Standards for assuring the quality of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences education are described in a new Statement of Policy from FIP, released today. “As additional roles for pharmacists are increasingly recognised, many countries have undertaken a major transformation of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences education. 

In addition, the COVID pandemic changed education dramatically, with distance teaching being applied not only to theoretical courses, but also to experiential training. However, not all countries have a national system for quality assurance (QA) of education, leaving adherence to international or regional QA standards as an option for higher education institutions, and this leads to heterogeneity in workforce competencies. Quality assurance is important for maintaining the quality of education in order to support the development of an adequate and appropriate pharmaceutical workforce,” explained Banan Abdulrzaq Mukhalalati, chair of FIP’s Quality Assurance of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Education Policy Committee.