An International Review of the Use of Professional Competencies within Pharmacy Education

Objective: To review the recent documented use of professional competency standards within pharmacy education. Pharmacists worldwide self-regulate their competency to practice. Does the introduction of competency standards (CS) to undergraduate students promote a self-reflective culture, essential for continual growth as a safe, competent practitioner.

Methods: Four databases (Proquest ERIC, Scopus, IPA and Cinahl) were searched for articles published in English between 2000 and 2013. All types of literature were reviewed. Identified papers were assessed by two reviewers for relevance to the research question, study design, study quality, consistency and internal and external validity and reliability.

Results: Of the 1646 papers identified and screened, 19 were included in the review; most reported qualitative findings. The majority of papers arose from the United States (US). Ninety percent of the studies reviewed described CS being employed in curriculum design and in 50% they were used in curriculum mapping. These processes were largely driven by accreditation requirements.

Curriculum design and mapping against CS underpin competency based education and assessment. CS have a variety of other roles, including curriculum review, quality assurance, benchmarking and acceptance into placements. Authors suggest that a paradigm shift in teaching and assessment practices are required to ensure tomorrow’s pharmacists are more self-directed and practice ready focussed; in other words, worthy of self-regulation.

Conclusions: Competency based pharmacy education is well established internationally. Australian Pharmacy Schools have a requirement around curriculum review and mapping against CS but further work is required to ensure their implementation into teaching practice. This forms the basis for the presenter’s PhD.