A topic analysis will help you to clarify and understand what your assessment question is asking you to do. Note that if your question has an evidence based practice foundation you may like to consider a PICO analysis before undertaking the more general topic analysis.

You will generally be given three key pieces of information:

1. The key topic or concept words direct you in what to research.
2. The limits or qualifiers tell you the specific focus of the topic or concept.
3. The task or instruction terms tell how you are to deal with the content.

PHM101 Assessment item 5: WPL Essay:

Write an essay discussing the relationship of effective communication with quality use of medicines in the community pharmacy setting.

You should consider the various ways in which communication occurs - who is involved, what is the nature of the communication; what differentiates effective communication from ineffective; what are pharmacists' professional responsibilities and what are the implications when these are not met? In your discussion, provide examples of practice observed during placement to support your argument and/or use examples from your own experience or from the professional practice literature.

An important component of an essay is the use of current literature to support any viewpoint that you have presented. In this essay you are required to include a minimum of 4 current (no more than 5 years old) journal articles; you may also cite other sources (e.g. text books, newspaper articles, internet sources) that are applicable to the topic being discussed.

Note: Please refer to your subject outline for the full details of your assessment task, including marking criteria.

Write down the key concepts from your topic and have a go at brainstorming as many alternative keywords and phrases as possible.

Thinking about your topic in this way forces you to describe your topic in "other words", which will provide you with some useful keyword alternatives as well as help you to cement your understanding of the topic.

Dictionaries and encyclopaedias can help you to find additional keywords and get an overview of the concept.