Pharmacy Student of the Year (PSOTY)

The case studies are designed to be clear and simple, with typical symptoms allowing the student to differentially diagnose the patient’s condition. There is enough scope for the student to offer a differential diagnosis and indicate why they have come to that conclusion.

PSOTY cases used by PSA during Wildcard or State/ Territory heats feature a symptom-based request requiring OTC medicine recommendations. In  these cases, the patient may  not be taking any prescription or non-prescription medicines, nor on any natural therapies or vitamins.

Cases used during State/Territory, Wildcard or Grand Finals feature either a symptom based request or a direct product request. These cases are slightly more complex as the patient will have some additional feature for the student to consider. For example, the patient may be taking prescription or non-prescription medicines or they may have medical conditions or allergies.. The student will have to consider these additional factors before making a recommendation as these may influence their treatment recommendation.

Case studies require students to:

• demonstrate effective communication skills such as good questioning and listening skills, as well as show empathy to the patient.
• gather and interpret information to make a diagnosis.
• make clinically sound recommendations using non-prescription medicines.

The student is given a total of 5 minutes for the case. During the competition, a time warning bell is sounded after 4 minutes, then a final bell after 5 minutes for each participant.

Within this time, they are expected to offer a solution to the patient’s issue, provide counselling advice and, if needed, refer to any reference source. PSA will provide some references (e.g. AMH, APF) for the students at the Wildcard competition at NAPSA Congress, State/Territory Finals and Grand Final at the PSA national conference. While students are allowed to refer to references, it is expected that they have some basic knowledge of the minor ailments presented. Reference sources are mainly used to confirm doses, alternative treatment options, side effects and any pertinent counselling points. Additional time is not allocated to students for research during the competition.

It is favourable for students to offer the patient some counselling aids (e.g. a Pharmacy Self Care fact card)  

The student will be judged on:

• making and justifying their decision to treat or not to treat
• making and justifying their decision to supply or not supply any requested medicine
• where indicated, recommending an appropriate product (the student will be marked down for inappropriate recommendations)
• providing counselling for the recommended medicine
• discussing lifestyle issues where relevant
• providing an appropriate explanation for referral, if required
• clear communication and ideally, attempting to determine if the patient has understood the information.

Students commence the competition through participation in the PSOTY competition heats held by their university. Eligible students must be in their final year of their university pharmacy program and a PSA student member.

Universities host their own heat and the winners of these university heats progress to compete at their state final, organised by PSA. A finalist is then chosen to represent their State/Territory at the PSA annual national conference.

The National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association (NAPSA) also conducts a PSOTY wildcard competition at their annual conference. The winner of this competition is awarded a wildcard entry into the PSOTY national final at PSA annual national conference

Cases are usually based around the PSA counselling guides and PSA guidance documents found in the APF and on the PSA website. Other resource material may include PSA Self Care Fact Cards, Australian Medicines Handbook, Therapeutic Guidelines, Community Pharmacy (Rutter and Newby), national disease-state guidelines, and consumer health information on reputable websites