NEED OF SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN PHARMACEUTICAL CURRICULUM_An essay by R. Nandhini

1.     INTRODUCTION:-

                       As health care educators, our goal is to develop foundational educational framework that supports our students in becoming health care practitioners. As they have noted in Accreditation Council on Pharmacy Education (ACPE) guidelines, the curriculum must prepare students to practice today and in the future as the profession of pharmacy continues to evolve by equipping them with knowledge based in “good science” that is “evidence-based, logical, convincing, honest, testable and systematic”. In order to meet the ACPE standards, all pharmacy programs must include both basic science and pharmacy practice courses. However, as increased emphasis is placed on clinical course work, it becomes more difficult for students to connect the pharmaceutical sciences, which are the foundation of the practice of pharmacy, to patient care.

2.     OBJECTIVES:-

                      In general, apart from the core subject expertise, some of the prominent employable skills that employable skills that employers seek are:

Ø  Communication skills (verbal and written)

Ø  Commercial awareness

Ø  Attitude towards work

Ø  Lifelong learning

Ø  Self management

Ø  Team work

Ø  Problem solving

Ø  Initiative

Ø  Self motivation

Ø  Adaptability

Ø  Stress management

Ø  Creativity

Ø  Interpersonal sensitivity

Ø  Technology / it skills

Also to     

i) Identifying gaps between existing skills and knowledge and those that are required;

 ii) Identifying skills, knowledge, and competences, as well as training needs of the pharmaceutical workforce;

iii) Identifying shortcomings of the educational system and actual demand for the long-run prospective,

•       Have an in depth understanding and knowledge and be able to integrate and apply the knowledge to the practice of pharmacy

•       Have acquired relevant skills for the practice of pharmacy

•       Have acquired relevant generic skills

•       Have acquired relevant values, attitudes, and behaviours

•       Be able to apply the knowledge and skills to promote and contribute to the quality use of medicines

“Education and training of pharmacists requires the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes that prepare students for their professional role in healthcare. Course participants will become familiar with the principles of competency-based curriculum design and with the construction of active learning modules. They will learn how the development of professional skills can be stimulated and how students can be prepared for their working life in a continuously changing world.” 

3.     SKILLS  AND  KNOWLEDGE  GAP  BY  EMPLOYEES  OF  PHARMACEUTICAL ENTERPRISES:-

v   Head of quality control

v   Head of quality production

v   Head of technology

v   Laboratory superfician

v   Registration specialist

v   Production operator

v   Packaging operator

v   Chemist(Quality control analyst)

v   Laboratory technician

v   Microbiolist

v   Storage (warehouse) person

v   Marketing specialist

v   Complaint and pharmacovigilence specialist

v   Scientist (research and development specialist)

Ø  HEAD OF QUALITY CONTROL

Skills and knowledge  - Heads of quality control of 5 pharmaceutical enterprises declared that their education is sufficient enough for conducting functions presented in the previous section. Assessment of the international best practice has resulted in specific skills and knowledge that are necessary for conducting abovementioned duties and responsibilities. Employees of local pharmaceutical enterprises expressed their attitude towards those skills and knowledge

Ø  HEAD OF PRODUCTION

Skills and knowledge  - Requirements to the skills and knowledge for the specialists that engage positions of Heads of production are somewhat higher and can be compared with requirements that other top managers face. At the same time, the long list of skills and knowledge is not as important. The level of possessing those skills and knowledge by employees is more important.

Ø  HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY

Skills and knowledge  - We would like to make special emphasis only on the computer skills. Half of the respondents don’t think this skill is so important. The majority of direct supervisors share this opinion. This is probably because the equipment in some facilities pre-dates the computer era and has mainly mechanical control. 

The attitude of employees towards the computer literacy is explainable. As it is shown in the table below, their majority lack this skill and need to improve it. 

Ø  LABORATORY SUPERVISOR

Skills and knowledge  -  Proper implementation of the above mentioned duties and responsibilities requires the availability of certain skills and knowledge. In their majority those skills and knowledge are received from the basic and higher education, than confirmed by practical experience. All respondents are quite satisfied with their education; skills and knowledge gained via that education allows them to meet almost all requirements.

