Canadian Pharmacy Educators' Perspectives on Sustainable Health Care Topics in Pharmacy Curriculum

Climate change is a global phenomenon to which the health care sector contributes significantly. Pharmaceuticals contribute to greenhouse gas emissions through all stages of their lifecycle. Pharmacists are well situated to support sustainable practices in health care; however, it is unclear to what extent current pharmacy students receive education on this topic within their programs. The objective of this study was to gain insight into the extent to which topics related to sustainability and the environmental impact of medications are currently being included in Canadian undergraduate pharmacy education programs. The perspectives and attitudes of pharmacy educators toward including such topics were also explored.

The study surveyed pharmacy educators across Canada. Questions were categorized into current teaching practices related to the topic; motivators, barriers, enablers, and attitudes toward the topic area; and baseline demographics.

A total of 37 responses were received with representation from all but one of the pharmacy schools in Canada. Overall, 32% of respondents currently include environmental sustainability-related material in their teaching with the most common delivery format being lecture-based. Respondents were overall supportive of the inclusion of such material but expressed concern over where to include such content within the current curriculum and indicated a lack of expertise and faculty support to create the content.

Currently, the inclusion of content related to pharmaceuticals and the environment is not widespread in Canadian undergraduate pharmacy education, but educators are supportive of the future inclusion of this material. Barriers identified need to be addressed to support this curricular transformation.