A Global Comparison of Internationalization Support Characteristics Available on College of Pharmacy Websites.

Objective. To compare the information regarding entry-level pharmacy degree programs available on college websites worldwide from the perspective of international students. Methods. Data on pharmacy colleges and schools were extracted from the Official World List of Pharmacy Schools on the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) website. The website of each pharmacy college was accessed and the content was analyzed. A scoring method was created to compare the websites. Results. Of the 1839 pharmacy colleges listed worldwide, 246 had no website. Approximately half of pharmacy colleges with websites did not have a complete English version of their site. Academic information considered important by students, including the course syllabi, admission requirements, program costs, and a faculty directory, was not available on 73%, 44%, 65% and 43% of the websites, respectively. The websites of pharmacy colleges in Oceania, North America, and Europe provided the best information for international students, with these regions scoring an average of 9.2, 8.8, and 6.7, respectively out of 12 points. In comparison, pharmacy colleges in Central Asia and East and Southeast Asia scored an average of only 0.2 and 1.5 points, respectively. Conclusion. There are still a high proportion of global colleges of pharmacy without websites. Also, the quality of pharmacy colleges' websites is unevenly distributed around the world. To fulfill the information needs of international students, pharmacy colleges should provide an English version of the website and include at least a complete syllabus of all the courses, financial information (costs and grants), a complete faculty directory, and all the administrative requirements for application and enrollment.

A Comparison of Patient-Centered Care in Pharmacy Curricula in the United States and Europe.

Objective. To compare United States and European Higher Education Area (EHEA) undergraduate pharmacy curricula in terms of patient-centered care courses. Methods. Websites from all pharmacy colleges or schools in the United States and the 41 countries in the EHEA were retrieved from the FIP Official World List of Pharmacy Schools and investigated. A random sample of schools was selected and, based on analyses of course descriptions from syllabi, each course was classified into the following categories: social/behavioral/administrative pharmacy sciences, clinical sciences, experiential, or other/basic sciences. Results. Of 147 schools of pharmacy, 59 were included (23 in US and 36 in the EHEA). Differences existed in the percentages of credits/hours in all of the four subject area categories. Conclusion. Institutions in EHEA countries maintain a greater focus on basic sciences and a lower load of clinical sciences in pharmacy curricula compared to the United States. These differences may not be in accordance with international recommendations to educate future pharmacists focused on patient care.

Codificación sistemática de contenidos educativos de farmacia práctica / Systematic coding of pharmacy practice educational contents

Introducción: Los organismos internacionales farmacéuticos reclaman una educación farmacéutica más centrada en el paciente, que de apoyo a las funciones de la atención farmacéutica. Para ello, se han desarrollado marcos de competencias, que no siempre se han asociado a los correspondientes contenidos docentes. Objetivo: Identificación sistemática de los contenidos programáticos del área de farmacia práctica, mediante la creación de un árbol de codificación de contenidos. Método: Análisis cualitativo de los contenidos docentes de asignaturas del área de farmacia práctica de los planes de estudios de las facultades de farmacia de Australia, Canadá, Estados Unidos, y Nueva Zelanda. Los syllabus fueron obtenidos de las páginas web de las facultades de farmacia, excluyendo las que no tenían el plan de estudios completo disponible en inglés. Se solicitó a los responsables de las asignaturas información adicional por correo electrónico. Se creó un árbol de contenidos inicial a partir de directrices del Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. Se realizó un proceso iterativo de codificación dirigida, para obtener el árbol final de códigos que permitiese clasificar los contenidos docentes del área de farmacia práctica. Resultados: Se incluyeron 110 facultades (Australia=15; Canadá=5; Estados Unidos=89; y Nueva Zelanda=1), con 8733 asignaturas, de las que 1703 (19.5%) pertenecían al área de farmacia práctica y presentaban syllabus con información detallada. Se obtuvo respuesta con información adicional de 119 asignaturas. El análisis de contenido convirtió el árbol inicial de 39 categorías, en un árbol final de codificación con 3 niveles jerárquicos y 69 categorías. Conclusión: En los países del análisis, aproximadamente el 20% de las asignaturas pertenecen al área de farmacia práctica. Se ha conseguido un árbol de codificación y clasificación de los contenidos docentes de farmacia práctica. Futuros estudios deberían mapear las asignaturas actuales para determinar si los contenidos identificados están siendo enseñados

Introduction: International pharmaceutical institutions claim for a more patient-focused pharmacy education, which can support pharmaceutical care processes. Consequently, competencies frameworks have been developed, but they not always are associated with teaching contents. Objective: Systematic identification of pharmacy practice curricular contents, by means of creating a content codification tree. Method: Qualitative analysis of course contents of pharmacy practice disciplines from the curricular descriptions pharmacy schools from Australia, Canada, United States and New Zealand. Syllabuses were retrieved from pharmacy schools websites, excluding those without the complete program in English. Additional information was requested by email to course responsible. An initial content coding tree was created based on the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education standards. An iterative directed coding was done to obtain the final coding tree that would allow the complete codification of pharmacy practice educational contents. Results: A total of 110 schools were included (Australia=15; Canada=5; United States=89; y New Zealand=1), with 8733 courses, and 1703 (19.5%) corresponded to pharmacy practice area and presented syllabus with complete information. Additional information was obtained from 119 courses. Content analysis converted the initial tree with 39 categories to a final coding tree with 3 hierarchical levels and 69 categories. Conclusion: In countries under analysis, about 20% of courses fit in pharmacy practice area. A coding tree to classify pharmacy practice teaching contents was created. Future studies should map current courses to identify if these curricular contents are being taught