21 countries, representing all five World Health Organisation regions, have shared information on their pharmaceutical workforce development work in a new publication by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP).
‘Research, development and evaluation strategies for pharmaceutical education and workforce: A global report’ was recently launched at the World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
It contains the findings of a survey of FIP member organisations and educators, and concludes that, while progress towards achieving FIP’s 13 Pharmaceutical Workforce Development Goals (PWDGs; developed in 2016) varies, all countries, regardless of economic status, have reported some degree of alignment with the goals, which cover issues such as having competency-based training frameworks and advanced and specialist development.
The reports discuss research and development in the context of technology-driven education, highlighting various important technological methods used in professional education, and the impact of the developed tools and platforms on workforce development. Educational research and evaluation in pharmacy needs strengthening and it is clear that better ways of evaluating the impact of technology-driven education need to be developed and used more routinely by education providers.
Case studies from the following countries can be found in the publication: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Ghana, Great Britain, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Namibia, Paraguay, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, UAE, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The document, intended as a tool for FIP member organisations to support the adoption of the PWDGs, contains evidence-based expert recommendations, such as on strategies for advancing the workforce agenda. It also highlights that global engagement is needed to make research, development and evaluation strategies the critical next step in workforce development. In particular, it promotes more routine use of technology-driven education and discusses better ways of evaluating this.
‘This publication is a starting point for a global discussion on how to achieve progress on workforce development goals through evidence, evaluation and progressive policy planning. FIP encourages global leaders in professional education research, in addition to leadership bodies and universities, to contribute to the process of identifying a global agenda for workforce development,’ said Professor Ian Bates, FIP Education Development Team Director.
