FIP Pharmacy Education Taskforce
Access to essential medicines is one of the most basic health services. To ensure access and appropriate use of medicines, there is a need for an appropriately-trained pharmacy workforce. Unfortunately, pharmacists and pharmaceutical human resources in many countries are too few in number and trained at a critically insufficient scale. On average in the UK, for example, there is one pharmacist for every 1,300 people. In Uganda, there is one for every 140,000, and local health authorities estimate that there is only one-third of the required pharmacist workforce. The scaling up and quality improvement of pharmacy education and training is essential for tackling workforce shortages and for meeting basic health needs.
Recognising the need to support and strengthen pharmacy education worldwide, in November 2007, FIP, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), formed the Pharmacy Education Taskforce. The Taskforce is a coordinating body of organisations, agencies, institutions, and individuals with the shared goal of catalysing actions to develop pharmacy education.
The purpose of the Taskforce is to oversee the implementation of the Pharmacy Education Taskforce Action Plan 2008-2010*. The Action Plan aims to enable the sustainability of a pharmacy workforce that is relevant to local needs. The Action Plan is dedicated to three domains of action: quality assurance, academic and institutional capacity, and competency and vision for pharmacy education.
*Pharmacy education refers to the educational design and capacity to develop the workforce for a diversity of settings (e.g. community, hospital, research and development, academia) across varying levels of service provision and competence (e.g. technical support human resources, pharmacist practitioners, pharmaceutical scientists, pre-service students) and scope of education (e.g. undergraduate, post-registration, continuing professional development, practitioner development, life-long learning).
News and Updates
FIP Congress 2010
The Taskforce is planning a series of workshops and events for FIP Congress 2010 in Lisbon. For the first time, the Taskforce is organising a full-day pre-conference satellite symposium "R1: How to Develop Academic Capacity to Ensure Seamless Education" to be held Saturday, 28th August 2010, 09:00 – 17:00. The full programme can be viewed here.
The Taskforce is also co-organising the second annual Learning to Teach Workshop with the Young Pharmacists Group. This session is geared towards young academics and features an opportunity to learn about the successes and challenges of teaching, from the perspectives of young and senior faculty. The full programme can be downloaded here.
The 5th Annual Global Pharmacy Education Consultation will be held on Tuesday 31 August 2010, from 09:00 – 12:00. The outcomes of the action plan will be reported and participants will be invited to provide input into the future focus on Pharmacy Education within FIP. The programme is available here.
Pharmacy Education Journal Launched at FIP
Pharmacy Education, an International Journal for Pharmaceutical Education, is now an official FIP Electronic Publication, available online free of charge at http://pharmacyeducation.fip.org/. The online publishing and re-release has been made possible by the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and in collaboration with the European Association of Faculties of Pharmacy (EAFP).
Pharmacy Education will continue to be an independent, peer-reviewed academic publication with a mission to provide a forum for communication for the academic, teaching and practitioner communities, with an emphasis on new and established teaching and learning methods; practitioner development and CPD research and evaluation; new curriculum and syllabus directions; guidance on structuring courses and assessing achievement, as well as the dissemination of new ideas.
To read the full media release, click here.
Action Plan Available in Japanese
The Taskforce's Action Plan is now available in Japanese. The Taskforce would like to thank Advisory Group member Prof Shigeo Yamamura, Josai International University, Japan for his help in getting the document translated.
FIP Statement of Policy on Quality Assurance of Pharmacy Education
On 8 September 2009 at the FIP Congress in Istanbul the FIP Council adopted an official FIP Statement of Policy on Quality Assurance of Pharmacy Education. Click here to access a PDF copy of the Statement.
The Working Group on Public Policy that presented the FIP Statement of Policy on Quality Assurance of Pharmacy Education consisted of:
Dr Lowell Anderson, Convenor
Dr John Gans
Mr Henri Lepage
Dr Carmen Peña
Mr Niels Kristensen
Dr Chui Wai Keung
Taskforce Monthly Newsletters
Volume II
Issue 9 (July 2010)
Issue 8 (June 2010)
Issue 7 (May 2010)
Issue 6 (April 2010)
Issue 5 (March 2010)
Issue 4 (February 2010)
Issue 3 (January 2010)
Issue 2 (December 2009)
Issue 1 (November 2009)
Contact us if you would like to see issues of Volume I (August 2008 to October 2009).
FIP Congress 2009
The 4th Annual Global Pharmacy Education Consultation was held at FIP Congress 2009 in Istanbul. The consultation explored the Taskforce's progress and challenges and planned long-term vision and strategies for 2010 and beyond. The consultation report is available to download here.
Taskforce Materials Now Available in Arabic, Portuguese and Spanish
The Taskforce's Pharmacy Education Action Plan 2008-2010 and promotional brochure are now available in Arabic, Portuguese and Spanish. Please click on the links below to download the translated versions.
Action Plan - Arabic, Portuguese
Brochure - Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish
FIP Bureau approves the "Global Framework for Quality Assurance of Pharmacy Education"
During the FIP Congress in Basel, Switzerland the FIP Bureau has formally approved a new document that incorporates core principles and elements considered essential for an effective approach to quality assurance of pharmacy education.
Read the full Media Release here and download the draft copy of the "Global Framework for Quality Assurance in Pharmacy Education" here.
Objectives
The objectives of the Taskforce are to:
1. Define pharmacy service competencies across all settings and levels of the health system.
2. Set educational objectives aligned with competencies and develop a framework that considers the entire pharmacy education continuum from undergraduate education through to continuing professional development at the post-graduate level.
3. Develop a global framework for quality assurance and the development of accreditation systems (e.g. development of standards for educational institutions and programs) in pharmacy education.
4. Gather and analyse data on academic/faculty workforce, and review and develop capacity development strategies that meet local, regional or global needs.
5. Guide stakeholders towards an accepted holistic vision for the entire continuum of pharmacy education at global, regional and local levels.
6. Provide advocacy and technical guidance to country level stakeholders and educational institutions.
7. Establish a global platform for ongoing dialogue, sharing of evidence, practices, lessons learned, resources and tools for pharmacy education and workforce planning.
JOIN US!
How do I find out more about the Taskforce?
Read more about the work of the Taskforce through the background documents, articles and tools posted in the Resources and Links Section . You can also contact education@fip.org.
How do I become involved in the Taskforce?
Join the Taskforce’s Community of Practice to receive updates about activities in the Taskforce, network with other colleagues from around the world, or take part in activities. The Community of Practice, or COP, is an online learning space where people interested in the Taskforce can share documents and resources, hold discussions and keep informed of activities and events. Membership is free and open to all. To learn how to join the Community of Practice, also contact education@fip.org.
Who do I contact to become involved in one or more of the project domains?
The Project Leads for the project domains are:
Academic and Institutional Capacity – Claire Anderson, claire.anderson@nottingham.ac.uk
Vision and Competency – Ian Bates, ian.bates@pharmacy.ac.uk
Quality Assurance – Mike Rouse, mrouse@acpe-accredit.org
How can I support the work of the Taskforce?
The work of the Taskforce is largely achieved through the efforts of dedicated and enthusiastic international team of volunteers. The in kind, financial and other support of donors, associations, groups, schools and individuals is much appreciated to ensure that we meet the objectives of the Action Plan. Please contact us if you would like to offer support to the Taskforce.