Status of Pharmacy Ethics Education in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Objective. To explore models of teaching in, resources available to, and delivery of a standardized course in pharmacy ethics. Methods. An email invitation was sent to the educator responsible for teaching pharmacy ethics at each of 19 institutions in Australia and New Zealand. Over a six- to eight-week period, semi-structured interviews were conducted in person, by email, or by phone, and were audio-recorded where possible, transcribed verbatim, and entered into data analysis software. Using an inductive analysis approach, themes related to the topics and issues discussed in the interview process were identified. Results. Of the educators invited to participate, 17 completed an interview and were included in this study. Participants reported a paucity of resources available for teaching pharmacy ethics at schools in Australia and New Zealand. Compounding this issue was the lack of expertise and ad-hoc process educators used to create their courses. Assessment methods varied between institutions. Participants felt schools needed to move toward a more standardized pharmacy ethics course with clear and defined guidelines. Conclusion. This study identified many areas in pharmacy ethics that need improvement and revealed the need to develop resources and course structure that adhere to the highest level of Miller's pyramid, while using known frameworks to evaluate ethical competency.