Ergonomic assessment of a community pharmacy-based cardiovascular risk assessment: a new strand to an existing teaching and learning activity.

The science of ergonomics (also known as ‘human factors’) involves the study of how people interact with the work systems in which they operate. The practice of ergonomics involves applying the theories and methodologies developed through the science to real-life situations, aiming to optimise overall system performance. There has been an increasing drive to develop ergonomic approaches to healthcare, which means that there is a need to include ergonomics teaching within undergraduate healthcare programmes. This paper describes the application of an ergonomics framework to an existing teaching and learning activity on an undergraduate pharmacy course, allowing students to explore the potential risks to safety posed by cardiovascular risk assessment.