Educational programs offered by colleges of pharmacy and drug information centers within the United States

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the scope of drug information educational programs offered by formalized DICs and colleges of pharmacy to pharmacy students. Data were collected from surveys mailed October and December 1982 to 120 institutions known to be active in disseminating drug information as well as the 72 colleges of pharmacy located in the United States and Puerto Rico. A total of 109 questionnaires (91 percent response rate) were returned from the DICs, and 67 questionnaires (93 percent response rate) were returned from colleges of pharmacy. Seventy-four of the DICS and 63 colleges of pharmacy indicated that they provide required and/or elective didactic or experiential drug information training for pharmacy students. These experiences were offered predominantly to fifth year baccalaureate candidates and PharmD candidates. Thirty-two colleges reported that drug information training is a required component of baccalaureate externship-clerkship experiences although most students receive fewer than 40 hours of training. Forty-seven DICs and 20 colleges are affiliated with ASHP approved residency programs. The amount of drug information exposure each resident obtains was highly variable. This survey indicates that many of today's pharmacy students may not be receiving sufficient drug information training to respond to the drug information needs of other health professionals and the lay public.