engleski

Small steps in pharmacy education built our way forward

Any positive change in the world of pharmacy begins with pharmacy education. Therefore making an effort on the global level in this field will certainly contribute to the progress of pharmacy worldwide. FIP/WHO alliance in this initiative enables important leadership in development pharmacy education guidelines which are of great importance and usefulness for all involved in pharmacy education and especially for those in small countries worldwide with one center of pharmacy education or in countries which are in position to establish it. The need for pharmacy education reconstruction and redirecting of attention towards pharmaceutical care in focus, with the aim of pharmacy practice and pharmaceutical sciences developments, has never been greater. This is common characteristic for pharmacy in each country regardless on its historical background, geographic position, size, number of citizens, number of pharmacy education centres (faculties/schools/institutes), political system and economy. However all these, in specific way, have their impact on the level of pharmacy education development in each country. On the other hand, globalization with no strict borders for information (Internet, e-pharmacy) and medicines too, with quite uniform pharmaceutical market regarding the wide spectrum of medicines, requires almost the same level of knowledge and pharmacy competences in all countries. An infrastructure of primary health care (PHC) in many countries is changing to meet the needs of patients, with new important roles and recommendations for other professionals, besides doctors, to take on the role of prescribers. The demand for advice over the counter (OTC) in pharmacy, the desire for patients to self-medicate, as well as deregulation of medicines from the prescription-only category to pharmacy medicines, increase globally on a daily basis and require from pharmacy healthcare professionals to deliver high quality patient care. All these reflect to pharmacy education and needed professional competences. Recently pharmacy education in many countries in region (in Croatia too) has passed their curricula reform with the aim to harmonize with higher education level in EU. Many new courses relevant to new pharmacy role and demands of pharmaceutical care have been introduced into new syllabus. In creating new curriculum we have been guided by recommendations for pharmacy education of international institutions relevant to pharmacy (FIP, EAFP, EUFEPS, PGEU, EuroPharmForum/WHOEuro) and was financially supported by EC through TEMPUS program and project ‘ New Pharmacy Curricula – Development and Implementation’ (TEMPUS JEP-18028-2003 ; Consortium: Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb ; The School of Pharmacy, University of London ; School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Brighton ; Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Navarra ; St.Bartholomew's and Royal London NHS Trust and London Region Specialist Pharmacy Services). Besides curriculum reform, development and its implementation, Tempus project activities have also comprised the development of clinical pharmacy skills, medicines use, pharmaco-economics, health services research, pharmacotherapy ; etc. By sharing their knowledge and teaching skills, consortium partners have contributed to the development of competences in medicines management (effective, safe and cost effective use of medicines), education relevant for continued professional development and implementation of science into practice and applied drug sciences in Croatia. Strategic alliances, “ Train the trainers” (development of practitioner base for Croatia), Tempus human resource (‘ New Blood’ trained in UK), established Centre for Applied Pharmacy represent a Faculty focus for teaching and research development of new implemented disciplines and overall improvement and continued effort to transform the curriculum towards modern outcomes for society. Collaboration with students through joint activities (PharmaCon 2007 Congress in Dubrovnik ; Summer Schools 2005, 2006 & 2007, students’ involvement in Tempus research projects) offers an additional opportunity for the development and implementation of outcomes at national and international level. Still opened questions: Do we really prepare our undergraduates, with all these changes, for their mission in forthcoming years? Do we prepare them for demanding role of pharmaceutical researcher today and in the future? Are they ready to fit the practice purpose? Can we predict the near and longer-term trends in pharmacy education? Have we any (or the only) impact on pharmacy professional behaviour latter? How to establish needed parameters for quality assurance in pharmacy education and pharmacy practice in CPD? ...

pharmacy education; pharmacy curriculum development and implementation; Tempus JEP-18028-2003

Sudjelovanje na 67th FIP Congress (Peking, Kina), 2nd FIP Global Pharmacy Education Consultations na poziv glavnog tajnika FIP-a Ton Hoeka, s radom kao doprinosom raspravi tijekom konzultacija.