Recommendations and Next Steps For Competency-Based Pharmacy Education

Abstract

In July 2021, the chairs of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Council of Deans, Council of Faculties, and Council of Sections developed a task force to discuss potential ways to improve pharmacy education. The Competency-Based Education (CBE) Joint Task Force was created to explore the pros and cons of advancing a competency-based approach to pharmacy education (CBPE) and to determine ways to create more flexibility within pharmacy curricula to enable CBE. To achieve these goals, the Task Force systematically reviewed available resources and outlined the pros and cons of CBPE, best practices for implementation, strategies to minimize barriers, and recommendations on whether CBE should be implemented in pharmacy education. This commentary summarizes the Task Force's findings regarding whether CBPE is a suitable approach for pharmacy education and the next steps if implemented.

Keywords: Competency-based education; Implementation science; Pharmacy education.