Pharmacy faculty perspectives about implementing competency-based education in pharmacy education

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Higher Education Pedagogy
• Health Professions Education

Background:

• Growing interest in competency-based pharmacy education (CBPE).
• Limited understanding of pharmacy faculty perspectives on CBPE.
• Need to assess faculty views on traditional vs. CBPE systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate pharmacy faculty perspectives on the traditional education system.
• Evaluate perceived benefits and challenges of adopting CBPE.
• Determine the appropriateness of CBPE implementation in pharmacy programs.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional online survey conducted in Summer 2022.
• National sample of 174 pharmacy faculty respondents.
• Survey instrument comprised 52 investigator-designed items.

Main Results:

• Majority of respondents from private institutions (59.9%) and pharmacy practice (61.0%).
• Most faculty (66.6%) view the traditional system as adequate; significant concerns exist regarding CBPE (e.g., increased workload, training needs, time for teaching/assessment).
• Over half (51.7%) reported insufficient faculty, 71.7% inadequate training, and 58.6% felt programs were unprepared for CBPE.

Conclusions:

• Pharmacy faculty hold generally positive views of both traditional and CBPE systems.
• A significant gap in understanding CBPE and concerns about implementation challenges were identified.
• Further exploration of faculty and student perspectives is recommended to guide CBPE adoption.