Consultation
pharmacy skills for
practice,|Latest
2025/2026 Study
Pharmacy|Graded notes of
A+ Certified
Pass
What is a consultation? Breakdown this definition in detail: - ANSWERS-A
consultation is a meeting with an expert, such as a medical doctor, in order to
seek advice
- Here the word medical doctor could be easily replaced by pharmacist
- A meeting can be anything from a conversation with a patient at the counter to
taking a drug history at a patients hospital bed - it could be you having a
conversation with the patient as you hand out a prescription or provide
counselling points or it could be you having a conversation on the phone (or by
video call) - essentially a meeting could really be anything - it does not have to be
a sit down conversation in a consultation room, a formal meeting or a formal
pharmacy service. A consultation is any conversation we may have with a patient
whether that is an ad hoc one or a planned one
- We also need to look at the 'in order to seek advice' section of the definition.
This summarises the outcome of what a consultation should be. It is us providing
advice or some kind of service or help for our patient so they can determine the
best course of action to take or undertake the best course of action. To do this
effectively we need to establish a natural flow and logical order to the
conversations.
What does a consultation include? Explain in detail: - ANSWERS-- A consultation is
a meeting and conversation with a patient. It is also about providing advice and/or
information to that patient. Each of these requires different skills. A conversation
requires us to have good communication skills. Being able to ascertain what
advice or information to give, we need to be very good at information gathering
and for us to give the advice, we have to be very good at explaining.
- So, when we here the phrase 'consultation skills', it means it is our ability to
bring together our conversational and communication skills with our information
gathering and explaining skills to provide information or advice. This is how we
can differentiate between what communication skills we may need and what
,consultation skills we may need.
- We need to structure a consultation in the right way and explain at the correct
stage
What are some non-verbal communication methods? - ANSWERS-
What can communication be? - ANSWERS-Non-verbal or verbal
Describe facial expression: - ANSWERS-Facial expression - our face can give away a
lot about what we are thinking therefore it is very important that if you have a
face that cannot hide what you are thinking, you have to be aware of this and
train yourself to control it as best as possible - it may not always be an expression
that will help or encourage your patient
Describe eye contact: - ANSWERS-Eye contact - it is useful to make eye contact
with your patients, but it has to be the correct amount. If it is too much, it can be
intense, and it may make the patient feel uncomfortable.
Describe clinical physical contact in detail:
Where is the best place to touch a patient? Why? - ANSWERS-Physical contact -
with friends and family we may use physical contact to convey how we feel or to
empathise with them. We have to be much more careful with patients
remembering our professional boundaries - in terms of touching a patient, we
may do it as part of a physical examination, but if you are just having a
conversation and want to offer comfort and if you are going to touch a patient, the
ideal place would be the elbow or just above it on the upper arm - it is not as
intimate as touching someone's hand or taking their hand. It is also not as
intimate as touching someone's shoulder which may be close to a hug - the elbow
is the best mutual place if you are going to make physical contact with a patient to
try and comfort them
Describe body posture: - ANSWERS-Body posture - we must be in an open body
posture. This means you should avoid crossing your arms and legs - remain open
so people feel you are open to listening to them and communicating with them
, Describe gestures: - ANSWERS-Gestures - can be important as they may help you
with explaining or emphasising something but if you do it too much, it can be very
distracting therefore it is vital to find the correct balance
Describe in detail personal space:
What distance should we maintain? What kind of balance should we have? -
ANSWERS-Personal space - this is vital to think about when setting up the
consultation room. We do not want to be too close to someone - we also want to
maintain as much social distance as possible due to COVID. Generally, we must
make sure we have a professional amount of space - being too close to someone
can make us uncomfortable and cause us to want to step back - patients will do
this for us if we feel uncomfortable. When standing talking to a patient, we want
to make sure that there is a decent space so the patient can still hear what you are
saying but also that we are not too far away that the patient has to shout to be
heard. But we should not be too close that it is too intimate and uncomfortable.
We must maintain the fine balance.
Is paralinguistic important? - ANSWERS-Yes
What does paralinguistic relate to? - ANSWERS-How we say words
What are some paralinguistic factors? - ANSWERS-
What happens when we tweak any paralinguistic factors? What is ti vital we do?