Ø  REGISTRATION SPECIALIST

Skills and knowledge  - Skills and knowledge required for the implementation of the responsibilities of the Registration Specialist are presented in the table below. They were picked up from the international best practice. The rate of appreciation of mentioned skills and knowledge is again very high. Respondents have made special influence on such skills as knowledge of regulatory framework and international guidelines. Personal skills have received the lowest importance. Direct supervisors confirmed the opinion of their subordinates, although there were some slight deviation of the proportion of answers “Very important” and “Important”. 

Respondents have also estimated the level of their knowledge and uncovered their needs for improving specific qualifications

Ø  PRODUCTION OPERATOR

Skills and knowledge  - It was already mentioned that not all respondents have graduated professional educational institutions and some of them have received just simple secondary education. Meantime, they all think that their education is quite sufficient for meeting their job requirements. Nevertheless, implementation of responsibilities requires some specific skills and knowledge . The majority of respondents estimated their skills and knowledge as “Good”, although for some requirements some of them positioned themselves less modestly. Nevertheless, they expressed needs for improvement of almost all skills and knowledge they possess. Exceptions have been made only for communication skills, team working, and a couple of personal characteristics. The highest demand has been expressed for GMP related issues, technological / mechanical processes, and security practices.

Ø  PACKAGING OPERATOR

Skills and knowledge  - They made special emphasis on the necessity of knowledge of regulations and GMP, as well as such personal features as quick adjustment to new environment, coordination on work, team working ability. Mechanical aptitude, physical abilities, and computer literacy are estimated to be less important. Direct supervisors have almost completely agreed with their subordinates.

 Packaging Operators seem to be quite self-assured. Some of them think that they completely possess all necessary skills and knowledge for the implementation of their duties.

Ø  CHEMIST (QUALITY CONTROL ANALYST)

Skills and knowledge  - The international best practice outlines the following list of skills and knowledge that are necessary for successful implementation of responsibilities. Respondents did not really argue the importance of any skill and knowledge. They told that their education is quite sufficient for meeting requirements of their profession. Meantime, they estimate their skills and knowledge as “Good” and declare about need for improving some of discussed skills. 

Ø  LABORATORY TECHNICIAN

Skills and knowledge  - Some respondents declare that availability of specific skills and knowledge are not the first priority for Laboratory Technicians. According to them, “taking compassion on the work and facilities is prior to professional skills”

Ø  MICROBIOLOGIST

Skills and knowledge  - They think their education is completely sufficient in order to undertake their duties successfully. Meantime, only the education is still not enough, and special skills and knowledge is required.

Ø  STORAGE (WAREHOUSE) PERSON

Skills and knowledge  - All respondents declared that their education is completely sufficient for performing their professional duties as Storage Persons. Some additional skills and knowledge they gain at the practical work. Respondents answers to questions regarding the possession of mentioned skills and knowledge is quite surprising. Almost half of respondents think that their knowledge is just tolerable, and some of them even estimate their skills and knowledge to be unsatisfactory.

Ø  MARKETING SPECIALIST

Skills and knowledge  -  Marketing specialists of 5 pharmaceutical enterprises declared that their education is sufficient enough for conducting functions presented in the previous section. Meantime, basic education may not ensure sufficient skills and knowledge for undertaking certain responsibilities. Marketing specialists are quite modest in estimating their skills and knowledge. At the same time, they are not very eager to improve their skills and knowledge. Some of them simply refuse to improve their qualifications. It would not be so strange, if the answers of direct supervisors were not so strictly confirmative.

Ø  COMPLAINT AND PHARMACOVIGILENCE SPECIALIST

Skills and knowledge  -  All respondents declare that their education is sufficient for them and allows to meet requirements of their employment positions.

Ø  SCIENTIST (RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST)

Skills and knowledge  -  Availability of relevant skills and especially knowledge is the main characteristic of the Scientist. Meantime, specialists usually pay appropriate attention to only those skills that they think are important. Only one respondent estimated the knowledge of mathematics and statistics as “Unimportant at all”. This may be explained by the specificities of the activity of their enterprise and also by their unawareness of usage of statistics as a scientific research tool. 

