Current Status of Pharmaceutical Education for Self-medication and Quality Assurance: Based on Evaluation from the Questionnaire

Abstract

The role of pharmaceutical education in primary health care for self-medication needs recognition. Hence, we conducted a survey on quality assurance of foods/pharmaceuticals at 75 pharmaceutical schools in Japan, as part of a project for the Subcommittee of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Science Council of Japan. The set of questions in the survey focused on two subjects, one set was related to the lectures on "foods with health claims" (I) and the other set was on quality assessment of pharmaceuticals (II). For each subject, we asked whether there were lectures on these subjects and whether all items were covered. We also asked for the title of lectures, major field of experts in charge, and class standing. We received a response from 60 schools. Thirty-two schools had lectures on subject I in which all seven items were covered. However, "regulatory sciences", "borderline of pharmaceuticals to non-pharmaceuticals", and "quality assurance of foods" were not explained in 22, 12, and 15 schools, respectively. Twenty-six schools had lectures on subject II in which all six items were covered. However, "definition of quality", "quality assurance", "classification of pharmaceuticals", and "Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control" were not explained in 12, 11, 12, and 29 schools, respectively. The high rate of insufficient explanation for some of the items in subject I and II may be due to the lack of description about them in the "Model Core Curriculum for Pharmacy Education". We conclude that including these items in the curriculum can have important implications for pharmaceutical education.