It is a pleasure to announce that Sarah KHAMIS, who is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Near East University (NEU), has won the FIP Academic Pharmacy Section (AcPS) Grant for Research in Education and Mental Health in LMICs during the COVID19 pandemic, for her research proposal entitled “The impact of simulated continuing professional development course on maintaining pharmacy students’ mental health and well-being during COVID-19”. This project will examine the effectiveness and utility of a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training course in improving students’ competence in maintaining their mental health and well-being during the current COVID-19 pandemic and similar crisis along with improving their lifelong learning skills.
A CPD simulation course will be delivered to a cohort of fifth year students at the Faculty of Pharmacy at NEU throughout the academic year 2020-2021. The course will be delivered as an interactive orientation course with a follow up of the impact of the course on students during their internship. The course will be given by a trained instructor in CPD skills development and a specialist in mental health. Validated questionnaire and scales will be administered to the students at the beginning and end of the study period. The CPD simulation course will provide students with opportunities to practice and develop skills in maintaining their mental well-being and prepare them to CPD.