Dr Briegeen Girvin
I have an interest in general practice and have worked part time in GP surgeries as a prescriber in the areas of hypertension, type 2 diabetes and medication review of elderly patients in residential care. Prior to working in the School of Pharmacy, previous posts have included:
- Prescribing Adviser to GPs at the Health and Social Care Board, with a special interest in medicines governance and patient safety.
- Prescribing Information Pharmacist at the Regional Prescribing Information Unit, Department of Therapeutics and Pharmacology, QUB where I was involved in the development of COMPASS reports and COMPASS Therapeutic notes and in writing the RCGP Northern Ireland Formulary. I conducted research around drug utilisation, patient compliance and hypertension.
Research Focus
My current teaching focus at Queen’s University includes teaching clinical skills to both undergraduate pharmacy students and to pharmacists undertaking the Independent Prescribing qualification. I manage the Independent Prescribing course, which is based on the established course run by NICPLD (the Northern Ireland Centre for Pharmacy Learning and Development).
My role also involves teaching MPHARM students in areas that are relevant to primary care e.g. safe prescribing systems, prescribing analysis, antimicrobial stewardship, formularies, medicines optimisation and evidence-based prescribing.
Awards
Patient safety award: GAIN 1st Annual Health & Social Care Quality Awards, April 2012. Improving patient safety: Establishment of an anonymous adverse incident reporting and learning system for community pharmacists.
ABPI award 2007 for setting up a cardiovascular risk reduction clinic as a pharmacist prescriber primary care.
Investigator of the year award 2000 (Sanofi) for research on hypertension.
Committee Membership
Member of the Simulation Centre Project Implementation Group
