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THE FUTURE OF PHARMACY

INTERNATIONAL PHARMACY JOURNAL

The need for strong systems for supply and distribution of pharmaceuticals is ubiqui - tous across the globe. Pharmacy educators strive to ensure that pharmacists and related cadres have the necessary knowledge and skills to provide safe and effective medicines and that these medicines are used effectively. However, the distribution of pharmacy training programs and the result - ant pharmacy personnel is uneven across the various global regions 1 . The quality of these training programs is also variable. The gaps in academic capacity, quality and human resources often lead to variations in access to essential medicines.

Alt h o u g h t h e r e a r e co u nt r i e s wh e r e p h a r m a c y p r a c t i t i o n e r s a r e a p p r o a c h i n g o v e r s u p p l y (fo r e x a m p l e s e e Wat e r m a n , 2 0 1 1 2 ) , t h e r e h a s r e c e nt l y b e e n a gr o w i n g m o v e m e nt to w a r d s p r o v i d i n g p h a r m a c y e du c a t i o n in a r e a s wh e r e it is la c k i n g . Exa mp l e s in sub - S a h a r a n Afr i c a , wh e r e t h e r e is t h e gr e a t e s t sh o r t a g e of p h a r m a c y p e r s o n n e l , in c l u d e B ot s w a n a , Les ot h o , Malaw i , a n d Namib i a wh e r e n e w p h a r m a c y d e g r e e pr o g r a m m e s h a v e b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d o r a r e b e i n g e x p l o r e d 3 , 4 (Fig . 1 ) . In Pacifi c Isla n d Count r i e s , a re g i o n a l a p p r o a c h t o de v e l o p t h e co m p e t e n c i e s of p h a r m a c y wo r k f o r c e c a d r e s is a l s o e m e r g i n g 5 .

In a d d i t i o n t o in c r e a s i n g t h e num b e r of p h a r m a c y - r e l a t e d t r a i n i n g p r o g r a m s , m o r e at t e nt i o n is b e i n g p a i d t o t h e me t h o d s a n d go a l s of t r a i n i n g , wit h sp e c i fi c e m p h a s i s o n na t i o n a l h e a l t h p r i o r i t i e s t o en s u r e t h a t e du c a t i o n a l in s t i - t u t i o n s a r e s o c i a l l y a c c o u nt a b l e . For e x a m p l e , in t h e Unit e d K in g d o m t h e Joint Progr a m m e s B o a r d p r o v i d e s a n a p p r o a c h t o co nt i n u i n g e du c a t i o n in t h e Natio n a l Healt h S e r v i c e f r o m wh e n p h a r m a c i s t s fir s t b e g i n t h e i r p r a c t i c e up t o e x p e r t l e v e l 6 . In t h e Unit e d St a t e s , t e a c h i n g p h a r m a c i s t s t o wo r k m o r e ef f e c t i v e l y in int e r p r o f e s s i o n a l h e a l t h t e a m s a s p a r t of t h e “m e d i c a l h o m e ” p a r a d i g m is b e i n g p r i o r i t i z e d 7 . W it h t hi s co nt i n u i n g t r e n d t o w a r d s d e v e l o p i n g n e w p r o g r a m m e s a n d m e t h o d s , t h e o b v i o u s p r o g r e s s i o n is t o co n s i d e r a gl o b a l p h a r m a c y e du c a t i o n a p p r o a c h . This a r t i c l e s e e k s t o dr a w o n v a r i o u s ini t i a t i v e s a n d a c t i v i t i e s a n d di s c u s s t h e p r o g r e s s t o w a r d s gl o b a l p h a r m a c y e du c a t i o n a n d qu a l i t y s t a n d a r d s a n d h o w t h e s e m a y b e de li v e r e d in t h e f ut u r e .

Tina Penick Brock, Andrew N Brown, Timothy Rennie, Michael J Rouse

GLOBAL PHARMACY EDUCATION: ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET?