An objective assessment of professional pharmacy programmes in the United States

Authors

  • Dana R Bowers Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Texas
  • Lauren Lyon Kainer Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Texas
  • Kayla Ahn Mai Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Texas
  • Vincent H Tam Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Texas

Keywords:

Assessment, Ranking, Pharmacy Education

Abstract

Background: In order to provide a high level of pharmaceutical care, an excellent professional education is important. It can be challenging to determine and differentiate quality among the United States (US) pharmacy colleges or schools offering professional degree programmes.

Aims: To develop an objective assessment of professional pharmacy programmes in the US.

Methods: Criteria were developed to assess pharmacy school programme competitiveness, quality and availability of academic staff, as well as competency of graduates. Our approach was illustrated using 6 accredited pharmacy schools in a geographically similar region, based on publicly available data from independent sources between 2010 and 2013.

Results: Key measures identified included admission Grade Point Average (GPA), student to academic staff ratio, academic staff peer-reviewed publication records and first time North American Pharmacy Licensure Exam (NAPLEX) passing rates. The programmes were ranked using an un-weighted sum of all the domain ranks.

Conclusion: An objective system can be applied to rank professional pharmacy education programmes in the US. 

Author Biographies

Dana R Bowers, Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Texas

Research Fellow, Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy

Lauren Lyon Kainer, Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Texas

PharmD Candidate, Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy

Kayla Ahn Mai, Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Texas

PharmD Candidate, Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy

Vincent H Tam, Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Texas

Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration, College of Pharmacy

References

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Published

01-01-2014

How to Cite

Bowers, D. R., Kainer, L. L., Mai, K. A., & Tam, V. H. (2014). An objective assessment of professional pharmacy programmes in the United States. Pharmacy Education, 14. Retrieved from https://pharmacyeducation.fip.org/pharmacyeducation/article/view/183

Issue

Vol. 14 (2014)

Section

Research Article

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