Quality Assurance in Pharmacy Education

Abstract The need to expand the global pharmacy workforce to meet societal needs has resulted in increased capacity in pharmacy education and training. In some countries, this expansion has been achieved, but not always in a quality way. To support countries in their own quality improvement and capacity building initiatives, international organizations, including the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), have focused on the development of competency-based educational models, as well as programs and frameworks to evaluate and enhance the quality of education. National quality assurance systems and standards must ensure that educational programs are competency-based, reflect a vision for practice and education developed through profession-wide consensus, are of high quality and appropriateness, and meet the needs of the country and its people. To be meaningful, educational activities must focus on learning outcomes and impact. While traditional approaches to quality have focused on structure, process, and outcomes, contemporary approaches must go beyond these three “pillars” to include context and impact, which together reflect social accountability.