4/15/2015
AACP resolutions Submitted by the Global Pharmacy Education-SIG Ad-Hoc
Resolutions Committee
Members: Lauren Jonkman (Chairwoman), Suzanna Gim, Shaun Gleason, David
Ombengi, Gina Prescott, Anna Ratka, Naser Alsharif, Emily Dornblaser
Background: In response to the expansion of interest in international partnerships, the
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s (AACP) Strategic Plan included goal
1.4.1: “coordinate the development of a best practices model for Advanced Pharmacy
Practice Experience (APPE) international experiential rotations.”1 The Global
Pharmacy Education Special Interest Group (GPE SIG) was charged in 2011 by AACP
to spearhead the development of this goal and an ad hoc committee was established to
address current practices for G/I APPEs. Initial meetings of the ad hoc committee
identified five areas for consideration: school/college of pharmacy needs; host country
issues; host site/institution related factors; preceptor needs; and student issues. A report
was submitted to the AACP Board of Directors in September 2013 with the purpose of
soliciting more discussion within the academy stakeholders regarding practices for G/I
APPEs. The GPE SIG continued work in this area, and this year, two white papers were
completed and submitted to AJPE. Both papers built on the initial report and provide an
in-depth description of the identified areas. A third paper is being prepared to address
hosting non-US students for G/I pharmacy education experiences/training at US institutions.
The submitted papers included specific recommendations based on a review of the
literature and the collective experience of several pharmacy educators involved in G/I
outreach with an emphasis on pharmacy education. The following resolutions are based
on the recommendations from the two white papers.
Resolutions:
1) AACP supports, in conjunction with ACPE, the development, implementation, and
evaluation of global health and international pharmacy education (G/I PE) within the
didactic and experiential curriculum for U.S. PharmD students; the development of
evaluation criteria for assessing student readiness for G/I PE, partner and school
readiness for hosting and supporting students in these experiences; and the
development of guidelines and resources that support the efforts of schools and
colleges of pharmacy in developing global health and international training for
student pharmacists and post-graduate trainees from the U.S. and abroad.
(combination of resolution 1,2,3,4,7)
a. With the continued emphasis on developing students as global citizens, we
feel that inclusion of global health and international pharmacy practice is
an essential component of the PharmD curriculum. We recognize that not
all students can have an international experience during pharmacy school,
so it is critical that material be included into the didactic curriculum to
provide all students with minimum competency in global health.
b. Further, Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy are increasingly interested in
developing and expanding opportunities for global health and international
partnerships. We respectfully request AACP to support relevant SIGs
(GPE, public health, HDCC) to develop exemplar materials for access
online. These materials and resources would address the needs of US
institutions for both sending and receiving students and could be used by
institutions in other countries as well. Specific needs may include:
i. A list of global and international APPE sites vetted by other
institutions: this would support and facilitate the exchange of
information on programs that might accept students from different
institutions. We encourage schools of pharmacy, in the spirit of
international collaboration, to partner with others to provide better
support and patient care in other countries.
ii. A forum for networking, collaboration, and sharing resources for
pharmacy educators, student pharmacists, postgraduate trainees
and programs involved in global health and/or international
pharmacy education.
iii. A list of experts within other schools and colleges of pharmacy
who have experience working with specific regions or countries
who might be able to advise in the development, implementation,
and facilitation of international and global APPEs.
c. Finally, US Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy are increasingly hosting
pharmacy students, educators, and post-graduates from other countries. It
is critical that the same level of rigor and continuous quality
improvement/assurance should be applied to programs for international
learners. Attention should be paid to all aspects addressed for US
students, with specific attention to the qualifications of the US
preceptor(s), with a concerted and sincere effort to ensure that the
international visitors experience is rich, fulfilling, and meets the
educational outcome expected from their specific experiential experience.
Efforts should be exerted also to ensure that the experience is not limited
to observation but rather to gain hands on knowledge and skills. To do
this, schools and colleges of pharmacy will need to coordinate with
respective Board of Pharmacy to determine the extent to which these
experiences are logistically and legally possible.
2) AACP supports and recognizes the importance of adequately prepared preceptors,
including non-pharmacists and non-US-based preceptors, for global health and
international APPEs and training programs.
a. We want to highlight the value and relevance of non-pharmacists and nonUS-based preceptors for students and other learners completing
experiences in other countries. We believe that these preceptors are
valuable assets for learning and development. In fact, local experts can
often be more appropriate preceptors for our students in these experiences
and their value shouldn’t be minimized.
3) AACP supports and encourages collaborative scholarship in the area of global health
and international pharmacy education and practice.
a. Collaborative scholarship refers to the inclusion of collaborators from
multiple countries. It can also refer to interprofessional collaboration, but
really was intended to address the need for research that is not one-sided
but includes local experts and can assist in capacity strengthening. We
feel that any research being undertaken in another country should include
collaborators from the local environment.