International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) recently published a report titled ‘Continuing professional development/continuing education in pharmacy: global report’ at the 74th World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Pharmacy organisations can refer to a snapshot of continuing professional development (CPD) around the world, make comparisons with the situation in their own countries and use this information to improve how their pharmacists maintain their competence.
In preparing the report, the FIP Education Initiative gathered data from 66 countries and territories. Among the findings were that in 88 per cent of the countries, pharmacists are expected to provide some form of self-funding for their professional development. However, it was also found that 77 per cent reported contributions to CPD/CE by pharmaceutical companies.
It was found that the largest providers of CPD/CE are pharmacy professional bodies (90.6 per cent) followed by universities (83.1 per cent), employers (55.4 per cent) and private providers (52.3 per cent). In addition, in 30.8 per cent of the countries, the pharmacy regulator was also a learning provider.
The survey reveals significant variance between the continuing professional development and continuing education frameworks in each country, and how activities are accredited. Several country case studies are described in the report. For example, in Northern Ireland CPD is mandatory, with four-stage CPD cycles required to address nine elements assessed by the pharmacy regulator, whereas in the USA CE is preferred — it is mandatory to maintain a licence to practise in all states with CPD being optional in three states. In Japan, CPD is done through an online portfolio system, supported by professional standards and guidelines. In Namibia, CPD has a modular approach but capacity and resource constraints reduce the opportunity to provide comprehensive quality education. Countries reveal the challenges they have faced in implementing CPD as well as their future plans.
EP News Bureau-Mumbai
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