Does a transition in education equate to a transition in practice? Thai stakeholder’s perceptions of the introduction of the Doctor of Pharmacy programme

Abstract

BackgroundPharmacy education and pharmacy practice are facing remarkable changes following new scientific discoveries, evolving patient needs and the requirements of advanced pharmacy competency for practices. Many countries are introducing or undertaking major transformations in pharmacy education. The Thai pharmacy curriculum has been changed from a 5-year BPharm and a 6-year PharmD to only a 6-year PharmD programme. Curriculum change processes usually involve stakeholders, including both internal and external educational institutions, at all levels. This study aims to understand the experiences and perceptions of stakeholders regarding the transition to an all-PharmD programme in Thailand.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted in Thailand with 130 stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, pharmacy experts, educators, health care providers, patients, students and parents) from August-October 2013. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using an inductive thematic analysis.ResultsThree main themes were derived from the findings: 1. influences on curriculum change (e.g., the needs of pharmacists to provide better patient care, the US-Thai consortium for the development of pharmacy education); 2. perceived benefits (e.g., improve pharmacy competencies from generalists to specialists, ready to work after graduation, providing a high quality of patient care); and 3. concerns (e.g., the higher costs of study for a longer period of time, the mismatch between the pharmacy graduates’ competency and the job market’s needs, insufficient preceptors and training sites, lack of practical experience of the faculty members and issues related to the separate licenses that are necessary due to the difference in the graduates’ specialties).ConclusionsThis is the first study to highlight the issues surrounding the transition to the 6-year PharmD programme in Thailand, which was initiated due to the need for higher levels of competency among the nation’s pharmacists. The transition was influenced by many factors. Many participants perceived benefits from the new pharmacy curriculum. However, some participants were concerned about this transition. Although most of the respondents accepted the need to go forward to the 6-year PharmD programme, designing an effective curriculum, providing a sufficient number of qualified PharmD preceptors, determining certain competencies of pharmacists in different practices and monitoring the quality of pharmacy education still need to be addressed during this transitional stage of pharmacy education in Thailand.

Perceptions of undergraduate pharmacy students of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria on the introduction of the Pharm.D. degree to Nigerian pharmacy schools

“…These advantages included the potential for specialization and better career prospects. This is similar to findings from Chanakit et al, (2015) study, that reported that students in Thailand also thought that the transition to the 6-year program would improve pharmacy competencies from generalists to advance general pharmacists or specialists. In addition, Raman et al (2012) reported that majority of the educated Indians surveyed in their study felt that pharmacists with the Pharm.D.…”

“…This is a definite advantage as Pharm.D. graduates have the skills to approach other health care providers, are more confident and work well within health care teams (Chanakit et al, 2015). Abdelhadi et al (2014) reported in their study that nearly all respondents (90.9 %) reported that Pharm.D.…”

“…Responsibilities of pharmacists have shifted from merely compounding or dispensing medicines to playing a professional role in patient care. Doctor of pharmacy programs are expected to produce pharmaceutical care experts and to provide more clinical experiences during training (Chanakit et al, 2014). This is particularly important because one of the main limitations for pharmacists developing advanced clinical roles is a lack of clinical skills (Frankel et al, 2014).…”

“…degrees are industry oriented, i.e., deal with aspects of drug formulation, studying different drug sources, molecular structure of drugs, steps involved in the syntheses of drugs, methods of synthesizing drugs, analyses of the synthesized drugs, pharmacological actions of drugs, and so on (Mateti et al, 2011). A good degree transition requires cooperation between colleges of pharmacy, pharmacy councils, government, and pharmacists already in the workforce to encourage better pharmacy education in terms of quality of the curriculum, curriculum validation, competencies of pharmacy graduates, training (e.g., training site accreditation, preceptor development plan) (Chanakit et al , 2014). The main aim of this work is to explore knowledge and perceptions of selected undergraduate students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria on the introduction of the proposed Pharm.D.…”

Are we on the right track? Answers from a national survey of Thai graduates’ perceptions during the transition to the 6-year PharmD program

“…Thai pharmacy education has transitioned from having two entry-level degrees – a 5-year Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) (with three main tracks: pharmaceutical care [PC], pharmaceutical sciences, and social and administrative pharmacy) and a traditional 6-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) (PC) program – to a single national 6-year PharmD program (including PC and industrial pharmacy [IP] tracks). 4 , 11 The Pharmacy Council of Thailand mandated that in 2014, marking the 100th year of pharmacy education in Thailand, all Thai entry-level pharmacy curricular will be only a 6-year PharmD program. It is believed that this shift will prepare pharmacy graduates with competencies as a specialist not a generalist to serve the demands of the job market.…”