A Quantitative Analysis of the Quality of Pharmacy Education in Brazil

Objective. To compare the quality indicators of public and private pharmacy schools in Brazil. Method. Descriptive data regarding undergraduate pharmacy schools recorded as of April 2016 was obtained from the website of Brazil's Ministry of Education. The quality indicators analyzed included scores on the National Student Performance Examination, preliminary classification of the school, and final classification of the school. The schools were graded on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being excellent. Results. Four hundred sixty-seven Brazilian pharmacy schools were analyzed. The number of schools and class sizes has been increasing since 1832. The number of private pharmacy schools has increased since 1996, with the majority located in non-capital cities. The results showed an isomorphic characteristic of the quality indicators and a central tendency of the scores (score of 3), which are indicators of satisfactory quality. Most public institutions received a score of excellent. Conclusion. The analysis found an increase in the number of pharmacy schools in the private sector in Brazil and that the quality of public institutions was better than that of private institutions. Qualitative research should be carried out to complement the quantitative findings reported here.