New qualification courses for pharmacists. The programs have already been published

- The Law on the Pharmaceutical Profession has created legal opportunities for pharmacists to provide new services. Expert teams have prepared curricula for three qualification courses. They expand the scope of a pharmacist's activities to include conducting qualifying examinations for vaccinations and performing certain diagnostic tests. Qualification courses are a new form of postgraduate training for pharmacists," stresses Prof. Ryszard Gellert, director of CMKP.

The first course is about performing diagnostic tests and interpreting the results in the context of prescribed pharmacotherapy. During the course, the pharmacist will be able to learn how to measure: blood pressure, heart rate, pulse, blood saturation, body weight, height, waist circumference for the purpose of determining BMI (Body Mass Index) and WHR (Waist-Hip Ratio, i.e., the ratio of waist circumference to hip circumference).

The second course will be devoted to the qualifying examination to determine indications and contraindications for influenza vaccination and techniques for performing the vaccination. The third will be devoted to the qualifying examination to determine indications and contraindications for COVID-19 vaccination and the technique of performing the vaccination.

According to the regulation, only a pharmacist with at least 12 months of full-time work experience in the profession of pharmacy will be able to apply to participate in qualification courses conducted by universities that provide degree programs in pharmacy, after obtaining accreditation granted by the director of the Center for Medical Postgraduate Education and the CMKP.

The qualification course will be delivered both on-site and remotely. Each course will end with an exam. A detailed course program is available on the CMKP website