Recognizing that oncology pharmacy is a subspecialty, the Pharmacy Education Program uses a structured educational framework to support ongoing knowledge development in a variety of oncology topics. 

The program consists of two levels:

• level 1 - core clinical practice
  

• level 2 - advanced clinical practice

Level 1 - Core clinical practice

Level 1 curriculum develops the core knowledge required to clinically review and assess chemotherapy orders and to safely handle and dispense hazardous drugs. 

Learning objectives

Level 2: Advanced clinical practice

This level focuses on evidence-based therapeutic topics for a more advanced level of clinical oncology practice.

Learning objectives

1. Describe complications associated with vascular access devices and their management, including thrombosis and venous sclerosis.
   
2. Describe the various pathologic classifications of pre-malignant and malignant tumours.
   
3. Describe the etiology of common secondary malignancies.
   
4. Describe the pathophysiology of common chemotherapy-associated toxicities and develop a care plan to prevent, minimize and manage these symptoms.
   
5. Describe the risk factors, screening process, diagnostic process, monitoring parameters, treatment modalities and management of malignancies in the following tumour sites: genitourinary (excluding prostate), gynecological, head and neck, leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, neuro-oncology, skin, primary unknown and upper gastrointestinal.
   
6. Describe the basic clinical evidence to support the general management of the following malignancies: breast, colorectal, lung and prostate.
   
7. Describe the pathophysiology of common symptoms in cancer patients and develop a care plan to prevent, minimize, and manage these symptoms.
   
8. Describe the risk factors, pathophysiology, and management of the following oncologic emergencies: spinal cord compression, superior vena cava syndrome, cancer-associated hypercalcemia, and acute tumour lysis syndrome.
   
9. Define common terminologies used in biostatistics.
   
10. Apply a systematic approach to basic critical literature appraisal and design.

‎This is a non-accredited program. Supporting documentation is not required by the BC College of Pharmacists to be included in the CE-Plus option for the Professional Development and Assessment Program (PDAP). 

Technical requirements

Password-protected websites 

Core Clinical Practice

All rights to materials developed for the BC Cancer Oncology Pharmacy Education Program are reserved in favour of BC Cancer Branch, a branch society of the Provincial Health Services Authority.  No part of this materials developed for this Program may be used for commercial purposes or gain, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means whether, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Provincial Health Services Authority. The materials developed for this Program were prepared by the BC Cancer Branch Pharmacy Department for education purposes only and their use is subject to the BC Cancer’s Terms of Use.   Clinical decision making in a specific context requires the use of independent judgment of a health professional in the context of individual clinical circumstances and remains the responsibility of attending health professionals. Any health professional using the content of these materials to provide treatment for patients will be solely responsible for verifying the information described in the materials as it applies to a specific clinical setting according to acceptable standards of care. Nothing contained in these materials should in any way be construed as being either official or unofficial policy of the BC Cancer Branch or Provincial Health Services Authority.