Quality of Pharmacy Education in Brazil

Objective: To analyze the quality indicators of pharmacy schools in Brazil comparing public and private institutions.Method: Descriptive study of data on undergraduate pharmacy schools recorded until april 2016 on e-mec.mec.gov.br. Quality indicators: National Student Performance Examination, Preliminary Classification of the School and Final Classification of the School are graded 1 to 5, with 5 being considered excellent.Results: A total of 467 Brazilian pharmacy schools were analyzed and the number of schools and places offered have been increasing since 1832. There has been an increase in the number of private schools since 1996, with the majority located in non-capital city. The study shows an isomorphic characteristic of the quality indicators and a central tendency of the grades (grade of 3), which correspond to a satisfactory quality. Most public institutions presented an excellent grade.Conclusions: The analysis of the indicators shows an increase in the number of schools in the private sector an...