Mark Brennan

I re-joined the Aston Pharmacy School in September of 2018 as Deputy Head of Pharmacy. My role is to provide strategic leadership within the Pharmacy School, with a focus on the development and enhancement of the School’s professional teaching portfolio. I started my academic career here at Aston in the 1990s, before moving to the University of Keele and then the University of Lincoln to help develop new MPharm programmes and schools of pharmacy. 
I qualified as a pharmacist in 1983, and it is excellence in healthcare that has driven my career choices since then, first in near-patient practice then though others in the education of future healthcare professionals. 

• LLM Master of Laws, Cardiff University, 2006

• PGCert Teaching and Learning with Technology, University of Keele, 2011

• PGPCTL Professional Certificate in Teaching and Learning, Aston University, 2008

• BSc Pharmacy, Leicester Polytechnic, 1982

• Deputy Head of School and Director of Pharmacy Education, University of Lincoln (2014 to 2018). I was responsible for: strategic leadership in education, quality management and enhancement, staff development, and the overarching student experience in the School.

• Director of Learning and Teaching for the University of Keele Faculty of Health (2009 to 2013). I was a member of the University Senate and the University Learning and Teaching Committee, as well as a number of other groups in the University associated with learning, teaching, and quality assurance. Most significant among these roles being the lead for interprofessional education.

• Executive Director and Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy Law, Ethics and Practice, University of Keele (2006 to 2014). From 2013, I served as Executive Director in the School of Pharmacy in the senior management team. Prior to that I was the Director of Studies for the Keele MPharm programme.

• Pharmacy Manager and Pre-registration Pharmacist Training Manager, Dean and Smedley Ltd. (1982 to 2010). Initially full-time and later part time, I was a community pharmacy manager and the pre-registration training manager for this chain of pharmacies. From 2007 onwards, I was a consultant in the in area of pre-registration and pharmacist education for the company.

• Prescribing Support Pharmacist in Primary Care (1996 to 2006). I provided prescribing advice at GP practice and Primary Care Trust level. I provided support for the application of evidence-based practice and rational prescribing.

• Academic Support Officer - Pharmacy Practice, Aston University (1996 to 2006). In my first period at Aston I taught undergraduate law, ethics, pharmacy practice, primary care prescribing support and financial and business skills.

• Managing Director and Superintendent Pharmacist (1992 to 1997). I was the managing director, superintendent pharmacist and part owner of Mercia (Repton) Ltd, trading as Repton Pharmacy, an independent community Pharmacy.

Consultancy

I have worked with several professional regulatory bodies in a variety of roles since the late 1980s. Including:

• General Pharmaceutical Council (2010 – present). I serve as a member of the GPhC’s MPharm Accreditation Panel. In this context I have been involved in the accreditation of the majority of UK MPharm programmes at some point over the years.

• Board of Examiners for the General Pharmaceutical Council Registration Examination (1997 to 2009, and 2012 to present). I was appointed to the Board in 1997. The Board’s remit is to conduct the national registration examination on behalf of the regulator for pharmacy in the UK. I returned to this activity in 2012 in a consultancy role to support the delivery of the national registration examination.

• The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (2012 to Present). I served as a panel member for the accreditation of pharmacy degree programmes leading to registration with the PSI.

• Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (1998 to 2010). I served as a co-opted member of the RPSGB’s Education Committee, advising on issues relating to pre-registration training and undergraduate education, and was a member of the Preregistration Liaison Group and the MPharm Accreditation Panel.

My focus in teaching is in three, linked areas:

• Healthcare law, ethics and practice

• Professional development and identity

• Interprofessional education

I also have experience in curriculum design and innovation, and quality management in teaching and assessment.

While my primary focus is on teaching, my research interests are linked to the strands of professional development (in particular professional identity formation) and interprofessional education.

• Fellow of Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy)

• Member of: Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education

• International Pharmaceutical Federation