6065 Barfield Road, Suite 100 • Sandy Springs, Georgia 30328 • (404) 231-5074

APhA’s Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery: A Certificate Program for Pharmacists

The trainers

Christine McFayden Klein, PharmD

Clinical associate professor and vice-chair for experiential education in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Mercer University College of Pharmacy

Johnathan Hamrick

Lead network facilitator for CPESN Georgia

The course

APhA’s Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery certificate training program (14^th Edition) is based on national educational standards for immunization training from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This practice-based curriculum represents a fusion of science and clinical pharmacy. The program, which emphasizes a health care team approach, seeks to foster the implementation of interventions that will promote disease prevention and public health.

The purpose of this certificate training program is to prepare pharmacists with comprehensive knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to provide immunization services to patients across the life span.

Goals of the program

Educate pharmacists about:

• The impact of vaccines on public health
• Pharmacists’ role in immunization
• Immunologic principles of vaccine development and immunizations
• Vaccine-preventable diseases and the vaccines used to prevent them
• Strategies for improving immunization rates
• Requirements for pharmacists who provide immunization services

Prepare pharmacists to:

• Read an immunization schedule and identify appropriate vaccines for individuals across the lifespan and with special needs.
• Educate patients about the benefits of vaccines and dispel myths about vaccines.
• Safely administer vaccines to patients via subcutaneous, intramuscular, intranasal, and intradermal routes.
• Operate an immunization service in compliance with legal and regulatory standards.
• Partner with immunization stakeholders to promote immunizations and the immunization neighborhood.

Direct pharmacists to resources necessary to:

• Promote public health through immunizations
• Access regularly updated information about vaccines and their use
• Effectively communicate with patients and other stakeholders about resources
• Operate an immunization service in compliance with legal and regulatory standards.

APhA’s Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery certificate training program has three components: online interactive self-study with assessment; the live seminar with online final assessment; and hands-on assessment of intramuscular and subcutaneous injection technique. A Certificate of Achievement will be awarded to participants who successfully complete all program components, including an evaluation.

Key learning objectives of the live training seminar

At the completion of this activity, the participant will be able to:

1. Describe strategies for increasing immunization rates, including physician collaborations, community-level activities, and immunization coalition activities
2. Describe pharmacy operations and a process for administering vaccines in various pharmacy practice settings
3. Evaluate patient histories and make patient-specific recommendations based on the appropriate immunization schedule
4. Demonstrate effective strategies for communicating with patients who have concerns about vaccines
5. Describe current evidence regarding vaccine safety
6. Recognize the signs and symptoms of adverse reactions that can occur after vaccination
7. Describe procedures for management of patients with adverse reactions to vaccination that constitute an emergency
8. List the steps for administering currently available intranasal and intradermal vaccines
9. Demonstrate appropriate intramuscular and subcutaneous injection techniques for adult immunization

For a complete list of learning objectives and for all APhA accreditation information and policies, please visit APhA’s website, pharmacist.com/pharmacy-based-immunization-delivery.

CPE info

Activity Type: Practice-Based

Target Audience: Pharmacists in all practice settings

The American Pharmacists Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. APhA’s Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery certificate training program is approved for a total of 20.0 contact hours of continuing pharmacy education (CPE) credit (2.0 CEUs). The ACPE Universal Activity Numbers (UAN) for this activity are listed below.

Successful completion of the home-study component involves completing each activity and passing the home-study assessments with a grade of 70% or higher and will result in 12 contact hours of CPE credit (1.2 CEUs).
ACPE UAN: 0202-0000-23-154-H06-P

Successful completion of the live session component involves attending the full live seminar, successfully completing & uploading the injection technique assessment, completing the online assessment with a grade of 70% or higher and evaluations. Successful completion of this component will result in 8 contact hours of CPE credit (0.8 CEU). 
ACPE UAN: 0202-0000-23-155-L06-P

To obtain 20.0 contact hours of CPE credit (2.0 CEUs) for APhA’s Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery certificate training program, the learner must have an updated APhA My Account, CPE & License Information BEFORE completing the home-study course, and completing the live components listed above. Participants will need to have a valid APhA (pharmacist.com) username and password, as well as a CPE Monitor account to obtain credit. After credit has been earned, please visit CPE monitor for your transcript. The Certificate of Achievement will be available online upon successful completion of the necessary activity requirements on the participant’s My Training page.

The American Pharmacists Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education.

Activity Requirements: Course materials and exams will be accessed online. You will need a modern Web browser and the ability to hear sound. For full technology requirements, please visit Pharmacist.com/pharmacy-based-immunization-delivery.

Cancellation policy

No refunds are available for this program. Should GPhA cancel your specific program, you will have an opportunity to transfer your registration to another available date.

If you need to cancel your registration, please notify Mary Ritchie in writing immediately. No refunds will be given due to registration cancellation, but timely notification of a cancellation may allow another person to participate in your place.