12

THE FUTURE OF PHARMACY

INTERNATIONAL PHARMACY JOURNAL

Why is t h e r e a c a ll fo r t r a n s f o r m a t i o n in p h a r m a c y e du c a t i o n? “ W i t h t h e in c r e a s e d e m p h a s i s of go v e r n m e nt s to pr o v i d e gr e a t e r a c c e s s t o a n d im p r o v e r e s p o n s i b l e m e d i - c a t i o n us e , a p p r o p r i a t e l y lin k i n g t h e p h a r m a c y cur r i c u l u m a n d it s o ut c o m e s t o na t i o n a l n e e d s h a s b e c o m e a v i s i b l e gl o b a l a ge n d a ” r e s p o n d s D r Henr i Mana s s e Jr. “In e s s e n c e , e du c a t i o n is t h e fo u n d a t i o n of o ur p r of e s s i o n . And it is n ot o nl y af f e c t i n g o ur p r of e s s i o n – c a ll s a r e b e i n g m a d e fo r t h e e du c a t i o n of a ll h e a l t h p r of e s s i o n a l s t o b e c o m e m o r e s o c i a l l y a c c o u nt a b l e , gi v e n t h e sub s t a nt i a l us e of go v e r n - m e nt f un d s by uni v e r s i t i e s t o e du c a t e su c h p r of e s s i o n a l s .”

“FIP Ed pr o j e c t s , su c h a s t h e FIP -WHO Glo b a l Sur v e y of Pha r m a c y S c h o o l s , a r e a s s i s t i n g in b ui l d i n g t h e e v i d e n c e b a s e r e l a t i n g t o t h e di v e r s i t y in t h e p r o v i s i o n of p h a r m a c y e du c a t i o n gl o b a l l y. We v a l u e t h e n e e d s - b a s e d a p p r o a c h t o e du c a t i o n 1 . All nat i o n s mu s t a s s e s s t h e i r n e e d s a n d im p l e - m e nt t h e m o s t a p p r o p r i a t e e du c a t i o n s y s t e m a n d cur r i c u l u m l o c a l l y, s o t h a t t h o s e wh o a r e t r a i n e d a r e a b l e t o p r o v i d e t h e s e r v i c e s n e e d e d by t h e p o p u l a t i o n . In ma n y co u nt r i e s , e v e n in my ow n , t h e USA, thi s m e a n s t h a t t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a l c h a n g e n e e d s t o t a k e p l a c e .”

W h y t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a l c h a n g e ? “In or g a n i s a t i o n a l m a n a g e - m e nt , t hi s t y p e of ch a n g e is de fi n e d a s r a d i c a l o r co m p l e t e c h a n g e in a n or g a n i z a t i o n t h a t is un d e r t a k e n t o imp r o v e t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n 2 . The a ut o n o m y of in d i v i d u a l f a c u l t y me m b e r s a s we ll a s t h e i r h o m e uni v e r s i t i e s h a s le d t o a la c k of s y n c h r o n y b e t w e e n n a t i o n a l n e e d s a n d cur r i c u l a r o ut c o m e s in ma n y co u nt r i e s a n d t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a l c h a n g e will a ll o w a ll t o r e f o c u s t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s a n d p ur p o s e t o w a r d s e n a b l i n g b e t t e r h e a l t h .”

How will FIP ena b l e t hi s t r a n s f o r m a t i o n? “Havin g b e e n a c t i v e l y in v o l v e d in FIP and in a c a d e m i a , I st r o n g l y af fi r m t h a t FIP br in g s t o ge t h e r t h e int e l l e c t u a l c a p i t a l n e e d e d t o t a c k l e t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of e du c a t i o n . FIP is a uni q u e gl o b a l p l a t f o r m b r i n g i n g t o ge t h e r p h a r m a c y p r a c t i c e , p h a r m a c e u - t i c a l s c i e n c e s a n d e du c a t i o n , a n d is t h e b e s t g a t h e r i n g p l a c e fo r a ll s t a k e h o l d e r s in e du c a t i o n . FIP als o ha s a s t r o n g t r a c k r e c o r d in eng a g i n g wit h im p o r t a nt gl o b a l s t a k e h o l d e r s ,

“There is a wide range of activities, a diver - sity in education provision and multiple stakeholders involved in pharmaceutical education around the world,” says Dr Henri Manasse Jr, Chair of the FIPEd Steering Committee. “FIPEd is working with collabo- rators in over 100 countries to build the evidence base and catalyse global efforts in the transformation of education toward the needs of society.”

THE FUTURE OF PHARMACY EDUCATION HOW WE ARE CREATING IT

FIP Education Initiatives (FIP Ed) Steering Committee