What can we do with these factors? - ANSWERS-By tweaking any of these factors
we can really change the emphasis of our message and can potentially change the
way it is received and how it is also perceived to be coming across as. It is vital
that we get the right balance of these factors - we must not put patients off and
we must not make patients think we are getting bored by them - we want to build
a rapport and have engagement. We can also change the balance of these factors
to show a level of empathy if we need to take a more empathetic stance
What must pharmacists use in consultations? - ANSWERS-As pharmacists, we
must use the correct questioning technique - there are a range of types of
questions available
pharmacy skills for
practice,|Latest
2025/2026 Study
Pharmacy|Graded notes of
A+ Certified
Pass
What is a consultation? Breakdown this definition in detail: - ANSWERS-A
consultation is a meeting with an expert, such as a medical doctor, in order to
seek advice
- Here the word medical doctor could be easily replaced by pharmacist
- A meeting can be anything from a conversation with a patient at the counter to
taking a drug history at a patients hospital bed - it could be you having a
conversation with the patient as you hand out a prescription or provide
counselling points or it could be you having a conversation on the phone (or by
video call) - essentially a meeting could really be anything - it does not have to be
a sit down conversation in a consultation room, a formal meeting or a formal
pharmacy service. A consultation is any conversation we may have with a patient
whether that is an ad hoc one or a planned one
- We also need to look at the 'in order to seek advice' section of the definition.
This summarises the outcome of what a consultation should be. It is us providing
advice or some kind of service or help for our patient so they can determine the
best course of action to take or undertake the best course of action. To do this
effectively we need to establish a natural flow and logical order to the
conversations.
What does a consultation include? Explain in detail: - ANSWERS-- A consultation is
a meeting and conversation with a patient. It is also about providing advice and/or
information to that patient. Each of these requires different skills. A conversation
requires us to have good communication skills. Being able to ascertain what
advice or information to give, we need to be very good at information gathering
and for us to give the advice, we have to be very good at explaining.
- So, when we here the phrase 'consultation skills', it means it is our ability to
bring together our conversational and communication skills with our information
gathering and explaining skills to provide information or advice. This is how we
can differentiate between what communication skills we may need and what
,consultation skills we may need.
- We need to structure a consultation in the right way and explain at the correct
stage
What are some non-verbal communication methods? - ANSWERS-
What can communication be? - ANSWERS-Non-verbal or verbal
Describe facial expression: - ANSWERS-Facial expression - our face can give away a
lot about what we are thinking therefore it is very important that if you have a
face that cannot hide what you are thinking, you have to be aware of this and
train yourself to control it as best as possible - it may not always be an expression
that will help or encourage your patient
Describe eye contact: - ANSWERS-Eye contact - it is useful to make eye contact
with your patients, but it has to be the correct amount. If it is too much, it can be
intense, and it may make the patient feel uncomfortable.
Describe clinical physical contact in detail:
Where is the best place to touch a patient? Why? - ANSWERS-Physical contact -
with friends and family we may use physical contact to convey how we feel or to
empathise with them. We have to be much more careful with patients
remembering our professional boundaries - in terms of touching a patient, we
may do it as part of a physical examination, but if you are just having a
conversation and want to offer comfort and if you are going to touch a patient, the
ideal place would be the elbow or just above it on the upper arm - it is not as
intimate as touching someone's hand or taking their hand. It is also not as
intimate as touching someone's shoulder which may be close to a hug - the elbow
is the best mutual place if you are going to make physical contact with a patient to
try and comfort them
Describe body posture: - ANSWERS-Body posture - we must be in an open body
posture. This means you should avoid crossing your arms and legs - remain open
so people feel you are open to listening to them and communicating with them
, Describe gestures: - ANSWERS-Gestures - can be important as they may help you
with explaining or emphasising something but if you do it too much, it can be very
distracting therefore it is vital to find the correct balance
Describe in detail personal space:
What distance should we maintain? What kind of balance should we have? -
ANSWERS-Personal space - this is vital to think about when setting up the
consultation room. We do not want to be too close to someone - we also want to
maintain as much social distance as possible due to COVID. Generally, we must
make sure we have a professional amount of space - being too close to someone
can make us uncomfortable and cause us to want to step back - patients will do
this for us if we feel uncomfortable. When standing talking to a patient, we want
to make sure that there is a decent space so the patient can still hear what you are
saying but also that we are not too far away that the patient has to shout to be
heard. But we should not be too close that it is too intimate and uncomfortable.
We must maintain the fine balance.
Is paralinguistic important? - ANSWERS-Yes
What does paralinguistic relate to? - ANSWERS-How we say words
What are some paralinguistic factors? - ANSWERS-
What happens when we tweak any paralinguistic factors? What is ti vital we do?
What can we do with these factors? - ANSWERS-By tweaking any of these factors
we can really change the emphasis of our message and can potentially change the
way it is received and how it is also perceived to be coming across as. It is vital
that we get the right balance of these factors - we must not put patients off and
we must not make patients think we are getting bored by them - we want to build
a rapport and have engagement. We can also change the balance of these factors
to show a level of empathy if we need to take a more empathetic stance
What must pharmacists use in consultations? - ANSWERS-As pharmacists, we
must use the correct questioning technique - there are a range of types of
questions available
