The Current State of Pharmacy Informatics Education in Professional Programs at US Colleges of Pharmacy

Abstract

Objectives. Pharmacy practice is changing in response to several clarion reports published by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) documenting preventable medication errors. This paper seeks to assess the current curricula of US colleges of pharmacy to determine the readiness of new pharmacist graduates to do the pharmacy informatics work necessary to implement a safer, more information-rich medication use system. Methods. Data were collected from course titles and descriptions published on the public Internet web sites of the 89 US colleges of pharmacy recognized as regular institutional members of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). Results. Of the 88 colleges of pharmacy included, 73 (83%) maintained updated curricula on their web sites. Of the 73 pharmacy curricula studied, only 24 (33%) included courses in pharmacy informatics. Conclusions. In the United States, colleges of pharmacy are formally training only a small portion of their pharmacy students in pharmacy informatics while informatics knowledge is desperately needed to improve medication use practices.

An Interdisciplinary Online Course in Health Care Informatics

“…Partnerships between health sciences programs, however, can increase the likelihood for funding, share the expense burden, and optimize the use of faculty time. The formation of the Interschool Advisory Council was a tremendous advantage in the course development process and was consistent with published recommendations 3 for identifying curricular content in informatics. Although the IOM report suggests that interdisciplinary instruction should be prioritized, 1 university and college and school policies may lag in their support of these recommendations.…”

“…Indeed, a recent comprehensive review of pharmacy informatics education in professional programs at US colleges of pharmacy suggests that only a third of pharmacy programs offer any courses in pharmacy informatics and even fewer (16%) require this coursework. 3 Through a similar review process conducted within their institution, the authors identified a need for informatics training in several of the health professions programs, suggesting that an interdisciplinary course would not only be consistent with the IOM recommendations, but also be an efficient method of introducing these concepts. To accommodate the difference in academic schedules among students in the different health programs as well as to illustrate the concept of ''using technology to teach about technology,'' it was determined that an online course would be the most …”

Web-based Multimedia Vignettes in Advanced Community Pharmacy Practice Experiences

“…21 The use of computers to teach general or specialized practice skills varies by college. 22 Although ACPE recognizes the importance of technological training of students for practice, colleges of pharmacy have been slow to develop technological advancements in pharmacy instruction. The dearth of various forms of computer-aided learning in pharmacy curriculums leaves considerable room for development, deployment, and study.…”

An Approach for Some in Advanced Pharmacy Informatics Education

“…Based on prior reviews [6][7][8] and additional evidence, 9 we propose an advanced curriculum outline intended as a guide to train enough pharmacy informaticists over the next decade to support the shift to a systems-supported practice for pharmacy taking place within a Learning Health System. This curriculum outline covers the necessary aspects of the domain of biomedical informatics to prepare enough pharmacy informaticists to participate effectively in four general categories of informatics work.…”