Course Director Kerry Clarke (far right) welcomes the first students onto the University of Ulster's new 'Postgraduate Certificate in Prescribing for Allied Health Professionals’ this week.


A new postgraduate course at the University of Ulster will give health professionals the qualifications needed to prescribe drugs and in turn deliver a more efficient service for patients. 

The School of Health Sciences introduced Northern Ireland’s first ‘Postgraduate Certificate in Prescribing for Allied Health Professionals’ course this week. 

The first 13 students, drawn from a range of health professions including, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and radiography, began classes at the Jordanstown campus. 

Course director Kerry Clarke said: “The programme has been developed in direct response to the changing needs of the local health service. With an increasing move towards prescribing from a number of strategic levels, the programme will allow graduates to provide the care patients need regardless of professional background while also remaining within the legislative requirements of each of the professions involved.” 

The course provides the expert knowledge required to drive the health professions forward in the move towards independent prescribing, while maximising patient access to quality healthcare. 

Spread across two distinct modules, this new and exciting inter-professional programme provides training specific to patient directives and patient group directives, access and supply of drugs under exemptions order and supplementary prescribing. 

The Postgraduate Certificate has been validated by the Health Professions Council and commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety Northern Ireland.