4.     DEVELOPMENT:-

• Provide and/ or organize student development programs via online or national/regional courses or workshops at low cost to programs and students
•  Develop faculty to enable the effective creation and implementation of emerging disciplines by providing exposure to and collaborative opportunities with scientists currently working in those disciplines, as well as protected time to pursue these new areas
• Create a central location for advertising student internships; foster the creation of internships for pharmaceutical science graduate students in scientific and non-scientific areas
•  Include in graduate training exposure to alternative career opportunities (i.e. scientific writing, patent law, leadership, financial management, etc.)

5.     PHARMACEUTICAL CURRICULUM:-

• Create a Task Force (with input from stakeholders) to determine the need for specific core and specialty curriculum that will involve Schools and Colleges across the Academy to collaboratively create and offer these curricula. Both key scientific areas of importance to the future of pharmaceutical sciences, such as clinical and translational sciences, bioinformatics, decision-making sciences, and in non-scientific areas such as career pathways, career development, soft and leadership skills, and how to best prepare and advise graduates for non-academic and non-research careers should be considered.
•  Create and make widely available across the Academy, core curriculum in these areas at the basic and/or advanced levels by involving graduate programs across the Academy and collaborations/partnerships with stakeholders such as industry and the FDA. Course delivery and pricing should be designed to be accessible to the Schools in the Academy.

6.     NEED  FOR  CURRICULUM:-

              Although the majority of the educational institutions are quite happy with disciplines and curricula they apply and teach, they all understand that from time to time some changes are necessary. In some institutions the curricula are a matter of modifications once in 5 years, in others modifications are made once in up to 9 years. At the same time, slight ongoing changes may be applied almost every year. This means, that educational institutions are quite flexible, in fact.  

Curricula modifications in almost all cases mean amendment of existing disciplines and introduction of new ones. Respondents named about 10 disciplines (in the fields of chemistry, biology, pharmaceutical science, etc.) that they are going to introduce, in order to improve curricula and the quality of education. The National Institute of Health is going to introduce GMP education for post-graduate students and interns. 

7.     ADEQUACY  OF  CURRENT  CURICULUM  TO   EXISTING  SITUATION:- 

                           During the interviews with the managers of the pharmaceutical enterprises they were asked about the sufficiency and adequacy of educational programs and curricula. The majority of respondents was strongly dissatisfied with the current educational system and suggests immediate changes to it. In order to stay objective, we tried to find out the opinion of representatives of educational institutions on the topic.

8.     BACHELOR   OF   PHARMACEUTICAL   SCIENCE :-  

•       Pharmaceutical science is the chemistry and biology of medicines

•       Pharmaceutical science plays a vital role in improving human health by researching and developing reliable, accessible medicines for patients

•       Job-ready science degree with skills for research and industry

•       Majors are:

–      Drug discovery biology

–      Medicinal chemistry

–      Formulation science

•       Students will learn the process of creating pharmaceutical products from start to finish

–      Basic research to identify the biochemical targets associated with disease

–      Drug discovery chemistry to address the target

–      Understanding and identifying the optimum drug chemistry and formulation to turn a drug into a medicine

–      Clinical evaluation to confirm safety and efficacy

–      Product development and manufacture to regulatory standards

•       Three year course with optional One year honours course.

9.     DOUBLE  DEGREE  –   ENGINEERING  /  PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE:-

•       Five year degree

•       Be inspired by the best…5/5

•       Enhanced by vocational and research opportunities during course

•       Great career opportunities

Ø  industry, academia, government and research institutes.

10.  DRUG  INFORMATION  SKILLS FOR  PHARMACY  STUDENTS :                CURICULUM  INTEGRATION:-         

                      For pharmacy students to provide optimal and complete pharmaceutical care, it is vital that they develop drug information skills. Also they have to established programs

Interactive educational program - Description of the educational program covers its beginning a decade ago, current status, and future in an environment of rapidly advancing technology.

 Library programs- Library programs support an increasingly complex progression of information retrieval, evaluation, organization, application, and communication.

