6

THE FUTURE OF PHARMACY

INTERNATIONAL PHARMACY JOURNAL

A majo r i t y of co u nt r i e s d o n ot ha v e sp e c i a l i z e d s t r u c t u r e s in p l a c e t o e v a l u a t e e du c a t i o n a l qu a l i t y in a sin g l e p r o g r a m - m a t i c a r e a o r p r of e s s i o n , su c h a s p h a r m a c y, a n d ye t m a n y co u nt r i e s o r in d i v i d u a l e du c a t i o n a l in s t i t u t i o n s h a v e fe l t t hi s n e e d du e t o t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a l n a t u r e of t h e ch a n g e s o c c u r r i n g in p h a r m a c y p r a c t i c e a n d e du c a t i o n . In a d d i t i o n , r e c e nt e x p a n s i o n of t h e p h a r m a c y a c a d e m i c e nt e r p r i s e – ma i n l y in t h e p r i v a t e s e c t o r – ha s n ot a l w a y s o c c u r r e d at t h e d e s i r e d l e v e l of qu a l i t y. Assis t a n c e h a s b e e n r e q u e s t e d f r o m co u nt r i e s t h a t ha v e t h e r e q u i r e d s y s t e m s a n d e x p e r i e n c e , r e s u l t i n g in na t i o n a l a c c r e d i t a t i o n b o d i e s f r o m co u nt r i e s , su c h a s t h e Unit e s St a t e s , Cana d a a n d Gr e a t B r i t a i n , p r o v i d - i n g s e r v i c e s b e y o n d t h e i r b o r d e r s . For e x a m p l e , ACPE ha s re c e nt l y a nn o u n c e d t h e cr e a t i o n of a fo r m a l i z e d co m p o n e nt of it s o r g a n i z a t i o n – t h e Int e r n a t i o n a l S e r v i c e s Progr a m – t o p r o v i d e ce r t i fi c a t i o n s e r v i c e s at t h e int e r n a t i o n a l l e v e l wit h r e p r e s e nt a t i o n in t h e go v e r n a n c e s t r u c t u r e f r o m v a r i o u s gl o b a l r e g i o n s 13 .

Fur t h e r, t h e Aust r a l i a n Q u a l i fi c a t i o n s f r a m e w o r k is t h e b o d y r e s p o n s i b l e fo r s e t t i n g t h e s t a n d a r d s a n d a s s e s s i n g t h e qu a l i t y of e du c a t i o n in t h e vo c a t i o n a l e du c a t i o n a n d t r a i n - i n g ( VET) se c t o r wit h t h e c a p a c i t y t o ‘a c c r e d i t ’ t h e of f - s h o r e d e li v e r y of co u r s e s by r e g i s t e r e d Aust r a l i a n t r a i n i n g o r g a n i - z a t i o n s (RTOs). This me c h a n i s m is cur r e nt l y b e i n g us e d t o de li v e r p h a r m a c y sup p o r t wo r k f o r c e ce r t i fi c a t e s in Pacifi c Isla n d Count r i e s , wh e r e t h e r e is a n a b s e n c e of a c a d e m i c c a p a c i t y in t hi s a r e a .

As ph a r m a c y e du c a t i o n a r o u n d t h e gl o b e co nt i n u e s t o e v o l v e , f ur t h e r co ll a b o r a t i o n at t h e int e r n a t i o n a l l e v e l – p o s s i b l y un d e r t h e um b r e l l a of FIP – co ul d cr e a t e t h e o p p o r t u n i t y a n d d e s i r a b i l i t y fo r t h e d e v e l o p m e nt of gl o b a l s t a n d a r d s fo r p h a r m a c y e du c a t i o n , sim i l a r t o t h e m o d e l t h a t e x i s t s fo r m e d i c a l e du c a t i o n 1 4 .

