MPharm Programme Leader
I graduated from the MPharm course at the University of Sunderland in 2009 and completed my foundation training year in a community pharmacy in Sunderland.
In 2011, I came back to the University as an Academic Tutor, teaching within my area of expertise as a community pharmacist by leading dispensing and public health seminars to stage 2 MPharm and OSPAP students.
In 2015, I took over the running of the Trainee Pharmacist Foundation Programme. This programme supports community pharmacy foundation trainees during their training year and provides academic support toward their final GPhC assessment.
I joined the University as a Senior Lecturer at the start of 2019, with a focus on pharmaceutical numeracy, malignant disease, palliative care, and infectious disease. During this time, I began working one day a week in palliative care and am now an independent prescriber working within a local hospice.
In 2022, I became the Programme Leader for the MPharm. I continue to teach in the same clinical areas described above and oversee numeracy teaching and assessment at all stages.
Teaching and supervision
I teach clinical pharmacy and pharmacy practice across the MPharm. My main focus is in stage four of the course, covering malignant disease, palliative care, and infectious disease.
I am also responsible for overseeing the teaching and assessment of pharmaceutical numeracy at all stages of the MPharm.
Research interests for potential research students
- Pharmacy education
- Experiential learning
- Community pharmacy practice
Research
My early research mainly focused on experiential learning in community pharmacy, including placement structure and evaluation at both an undergraduate level and within foundation training. I secured a £10,000 funding grant from the NPA to complete an MSc in Clinical Pharmacy in this area.
I have since completed research in pharmaceutical numeracy, medication errors, and palliative care.
Publications
Article
Bullen, Kathryn, Lovell, Pippa and Morgan, Tim (2025) Opioid stewardship and reversible causes of hyperactive delirium. BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care. ISSN 2045-4368
Lovell, Pippa and Bullen, Kathryn (2023) Vitamin D levels in hospice in-patients. BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care, 13 (2). pp. 244-246. ISSN 2045-4368
Hall, Nicola, Bullen, Kathryn, Sherwood, John, Wake, Nicola, Wilkes, Scott and Donovan, Gemma (2022) Exploration of prescribing error reporting across primary care: a qualitative study. BMJ Open, 12 (1). ISSN 2044-6055
Bullen, Kathryn, Hall, Nicola, Sherwood, John, Wake, Nicola and Donovan, Gemma (2020) Prescribing error reporting in primary care: a narrative synthesis systematic review. Integrated Healthcare, 2 (e00002). ISSN 2399-5351
Bullen, Kathryn, Ainsley, Kieran and Davison, Kathryn (2020) Evaluating the numeracy skills of pharmacy students in multiple choice questions and free-text answer assessments and their perception of numeracy in clinical practice. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 12 (6). pp. 648-655. ISSN 1877-1297
Hall, Nicola, Bullen, Kathryn, Wake, Nicola, Sherwood, John, Wilkes, Scott and Donovan, Gemma (2020) Facilitating patient safety: key barriers and facilitators to prescribing error reporting and learning across primary care [Poster Abstract]. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 28 (S1). p. 27. ISSN 2042-7174
Hall, Nicola, Bullen, Kathryn, Wake, Nicola, Sherwood, John, Wilkes, Scott and Donovan, Gemma (2020) Prescribing error reporting: Facilitating learning and patient safety across primary care [Conference abstract]. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, 29 (S2). pp. 21-11. ISSN 1099-1557
Bullen, Kathryn, Davison, Kathryn and Hardisty, Jessica (2019) Community pharmacy as an effective teaching and learning environment: Student perspectives from a UK MPharm programme. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning. ISSN 1877-1297
Bullen, Kathryn and Davison, Kathryn (2018) Do community pharmacy placements support the new integrated approach to pharmacy education? Students perspectives from the University of Sunderland. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 26 (1). p. 9.
Davison, Kathryn, Bullen, Kathryn and Ling, Jonathan (2018) Pre-registration Pharmacist Tutor Training: A Pilot Study. Clinical Teacher, 15. pp. 1-6. ISSN 1743-4971
Davison, Kathryn, Bullen, Kathryn, Wassef, Christine and Orlandi, Talitha (2013) Stepping into the pharmacy workforce: starting your preregistration training. Tomorrow's Pharmacist.
Conference or Workshop Item
Davison, Kathryn, Bullen, Kathryn, Sturrock, Andrew and Hardisty, Jessica (2020) Multi‐sector pre‐registration training: qualitative analysis of pre‐registration trainees’ perceptions of a pre‐registration training programme in academia and community pharmacy. In: Health Services Research and Pharmacology Practice 2020, 16-17 April 2020, Cardiff.
Donovan, Gemma, Byrne, Tom, Rokib, Tahmina and Bullen, Kathryn (2016) Development of an Experiential Learning Programme for Pharmacy Students. In: Pharmacy Education Conference 2016, 27 Jun 2016, University of Manchester.
- Cancer
- Community pharmacy
- Foundation training
- Infections
- Palliative care
- Pharmaceutical numeracy