King's empowers MPharm students to tackle winter flu head-on with early vaccinator pilot

A new pilot programme is giving third-year MPharm students the chance to train as flu vaccinators two years earlier than usual, putting them right at the heart of this year’s winter vaccination campaign.

The initiative was led by Senior Clinical Lecturer and practising pharmacist Sonal Amin, working closely with national pharmacy chain Day Lewis and ProPharmace, who delivered the vaccination training. The idea emerged in response to recent changes from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), where under the new framework, pharmacy graduates will qualify as independent prescribers five years after starting their degree and upon registration.

“That shift meant we needed to massively increase placement opportunities and make sure students were gaining meaningful, hands-on experience much earlier,” Sonal explains. “We’ve moved from students mostly observing on placement to them taking on much longer and more involved clinical activities."

Because new graduates will soon have prescribing responsibilities — helping to meet rising healthcare demands, improve patient access, and make fuller use of pharmacists’ clinical expertise — Sonal and her collaborators saw an opportunity to test whether undergraduates could be upskilled earlier in their training.

“We asked ourselves — if students will soon qualify with these enhanced clinical capabilities, why not explore whether they can take on real public-health roles during their degree? Becoming flu vaccinators seemed like the perfect place to start.”

A new kind of placement experience

The result was a voluntary pilot scheme that gave students genuine patient responsibility as part of their undergraduate training, far beyond the traditional observer role.

For the students, interest was high, with around 50 students applying for 25 places. Those selected completed their practical training on a Saturday and by the Monday, they were out working in community pharmacies across London and beyond, vaccinating patients as part of the winter campaign.

“It really elevated the student experience,” Sonal says. “When you come to university, you want to do things that feel real and make a difference — and this gave them that opportunity.”

The scheme is also a clear example of an Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA) in action, meaning it involves a task that a student or trainee can be entrusted to perform with decreasing levels of supervision and a necessary component of placements as set out by the regulator (GPhC).

Boosting both learning and public health

The pilot didn’t just enhance learning, it boosted workforce capacity at a crucial time of year. By delivering flu vaccines during peak season, students were directly contributing to community protection.

Sonal explains, “it has been enlightening to see how accelerated training transforms students’ confidence, employability, and contribution to patient-centred care. The pilot has offered invaluable insights that will help us scale this to a larger cohort in future years.”

For many students, the clinical experience has been eye-opening. Administering vaccines requires good communication skills, gaining patient consent, and making safe clinical decisions, skills central to modern pharmacy practice.

“It was a very interesting and educational experience, which I hope continues for other students in the future", explained Archilles De-Ben Rockson, pharmacy student.

When asked whether gaining this qualification two years early was beneficial, pharmacy student Tommy Tse summed it up simply: “Yes! It gives us more placement time to build clinical skills, and it helps when applying for jobs — we can show we’re vaccinators with real training and experience.”

Looking ahead

After the success of the pilot, Sonal and her team plan to begin training earlier in future flu seasons, giving students even more time to make an impact during the busiest months. More broadly, the scheme highlights how collaboration between universities, pharmacy chains, and training providers can fast-track students’ professional readiness all while delivering real public-health benefits.