[Accreditation of pharmacy education in Japan]

The need of society for professional pharmacists has been growing. In response to social needs, the six-year pharmacy education system, which is mandatory for registration for the examination to become a licensed pharmacist, was established under the Pharmacists Law and the Fundamentals of Education Act in academic year 2006. In accordance with the amendment of the Fundamentals of Education Act, it is obligatory to develop an accreditation system for six-year pharmacy education in Japan. The Committee for the Accreditation System for Pharmacy Education in Japan was set up under the Committee of Pharmacy Education Reform of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan to investigate the accreditation system and to draw up a draft of the evaluation standard. The draft was distributed at the end of January 2007 to request feedback from each pharmaceutical university and will be revised within the next few years simultaneously with trials for accreditation.