Competency-Based Pharmacy Education and Training in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Abstract

Competency-based pharmacy education (CBPE) is a useful pedagogical approach to curricula development, improvements in the knowledge, skills and attitudes of learners, as well as enhanced health service delivery. The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), developed evidence-based frameworks to support global advancement of pharmacy education. The overall aim of this thesis was to explore the extent of CBPE in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). The EMR has the second largest number of trained pharmacists in the world. And while pharmacy education has experienced rapid changes in the EMR, pharmacy practice remains stunted. By utilising FIP education frameworks as mapping tools, a mix of literature review, qualitative and quantitative research was conducted. A systematic literature review supported the development of qualitative research interview guides. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were carried out to identify and explore pharmacy stakeholders’ perspectives of pharmacy education in the EMR. Findings from qualitative research led to conducting interventional and competency-based educational studies with pharmacy students in Jordan. This body of research has made a significant contribution to the academic literature on the status of pharmacy education and quality assurance in the EMR. It has shed light on a region fraught with political, social and economic complexities, and how these can permeate education, such as pharmacy education. Advancing pharmacy education in the EMR and elsewhere in the world calls for purposeful rethinking of competence; in relation to performance of the whole pharmacist required to function in a specific working environment, and not merely competencies; academic reform, teaching, learning and assessment methods; and teacher preparation.