Pharmacoeconomic Education in Egyptian Schools of Pharmacy

Abstract

Objective. To investigate the status of pharmacoeconomics education in Egyptian schools of pharmacy and compile and construct recommendations on how Egypt and similar countries could improve their educational infrastructure in pharmacoeconomics. Methods. A modified version of a published survey instrument was sent to all schools of pharmacy in Egypt (n5 24). The data were assessed to identify associations between offering pharmacoeconomics education and school characteristics. Results. Usable responses were obtained from 20 schools (response rate: 83%). Only 7 schools offered pharmacoeconomics education, with a median of 20 teaching hours per semester. Among respondents, 4 schools had instructors with some training in pharmacoeconomics and only 1 school had a faculty member with PhD-level training. Only 4 schools offered graduate-level courses in pharmacoeconomics. Eight additional schools expressed interest in teaching pharmacoeconomics in the near future. Having 1 or more faculty members with training in pharmacoeconomics was significantly associated with offering pharmacoeconomics education (p 5 0.03). Conclusions. Pharmacoeconomics education in Egypt is still in its infancy and there exists a unique opportunity for well-trained instructors and researchers to fill this gap. Providing structured pharmacoeconomics education to student pharmacists, researchers, and stakeholders can help countries establish an integrated scientific community that can start applying pharmacoeconomic evidence to healthcare decision-making.

Barriers and Facilitators of Pharmacoeconomic Studies: A Review of Evidence from the Middle Eastern Countries

“…Of these 85 schools, 65 offer pharmacoeconomics education at the postgraduate level, 8 at the graduate level and 7 at both levels [10]. The highest number of pharmacy schools are present in Egypt, i.e., 24 and only 7 of them offer courses [55]. Next in line is Saudi Arabia, which has 16 schools of pharmacy, of which only three offer pharmacoeconomics courses.…”

Pharmacoeconomics Education in the Middle East and North Africa Region: A Web-Based Research Project

“…The addressed countries included all countries of the MENA region except Algeria, Israel, and Malta. Some individual surveys were carried out in Egypt, 21 Lebanon, 22 Yemen, 23 the UAE, 15 and Saudi Arabia. 24 Recently, PE and HTA have started to gain great attention in countries of the MENA region; however, their implementation is still at an early stage.…”

Exploring the value of a Doctor of Philosophy program in Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy Research in Saudi Arabia

“…However, the information necessary to propose a path toward achieving these goals is essentially absent. To the best of our knowledge, only one study analyzing data from Egypt has investigated the current pharmacoeconomic education status in the region (Soliman et al, 2013). This research has led to the conclusion that awareness should be raised among the stakeholders in the Middle Eastern countries regarding the need to provide graduate degrees and training in the POPR area.…”

“…This research has led to the conclusion that awareness should be raised among the stakeholders in the Middle Eastern countries regarding the need to provide graduate degrees and training in the POPR area. The necessity to train instructors, pharmacists and researchers was recognized as a condition necessary to help Middle Eastern countries establish an integrated scientific community that can start applying pharmacoeconomics to healthcare decision-making (Soliman et al, 2013).…”