{"id":174,"date":"2017-05-16T22:07:45","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T22:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reflections.ie\/?page_id=174"},"modified":"2017-05-26T19:42:05","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T19:42:05","slug":"cicely-roche","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/reflections.ie\/index.php\/guest-blogs\/cicely-roche\/","title":{"rendered":"Cicely Roche"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

New perspectives.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The library has no books. On my first day in the Leslie Dan school of pharmacy, a 12 story 10-year-old glass walled building, I thought I had misheard! Not so! The University has now digitised all books recommended for the programme. The library houses rows of single desks with wide screens. It is possible to order the retrieval of a book to a specific location on campus, sometimes at a cost to the user, but it appears this is rarely required.<\/p>\n

The Practice of Pharmacy unit has no medicines. When built 10 years ago, it was designed to accommodate \u2018dispensing practicals\u2019. Three walls of the main teaching unit are adorned with cabinets intended for the medicines that students would dispense. Apart from a few placebo devices, these cabinets are now empty. Their emptiness speaks volumes. Within a few years, and driven by a mixture of changing healthare policy in and the expectations of pharmacist education, students now concentrate on \u2018patient management\u2019 rather than dispensing medicines as was the norm for their predecessors.<\/p>\n

The staff coffee room has \u2018no\u2019 walls. As you can see from the photo, which was taken from \u2018my\u2019 seventh floor perch, it sits atop a structure that appears to be suspended at fifth floor height. Everyone above the fifth floor has a clear view of the staff room. The structure it sits on top of is one of the building\u2019s two teaching Pods \u2026 i.e. enclosed small-group teaching rooms that can accommodate about 30 students. Most other teaching spaces have glass walls.<\/p>\n

No books. No medicines. No walls. It is the \u2018no books in our libraries\u2019 concept that colleagues here emphasise as novel. Medicines and walls seem to be old news.<\/p>\n

The coffee atop the pod is really good \u2026 and I further justify my regular trips to the fifth floor on the basis that it provides an opportunity to chat\u2026 In pursuit of more new perspectives!<\/p>\n

Cicely<\/p>\n

26th March 2017<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My Bags are packed and I’m ready to go<\/strong><\/p>\n

These two lines have hijacked my mind for the last couple of days. It\u2019s as if they were set on a loop to prevent me asking \u2018am I (ready to go)?\u2019<\/p>\n

Its more than 30 years since Pat and I \u2018emigrated\u2019 to Canada.\u00a0 We had one-way tickets.\u00a0 As we took off from Shannon, on my first ever trip across the Atlantic, the excitement was mighty. There were tears, of course, as almost anyone who\u2019s \u2018emigrated\u2019 will confirm. Our 4+ years in Ontario was a wonderful life experience.\u00a0 While we ultimately decided to return to Ireland \u2018en famille\u2019, my Canadian citizenship, and memories from those years in Ontario, remain important to me.<\/p>\n

Today Pat drove me to the airport.\u00a0 Today we had only one ticket. In our 36 years together we\u2019ve been apart for more than 2 weeks on only three occasions \u2026 never more than 3 weeks.\u00a0 He\u2019ll travel across the Atlantic before the three-week mark!<\/p>\n

Now, lest there be any perception that sympathy is warranted, please \u2018delete\u2019. I did this to myself \u2026 voluntarily and deliberately.<\/p>\n

In recent years I\u2019ve \u2018become an academic\u2019. Responsibilities of that role encompass \u2018teaching\u2019 and \u2018research\u2019.\u00a0 I\u2019ve happened upon an intriguing world where researching into \u2018learning\u2019 and \u2018professional development\u2019 has become part of my \u2018Portfolio\u2019.\u00a0 Collaboration is essential for further development.<\/p>\n

If I could develop a research relationship with only one University \u2013 I\u2019d ideally want it to be Toronto.\u00a0 Fortunately for me it\u2019s the home University of Prof Zubin Austin and team \u2013 with their well established reputation for research into Pharmacy education and professional development.\u00a0 Enabled by a Royal Irish Academy (RIA) Charlemont Scholar research award my plan is to spend the next 6 weeks with Zubin\u2019s team in Toronto.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve set the little TV screen to \u2018maps\u2019.\u00a0 As it draws its thin red and green line across the Atlantic, it tells me that my \u2018jet plane\u2019 has travelled more than 2021 miles \u2026 and has another 1450 miles to go. The flight takes less than 7 hours.\u00a0 Accelerated relocation.<\/p>\n

This visit is a wonderful opportunity to accelerate my learning in what is, for me, a \u2018new\u2019 branch of Pharmacy.\u00a0 As can be expected, I\u2019d to revisit \u2018novice status\u2019 for a while\u2026 that feeling of \u2018swimming in glue\u2019 again!\u00a0 In seeking to rapidly upskill to competent status, I\u2019m drawing on the collegiality of our profession\u2019s extended network.<\/p>\n

Today I\u2019m travelling to the \u2018most cosmopolitan city in the world\u2019 to \u2018stand of the shoulders\u2019 of Zubin Austin and colleagues.\u00a0 I\u2019ve met Zubin once. I haven\u2019t met his colleagues yet.<\/p>\n

Today I\u2019m also writing my first blog.\u00a0 I\u2019m ready. More anon.<\/p>\n

Cicely<\/p>\n

15th<\/sup> May 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 New perspectives. The library has no books. On my first day in the Leslie Dan school of pharmacy, a 12 story 10-year-old glass walled building, I thought I had misheard! Not so! The University has now digitised all books recommended for the programme. The library houses rows of single desks with wide screens. It … Continue reading Cicely Roche<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216,"parent":165,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-174","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t