Abstract
In order to meet the expectations to act as an expert in the health care profession, it is of utmost importance that pharmacy education creates knowledge and skills needed in today’s working life. Thus, the planning of the curriculum should be based on relevant and up-to-date learning outcomes. In the University of Helsinki, a university wide curriculum reform called ‘the Big Wheel’ was launched in 2015. After the reform, the basic degrees of the university are two-cycle (Bachelor–Master) and competence-based, where the learning outcomes form a solid basis for the curriculum goals and implementation. In the Faculty of Pharmacy, this curriculum reform was conducted in two phases during 2012–2016. The construction of the curriculum was based on the most relevant learning outcomes concerning working life via high quality first (Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy) and second (Master of Science in Pharmacy) cycle degree programs. The reform was kicked off by interviewing all the relevant stakeholders: students, teachers, and pharmacists/experts in all the working life sectors of pharmacy. Based on these interviews, the intended learning outcomes of the Pharmacy degree programs were defined including both subject/contents-related and generic skills. The curriculum design was based on the principles of constructive alignment and new structures and methods were applied in order to foster the implementation of the learning outcomes. During the process, it became evident that a competence-based curriculum can be created only in close co-operation with the stakeholders, including teachers and students. Well-structured and facilitated co-operation amongst the teachers enabled the development of many new and innovative teaching practices. The European Union funded PHAR-QA project provided, at the same time, a highly relevant framework to compare the curriculum development in Helsinki against Europe-wide definitions of competences and learning outcomes in pharmacy education.
Highlights
In order to meet the expectations of an expert in the health care profession, it is of utmost importance that pharmacy education creates the knowledge and skills needed in working life and to serve society
A practical test called the ‘demonstration of proof’ was created to evaluate both the theoretical and generic skills developed throughout the curriculum, and will be launched for the very first time in spring 2017
The reform process was demanding and time-consuming, it was inspiring at the same time
Summary
In order to meet the expectations of an expert in the health care profession, it is of utmost importance that pharmacy education creates the knowledge and skills needed in working life and to serve society. An extensive education reform, called ‘the Big Wheel’, was launched at the University of Helsinki in 2015 The aim of this reform is to create competence-based curricula with defined learning outcomes for all the study programs in the University in order to equip the students with the most relevant knowledge and skills needed in today’s working life. The teachers, students, and employers all pointed out the need to update teaching contents and practices according to the rapidly developing knowledge and practices in various fields of pharmacy profession. These renewals in Helsinki can be directly related to and compared with the process and outcomes of the PHAR-QA project. This article summarizes these developmental activities and is focused on the processes of the reforms as well as on the outcomes
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