (M.Sc. in Community Pharmacy): Siobhan Rogers.
- Healthcare interactions and referrals in community pharmacies by non-pharmacist staff members (SR, CB). Research student (M.Sc. in Community Pharmacy): Michelle Duggan.
- Ethical reasoning: Review of the professional/commercial influences on decision-making. Use of the Defining Issues Test (DIT2) as a tool to both initiate ethical reasoning discussions and in the measurement of the impact of training and personal development initiatives (CR).
- Screening services in community pharmacies (CR, MH, IPU, PXS, Aisling Reast).
- Implementation of evidence-based asthma guidelines: Collaboration between GPs, practice nurses and community pharmacists in 25 primary care sites nationwide (SR, CR, ASI, HSE, Dept of Health and Children).
Research on taught programmes
Besides the research performed by students undertaking postgraduate degrees by research alone (Ph.D. or M.Sc.), pharmacy practice research is conducted by students undertaking the M.Sc. in Community Pharmacy and M.Sc. in Hospital Pharmacy.