Pharmaceutical care education at pharmacy colleges in the Middle East and North Africa region: A systematic review

Abstract

What is known and objective New pharmacy curricula include content that equip students with a bundle of professional and interpersonal skills that allows the provision of evidence‐based patient‐centred pharmaceutical care (PC). PC has been adopted as a practise model underpinning these new roles for pharmacists in developed countries. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that countries in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region have been relatively slow in including PC in pharmacy education. There seems to be a need to more accurately describe the extent to which PC is included in pharmacy education in the MENA region. The objective of this systematic review was (a) to determine the status of PC education in schools and colleges of pharmacy in the MENA region and (b) to identify pharmacy students' and/or educators' perceptions and attitudes towards PC, preparedness level to PC provision and perceived barriers to implement this practise model in countries of the MENA region. Methods A comprehensive literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, International Pharmaceutical Abstract and ProQuest databases to identify articles published from 2000 to 2021. Selection of studies for inclusion in the review was based on a pre‐determined eligibility criterion to retrieve original research articles addressing the review objectives. Results Nine articles were eligible for inclusion in the review. The majority of the studies (n = 8) employed a survey‐based research method. The studies were conducted in Jordan (n = 4), Kuwait (n = 2), Qatar (n = 2), Saudi Arabia (n = 1) and United Arab Emirates (n = 1). The findings suggest that pharmacy students had overall positive attitude and perception towards PC and some studies reported that students expressed good preparedness levels to implement most of the PC aspects. Several barriers to the implementation of PC were reported such as the slow educational reforms in pharmacy programs and a number of organizational and professional barriers. The studies provided recommendations for improvements in the pharmacy curricula to support pharmacy students' preparation to become competent PC practitioners. What is new and conclusion The literature describing PC education in the MENA region is limited. Joint efforts among educational institutions and health authorities are needed to support PC implementation. There is a need to conduct further research to explore the status of PC education and practise in the different countries within the MENA region. This can drive future directions of pharmacy education to meet the needs of the pharmacy profession and healthcare systems in these countries.

Impact of pharmacist-supported transition of care services in the Middle East and North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The MENA region is diverse in its healthcare systems’ structures, financing, and challenges (Katoue et al, 2022 ), as well as in the education, training, privileges, and practicesof pharmacists (Sallom et al, 2023 ). Despite advancements in clinical pharmacy education, practice, and research in the MENA region (Badreldin et al, 2020 ; Boura et al, 2022 ; Hammad et al, 2017 ; Obaid et al, 2022 ), there is a clear gap in understanding how pharmacists can optimise transitional care process. Developing an understanding of factors that can potentially influence transition of care process is critically important in order to offer tailored recommendations for improving transitional care practices in the region.…”

Application of the Case Teaching Method in a Pharmaceutical Analysis Online Course

“…9 To solve the problem that most traditional teaching methods mainly focus on teaching, the form is relatively simple, the scattered knowledge points and complex structure of the course are difficult to be transmitted systematically, and the teaching content lacks practicability. 10 In order to adapt to the new concept of building a powerful education country under the background of the new era, 11 the team members of the project may consider integrating case teaching into the class teaching of pharmaceutical analysis, so as to increase students' perceptual understanding of the course of pharmaceutical analysis. 12 This improves students' awareness of drug quality operations and allows them to adapt to the characteristics of our school as an application-oriented University.…”