A Modified Approach to Setting Curriculum Boundaries in Pharmacy School

Doctor of Pharmacy department heads are responsible for determining the breadth and depth of content within courses. While the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) provides standards for what content, skills, and abilities should be included in PharmD education, the process that schools and colleges use to determine the degree to which these measured outcomes are taught is variable. As new topics and content for instruction are identified, schools and colleges are faced with either extending the PharmD curriculum length, removing other content, or diminishing the depth that other content is covered to make room for new content. To assist with these decisions, the Ebel grid is a tool that can be used to identify the criticality and relevance of encountered topics as well as guide pre-APPE curriculum selection.