Instruction on compounded sterile preparations at schools of pharmacy.

Abstract

Given the risks associated with preparation of compounded sterile products (CSPs), optimization of CSP training offered to pharmacy students is essential. Only a few studies evaluating CSP training in pharmacy education have been published to date. A study published in 1983 demonstrated a considerable gap in CSP training among U.S. schools of pharmacy (SOPs).1 In 1991, an ASHP study also concluded that more formal CSP education was necessary to improve patient outcomes.2 In 2007, a survey assessing the level of CSP training provided by SOPs in the United States was published by Hellums and colleagues.3 Given the increase in accredited SOPs (82 in 2007 versus 139 in 2017), and the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) standards updates since 2007, we conducted a 10-year follow-up to the Hellums et al. study. Hellums and colleagues were contacted for permission to use their survey as a template. Electronic surveys were sent to 139 SOPs with a request to forward the invitation to the faculty with the most knowledge about the SOP’s CSP curriculum. The survey was available from November 2016 through February 2017. Information collected included basic demographics, available resources, course structure and teaching environment, the number of hours spent teaching CSP topics in either lecture or laboratory setting, and methods of sterile preparation assessment. Respondents were also asked to assess student competency in CSP training. Incomplete surveys and 1 duplicate submission were excluded from the analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using unpaired t tests to compare the mean hours devoted to CSP competencies in 2007 versus 2017. Chi-square analysis was used to compare the number of SOPs teaching each competency in the lecture and laboratory curricula.