11.  IMPACT  ON  QUALITY  OF  LEARNING:-

                A comparison of overall mean scores for statements in this category suggests that students’ responses to statements about how working in a team impacted their learning fell into the “mixed opinion” range. Items in this category asked if working in a team helped them to learn course material better than if they had studied alone, if their course grades improved because they were part of a team, and if they learned more in courses where they had been a member of a team. No statistically significant changes in students’ attitudes were noted from first to second year in these areas

12.  AVALIBILITY  OF  QUALIFIED  LECTURES:-

                        Availability of the qualified lecturers Training of the qualified specialists strongly depends on the availability of necessary resources. The most important resource in this process is the lecturer. All representatives of educational institutions replied that they have sufficient number of qualified lecturers for organizing the educational process.   

                        As in case of curricula, there were discrepancies between answers of the representatives of educational institutions and managers of pharmaceutical enterprises. The latter group of specialists thinks that lecturers at educational institutions are more theoreticians and students need more practical classes, as well as problem and project based learning. Hence the need for cooperation between academic institutions and industry. Universities do not have production facilities and students can only get their experience in industry.

13.  APPLICATION  AND  IMPLEMENTATION  LABOR  PROJECTS:-

                       This involves the selection of the best students still studying, train them by special programs and curricula, prepare qualified specialists and ensure their employment. In fact this means investments in education.

14.  PHARMACY CURRICULUM :THE LAST DECADE:-              

                  Pharmacy is a regulated profession, and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) is the professional body for pharmacists and the regulatory body for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in England, Scotland and Wales. Prior to 1997, the RPSGB set standards for undergraduate pharmacy degrees in Great Britain which were designed in accordance with the principle of a “3+1” model (3-year degree course and a separate 1-year pre-registration year). Consequently,  up to 1997, the typical undergraduate curriculum at most universities was designed as a subject based curriculum which included three years of science based learning (eg pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmaceutics, pharmacognosy pharmacology, and practice/dispensing). This was followed by one year of pre-registration training (“the pre-reg year”) that comprised of practical training on a work placement. Since 1997, in line with European Directive requirements the degree was extended to four years and the 1-year pre-registration year retained. All undergraduate pharmacy programmes in Great Britain were then obliged to re-structure their programmes and the degree awarded changed from a Bachelors to a Masters of Pharmacy (MPharm).  Pharmacy graduates then proceed to the one-year pre-registration (pre-reg) training that leads to registration with the RPSGB. 

           In 2010, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) – will replace the RPSGB as the regulator for pharmacy with powers to register and regulate pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy premises. The GPhC will thus set standards for education and training that will regulate provision of both pharmacy degrees and pre-registration training to ensure newly registered pharmacists are competent practitioners. At the same time, a new professional leadership body for pharmacy, based on the RPSGB, will be established to provide leadership and support for pharmacist.

            CONCLUSION : ACADEMIA  TODAY:-

                      On one hand, since the pharmaceutical industry has been rapidly changing, the skills needed in scientists entering this field have also been changing. However, pharmaceutical science graduate programs have been still primarily designed to train students to conduct academic research much in the same manner as it has for decades. Students have been trained in the image of their professors: scientists who conduct NIH-style research in an academic setting. While this approach has been logical if the primary goal has been to fill the pipeline for future faculty, only 14% of postdoctorals in the UCSF pharmaceutical sciences have gone to tenure track positions in academia while 33% have entered into non-research careers.In addition, the NIH funding mechanism has been inherently unstable and has perpetuated an overproduction of scientists.

However, faculty have no control over the job market, so the traditional educational approach has been failing to prepare the remaining 86% of our graduates who enter non-academic careers. Others have gone further to say that the academia has lacked both efficiency and interdisciplinarity,both important characteristics that are needed to create a viable future for the pharmaceutical sciences and industry.

The current funding mechanism for many of academic pharmaceutical scientists perpetuates the NIH-emphasized research. The large overhead funds that accompany NIH grants provide resources to the institution. Federal grants in general bring prestige to the institution. In addition, students often choose their research mentors based on their NIH-funding success. For these reasons, schools have many incentives to continue the current funding model.

Other threats to our graduate programs that have been identified include foreign graduate programs providing competition, releasing into a crowded and uncertain marketplace more graduates of mixed quality. Decreased funding for graduate programs, insufficient advocacy by faculty for our graduate programs, and decreasing number of faculty with Pharmacy backgrounds.