The education and
training of pharmacists should be based
on their attainment of educational objectives
that correspond to the professional tasks
relevant to the country concerned and to
their roles, functions and responsibilities
in health teams. The learning experiences,
and the methods of evaluating the knowledge,
skill and attitudes involved in satisfactory
practice performance, must be relevant to
the components of professional competence.
The design and management of the curriculum
should apply the curricular principles of
continuity sequence and integration so that
students may a progressively master the
necessary professional skills at the expected
levels of performance, by their repeated
performance at increasingly complex levels.
To maintain the relevance of undergraduate
education to changing patterns of practice,
curricula should be kept under regular review
by academic pharmacists, together with pharmacists
from all aspects of practice and other concerned
parties, such as health administrators and
specialists in curriculum management and
evaluation.
In common with most health professional
education pharmacy education programmes
while often indicating the relevance of
topics to practice need to do more towards
helping students achieve competence in the
application of knowledge in practice; this
would involve the linking of knowledge's,
skill and attitudes in professional problem
solving.
Course in pharmacy law, ethics and practices
make a vital contribution to the role of
pharmacists in the rational use of drugs
and in the prevention and management of
drug abuse.
Traditionally, pharmaceutical courses
have been divided into four subject areas
namely pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry,
pharmacognosy and pharmacology and schools
of pharmacy have been organized accordingly.
However, the academic foundation for pharmacy
practices demands and integrated approach
to the teaching of those four traditional
subjects. This can be encouraged by designing
the course to include the three elements
of pharmaceutical science described below.
This would mean the integration of substantial
parts of the teaching in each of the three
subject areas with corresponding parts in
the others. By doing so, schools of pharmacy
would enable students to a ppreciate more
readily the relevance of the pharmaceutical
sciences to the practice of pharmacy.
Chemical
and Physical Properties of Drugs
The structure and properties of chemical
substances of natural and synthetic origin
used in medicine, their relevant stereo?
chemistry and biological activities relevant
physico ?chemical aspects, including chemical
kinetics and thermodynamics; quality control
by physical,, chemical and biological techniques.
Pharmaceutical
Aspects of Medicines
Physical and physicochemical properties
of substances used in medicine and their
application in the formulation and production
of medicinal products; the influence of
formulation on the biological availability
of substances; the evaluation of products
and pharmaceutical processes with particular
reference to uniformity, quality and stability
of products; the principals of sterilisation
and of aseptic procedures; immunological
products microbiological aspects of the
contamination and preservation of pharmaceutical
products; radio ?pharmaceutical surgical
dressings; the dispensing and storage of
medicines.
The Action
and Uses of Drugs and Medicines
Human and mammalian physiology and biochemistry
as a basis for the understanding of the
pharmacology of drugs. It should include
experimental pharmacology and biological
methods of measurement of activity; chemical,
physical, biochemical and biological aspects
of the action of drugs in man and animals;
plant biology in relation to natural sources
of drugs and medicines and in relation to
pesticides; microbiology in relation to
immunology, disease and chemotherapy; the
presentation, use and adverse reactions
of drugs and medicines, including some opportunities
to observe and study the clinical effects
of drugs on diseases an understanding of
the principals of disease processes; medical
terminology; sources of information on drugs
and medicines.
The emphasis placed on the topics included
in these three elements of the degree course
will vary with educational needs, objectives,
resources, and developments in health care,
but the three elements should receive approximately
the same emphasis. However, the growing
importance of the pharmacists role in promoting
the rational use of drugs by patients and
in advising other health processionals must
be reflected in the teaching of pathology
and therapeutics related to both community
and hospital pharmacy.
A fourth element in the pharmacy course
should deal with national legislation related
to pharmacy, and introduce the subject of
international control mechanisms. A specialised
part of the course should be devoted to
professional ethics, which should at the
same time permeate the entire course. While
the entire course should be seen to be relevant
to practices there should be two units or
modules devoted to the rational use of drugs
and the prevention of misuse and abuse,
and to the application of pharmaceutical
sciences to aspects of practice.
Additionally pharmacy students should be
made aware of their countries general health
policies and strategies, particularly for
the control of their principal public health
problems such as malaria leprosy tuberculosis
and AIDS and for the care of mothers and
children, including family planning.
In relation to all aspects of the pharmacy
programs there should be a module dealing
with the general principles of the rational
use of drugs. This should be introduced
early in the undergraduate programs and
should be designed to introduce early in
the undergraduate program and should be
designed to introduce students to the basic
competencies ? the clusters of knowledge,
attitudes and skills for performing the
pharmacist's several role related to the
rational use of drugs, including advising
physicians and patients, monitoring of prescribing
reporting of adverse drug reactions, advising
on drug interactions in relation to individual
patients and within national schemes and
the training of other health professionals.
These basic competencies should be gradually
expanded and strengthened throughout the
remainder of the course.
Independent reviews of pharmacy in recent
years, including the Nuffield Foundation
inquiry into pharmacy in the United Kingdom
(2) have highlighted the advisory role of
the pharmacist vis?avis health professionals
and patients. Many schools have introduced
course on interpersonal and communication
skills. All schools need to introduce modules
dealing with the principles of communication
written and oral and providing for learning
and evaluation methods by which students
may acquire and develop these skills
An understanding of national pharmaceutical
legislation and of its underlying philosophy
will continue to be an important objective
of pharmacy programs. In the context of
international control, all students should
learn the concept of and appreciate the
reasons for international control mechanisms.
More important, however, undergraduate education
must at all times inculcate high standards
of professional conduct. This will ensure
that pharmacists can supplement the minimum
legal requirements by standards of conducts
which ensure that the greatest possible
help and protection is given to the public
in relation to the supply and use of drugs.
A satisfactory standard of pharmaceutical
education which is a prerequisite for a
satisfactory pharmaceutical service to satisfy
legitimate public needs, depends upon a
sufficiency of suitably qualified academic
staff, and an adequate provision of equipment,
text books and other learning materials.
Government strategies should provide for,
and give priority to, these resources, as
they are the foundation of the pharmacist's
contribution to the cost?effective use of
quality medicines.
The pharmacy council, pharmacy board, or
the registration authority, should be involved
in establishing acceptable minimum standards
for the structure, facilities and curricula
of schools of pharmacy.
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