Advance your expertise in perioperative medicine and optimise outcomes for patients undergoing a surgical procedure!
Pharmacists play a critical role in ensuring safe and effective medication management before, during, and after surgical procedures. Alfred Health’s Fundamentals of Perioperative Medicine course has been developed by leading perioperative medicine pharmacists in collaboration with experienced pharmacy educators to provide learners with essential knowledge and practical skills for this unique area of practice.
This course has been purposefully designed to train pharmacists who are new to perioperative medicine pharmacy, or those in need of a refresher of the fundamentals of perioperative medicine, to support the provision of optimal care for patients undergoing a surgical procedure.
What You’ll Gain:
- Understanding of the pharmacist’s impact across the perioperative journey, from preoperative medication planning to intraoperative considerations then immediate postoperative management.
- Practical skills to assess and manage medication perioperatively, including when to withhold, continue, or optimise medications for a surgical procedure.
- An understanding of anaesthetic agents and adjunct medications given intraoperatively, to ensure a safe and effective anaesthetic.
- Confidence to identify and act on opportunities to optimise medication management in the immediate postoperative period, including VTE prophylaxis, surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis, analgesia and postoperative nausea and vomiting.
Need flexible learning as a busy pharmacist? Our e-learning package features self-paced modules that fit your schedule, providing comprehensive learning to validate your expertise. Learn from leading pharmacists in perioperative medicine without taking time away from your current role.
Core Modules
The online component of the course comprises of four e-Learning modules:
Experiential Activities:
Learn from experts in perioperative medicine pharmacy to elevate your practice with hands on experience
Interactive Workshops
- 2 x 2-hour interactive virtual case-based workshops facilitated by a Lead or Senior Perioperative Medicine pharmacist. These workshops will allow learners to apply the knowledge learnt through the e-Learning modules to specialised patient cases, to develop core skills in the management of patients perioperatively.
Experiential Placement
- 1 day (8-hour) experiential placement day at The Alfred Hospital, where learners will observe the practice of specialised Lead or Senior perioperative medicine pharmacists, allowing them to apply their new knowledge and skills to real-life clinical practice.
The e-Learning module in this course may be included as 30 hours of CPD upon successful completion of its integrated assessment activities.
The 2016 Competency Standards that align with this activity include:
- 1.1 Uphold professionalism in practice
- 1.2 Observe and promote ethical standards
- 1.5 Apply expertise in professional practice
- 1.6 Contribute to continuous improvement in quality and safety
- 2.2 Collaborate with professional colleagues
- 2.4 Apply interpersonal communication skills to address problems
- 3.1 Develop a patient centred, culturally responsive approach to medication management
- 3.2 Implement the medication management strategy or plan
- 3.3 Monitor and evaluate medication management
- 3.5 Support Quality Use of Medicines
On completion of the online e-Learning modules, participants should be able to:
- Explain the principles of perioperative medicine, including the roles and responsibilities of key perioperative team members (anaesthetists, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists), and the typical surgical patient journey for both planned and emergency surgical procedures.
- Identify common surgical procedures and classify them based on complexity (major vs minor) and bleeding risk (high vs low).
- Describe key preoperative medication management principles, including how medication, patient and surgical factors influence decision-making and planning
- Apply evidence-based guidelines and literature to develop safe, individualised preoperative medication plans, evaluating individual medications to determine whether they should be withheld, continued, or optimised
- Explain key principles of postoperative medication management, including the impact of common surgical procedure complications on medication regimens
- Develop safe, individualised postoperative medication plans that assess both preadmission and newly initiated medications to decide whether to continue, adjust, or discontinue them during recovery
- Explain key intraoperative principles, including the use of anaesthesia, antimicrobial prophylaxis, postoperative nausea and vomiting prevention, analgesics for acute pain management, and venous thromboembolism prevention.
- Interpret key perioperative clinical documents, such as anaesthetic records, operation reports, and nursing notes, to support pharmacist-led clinical review and optimise medication management.
- Describe and evaluate the pharmacist’s role throughout the perioperative journey, including preoperative medication review and planning, intraoperative and post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) interventions, postoperative reconciliation, and collaboration with the multidisciplinary team to optimise patient outcomes.
On completion of the Workshops and Experiential Placement, participants should be able to:
- Develop appropriate treatment and monitoring perioperative medication management plans based on contemporary literature, clinical guidelines, and patient-specific information.
- Demonstrate the ability to apply clinical reasoning to communicate medication management plans that aim to optimise patient outcomes in the perioperative setting.
Each online module will be consolidated via a multiple-choice assessment based on real-life cases.
Learners will be awarded a certificate of completion upon satisfactory completion of the required learning and assessments.
Registrations now available
*All registration options include 12 months of access to the e-Learning modules from the date of registration
Option 1 -
e-Learning component*
only
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Prices include GST
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Includes 14 hours of self-directed e-Learning modules on core perioperative medicine management principlels
Option 2 -
e-Learning component* and workshops
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Prices include GST
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Includes 14 hours of self-directed e-Learning modules on core perioperative medicine management principles AND
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2 x 2-hour virtual case-based workshops
Option 3 -
e-Learning component*, workshops and placement
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Prices include GST
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Includes 14 hours of self-directed e-Learning modules on core perioperative medicine management principles AND
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2 x 2-hour interactive virtual case-based workshops AND
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1 x 8 hour observational experiential placement with a Lead or Senior Perioperative Medicine pharmacist
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