Resource development and sharing One of t h e gr e a t e s t c h a l l e n g e s of imp l e m e nt i n g a ne w p r o g r a m m e o r cur r i c u l u m is in de v e l o p i n g t h e c a p a c i t y a n d re s o u r c e s t o sup p o r t t h e t e a c h i n g . As th e ‘n e e d s - b a s e d ’ m o d e l sug g e s t s , p h a r m a c y e du c a t i o n sh o u l d r e fl e c t t h e lo c a l n e e d s fo r co m p e t e n c y b a s e d p r o g r a m m e s – a sim - p l e t r a n s p l a nt of t e a c h i n g r e s o u r c e s a n d m e t h o d o l o g i e s , in c l u d i n g d e g r e e p r o g r a m m e m o d e l s , m a y ill - p r e p a r e f ut u r e p h a r m a c i s t s fo r t h e ch a l l e n g e s t h e y f a c e . Howe v e r, t h e t im e a n d co s t s a s s o c i a t e d wit h t h e d e v e l o p m e nt of n e w r e s o u r c e s co m b i n e d wit h t h e p e r c e p t i o n t h a t e x i s t i n g cur r i c u l a f r o m d e v e l o p e d co u nt r i e s r e fl e c t s b e s t p r a c t i c e , p ut s t h e p r e s s u r e o n fo r t h e us e of ‘dr o p in ’ cur r i c u l a int o n e w e n v i r o n m e nt s . This a p p r o a c h sh o u l d b e us e d wit h c a u t i o n t o en s u r e t h a t lo c a l n e e d s a r e m e t . Neve r t h e l e s s , t h e r e a r e e v e r wi d e n i n g o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o sh a r e a n d a c c e s s r e s o u r c e s in t h e gl o b a l p h a r m a c y e n v i r o n m e nt t h a t c a n t h e n b e a p p l i e d t o lo c a l s e t t i n g s .

IN SITU RESOURCE t1IBSNBDZ%FHSFF1SPHSBNNF t1IBSNBDJTUT"TTJTUBOUT5SBJOJOH t1SPGFTTJPOBM.FEJDJOFT3FHVMBUPST t1BSMJBNFOUBSZ.BOEBMF 1IBSNBDZ"DU t&TUBCMJTIFE$PNNVOJUZ1IBSNBDZ4FDUPS t&TUBCMJTIFE1VCMJD4FDUPSDPNQPOFOUT t4VQQPSUJWF/PO(PWU0SHBOJTBUJPOT t1SPGFTTJPOBM3FQSFTFOUBUJPO

t*NQSPWFEQBUJFOUPVUDPNFTUISPVHIBDDFTTSBUJPOBMNFEJDJOFTVTF t*NQSPWFEDBSFFSQBUIXBZTJOQSJWBUFTFDUPST t*NQSPWFEQVCMJDIFBMUIUISPVHIFWJEFODFCBTFEDPPSEJOBUFEBQQSPBDI

ROBUST PHARMACY EDUCATION t6OEFSHSBEVBUF t1PTUHSBEVBUF t5FDIOJDBM5SBJOJOH t1IBSNBDFVUJDBM1SPEVDUJPO t3FTFBSDI1SPHSBNNF

COUNTRY CHALLENGES t3FMBUJWFMZOFX MBSHF TQBSTFMZQPQVMBUFE DPVOUSZ t7FSZTNBMMQIBSNBDZXPSLGPSDF  OP5FDIOJDJBODBESFFEVDBUJPO t)*7 5#.BMBSJBOPODPNNVOJDBCMF CVSEFO t.JEEMFJODPNFDPVOUSZCVUIJHIFTU HMPCBMJOFRVBMJUJFT

PHARMACEUTICAL CARE NEEDS t$MJOJDBMQIBSNBDZ t3FTFBSDIDPNNVOJDBUJPOT t4FBNMFTTDBSFAKPJOFEVQ XPSLJOH t)VNBOSFTPVSDFQIBSNBDJTUT UFDIOJDJBOT t1SPEVDUJPOPGQIBSNBDFVUJDBMT

Fig. 1: Establishing Pharmacy education in Namibia