The History of the Annual Gold Questionnaire
Did you know that the Annual Gold Questionnaire (AGQ) originated in WA?
The AGQ was the brainchild of an innovative group of pharmacists that formed the Professional Development Assurance Programme (PDAP) for the Pharmaceutical Council of WA (PCWA). The first set of questions was sent to members in February 1989.
In 1989 continuing education for pharmacists was becoming a necessity. Pharmacy was facing rapidly changing developments, and the profession was becoming more accountable. Continuing professional development was not a requirement for registration at this time, but pharmacists were being faced with a need to make sure their level of knowledge of new technologies and treatments was up to date.
The first questionnaire was developed by the PCWA as part of its Competency Assessment Program. The aim of the questions in the first questionnaire was two-fold:
1. To allow pharmacists the opportunity to gauge their level of knowledge and their level of understanding in interpreting the information in reference books.
2. To identify the major areas of lack of knowledge in order that Council could plan its programme of continuing education to meet the true needs of our profession.
The questionnaire became known as the August Newsletter Questionnaire and then later the Annual Gold Questionnaire (AGQ).
The AGQ was a Western Australian continuing education tool for many years and eventually became available to pharmacists across Australia through agreements with the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA). Following the transfer of CPD and other activities to PSA in 2014, the AGQ continued to be developed by a committee of Western Australian pharmacists co-ordinated by the PSA WA Branch until recently. As a result of its ongoing success, the AGQ is now a nationally developed activity and a significant CPD offering for PSA members.
In around 2000, the Australian Pharmacy Council (which was APEC then – Australian Pharmacy Examining Council) began building a data base of questions for the development of what was to become the ‘Written Examination’ for registering pharmacists. For some time, the Gold Questionnaire Committee was sharing questions from previous years with the APC for inclusion in their database, an indication of the quality of the questions.
The original members of the PDAP were Mrs B David, Mr R Plumridge, Mr M Courtis, Miss J O’Callaghan, Mr M Adams, Mr A Collins, Mr A Knight, Mr E Walsh and Mrs E Patterson.
Western Australian Pharmacists that have had a significant contribution to the AGQ over the years include Glenn Joyce, Karen Batty, Bruce Sunderland, Jane Carpenter, Annette Simper, Marcus Weidinger, Fei Sim, Jocelyn Sisson, Kim Watkins, Michelle Sweeney, Pascale Ng, Roly Hill and Maria Formato.
Do you think you could pass the original set of questions?
Answers: Email general@pswa.org.au