Pharmacy Management Research Articles

The role of perceived service quality and price competitiveness on consumer patronage of and intentions towards community pharmacies.

When consumers choose a service provider, they trade-off their perceptions of service quality with their perceptions of the cost of engaging with the service provider. For community pharmacy owners and managers, it is important to understand the relative impact on loyalty of providing the extra resources to improve service quality versus forsaking gross profit by discounting prices. The aim of this study was to explore the relative effects of consumers' perceptions of service quality (pSQ) and price competitiveness (pPC) on patronage loyalty (patronage history of the rated pharmacy), patronage disloyalty (patronage history at other pharmacies) and loyalty intentions. This was a cross-sectional study conducted within Australia using an online survey administered to members of a consumer marketing panel. Eligible participants were adults taking 2 or more prescription medicines and had attended a community pharmacy within the past 4 weeks. Participants were asked to rate the pharmacy they had last visited, self-report patronage history of that and other pharmacies and report the brand of pharmacy visited. Previously validated scales were used for consumers' perceptions of service quality (pSQ) and loyalty intentions. New scales were developed for pPC and self-reported patronage loyalty and disloyalty. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to validate the measurement model. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with robust estimator (EQS) was used to test the relationships between the variables. Sensitivity analysis, in the presence of covariates were performed with multivariate regression analysis with bootstrapping. Surveys were completed by 303 participants. Most consumers had visited the rated pharmacy more often than once monthly and most had visited only 1 or 2 pharmacies in the past 12 months for prescription medicines. Overall, participants rated pSQ, pPC highly and expressed high loyalty intentions. The SEM was a good fit for the data. The model predicted 12%, 15% and 69% of the variation in patronage loyalty and patronage disloyalty and loyalty intentions, respectively. The effect of pSQ on patronage was 0.38 (p<0.05) for loyalty and -0.38 (p<0.05) on disloyalty whereas the effect of pPC was marginal. The total effect of pSQ and pPC on loyalty intentions was 0.64 (<0.05) and 0.20 (p<0.05) and in sensitivity analyses, no other covariate, including pharmacy brand was significant. In order to drive loyalty behavior and generate loyalty intentions, providing a high-quality service appears to be far more effective than creating perceptions that the pharmacy has competitive prices. This finding affords a motivation for both discount AND non-discount brand pharmacies to undertake the steps needed to improve service quality.

Research of prospects of involving pharmacists in ukraine to help patients trying to quit smoking

The aim. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of tobacco smoking among pharmacy workers in Ukraine, their awareness of the harmfulness of certain types of cigarettes, the attitude of pharmacy managers and pharmacists towards their colleagues’ smoking, as well as the ability of pharmacists to provide effective help in smoking cessation and assessment of prospects for the participation of pharmacists in tobacco smoking control programs if such programs are to be implemented in Ukraine.&#x0D; Materials and methods. The survey involved 239 employees of Ukrainian pharmacies under the age of 30 working in different regions. According to the geographical structure, the respondents represent 22 regions of Ukraine.&#x0D; Results. The experience of countries where active assistance to those who want to quit smoking pharmacists are involved suggests that pharmacists' support can help increase adherence to smoking cessation drugs and provide additional behavioural support as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy, which is quite effective. Currently, there are no such programs in Ukraine.&#x0D; The survey results show that Ukrainian pharmacists under the age of 30 are aware of the dangers of smoking. Most of them assess the level of their training in smoking cessation assistance as sufficient, but they only mean advice on the use of drugs in smoking cessation.&#x0D; Conclusions. Thus, in order to introduce the services of active support by pharmacists for people trying to quit smoking in Ukraine, it is required to create the necessary conditions for the interest of pharmacies and pharmacists in carrying out this type of activity and the implementation of programs of additional training in methods of active support for people trying to quit smoking

Development of a Drug Management Performance Application: A Needs Assessment in Indonesia.

This study assessed the current state of pharmacy management information systems in Indonesia and systematically determined the improvements needed from the stakeholders' perspective. This descriptive study used focus group discussions and observations in 13 institutions, and 17 respondents were selected by purposive sampling. The PIECES (performance, information, economy, control, efficiency, service) framework was used to help identify needs. The research was conducted from September 2021 to November 2021 at primary health centers and health offices in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and involved pharmacists and information systems staff. There was no standardized information system in place to support drug management and no format or rules for drug labeling (performance). Pharmacists were not able to provide non-prescription services outside the pharmacy warehouse (information). A new system needs to be developed, and budget availability needs to be determined (economy). System security decreases when users share accounts (control), and the existing systems have not been integrated as needed (efficiency). It is first necessary to plan and support regulations for system development (service). The authors formulated a recommended drug labeling format and a proposed system integration plan. The development of an information system to support drug management is eagerly awaited by pharmacists in Indonesia to assist in their work. Further research on the development and implementation of an information system is needed to improve the quality of drug management at primary health centers.

478 A qualitative exploration of the implementation of the Prescribing course Designated Prescribing Practitioner role in community pharmacy

Abstract Introduction To alleviate NHS workload pressures Scottish Government wish to train more pharmacist independent prescribers (IPs) for community pharmacy (1). A critical aspect for IP training is the role of Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) for the period of learning in practice. A paucity of work has focussed on implementation of the DPP role with a recent cross-sectional survey (2) indicating that further qualitative exploration is warranted. Aim To explore the implementation of the DPP role in Scottish Community Pharmacy (CP). Methods Following a survey (2) participants opted in to qualitative semi-structured online mini-focus groups. This included key stakeholders likely be involved in the implementation of the DPP role (e.g Directors of Pharmacy, Prescribing Leads, Education and Training leads, IP qualified CPs). The topic guide was informed by the survey key findings, Royal Pharmaceutical Society DPP Framework and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and piloted with academic and practice-based stakeholders. All focus groups were conducted using Zoom, recorded, transcribed, and independently analysed thematically, by two researchers, using the Framework Approach. Data generation continued until data saturation. Results Data were generated from six mini-focus groups with 12 key stakeholders across Scottish Health Boards. Key themes derived related to: views on the DPP role, characteristics of potential DPPs, facilitators and barriers to implementation. Participants supported DPP implementation and noted benefits of pharmacists training pharmacists. They noted that potential DPPs need to be confident and competent and be active prescribers. Facilitators for implementation included: new contracted services (e.g. NHS Pharmacy First Plus), growing need for more IPs, and the impact of COVID-19. Barriers included: limited time, capacity, resources, and support to take on the DPP role. Pharmacists were also considered risk averse which could influence role uptake. Conclusion This theory-based work involved a range of key stakeholders and highlights that there is a need to further consider interventions to overcome barriers related to capacity and resource related issues. A limitation relates to the dyadic nature of some focus groups that may have affected data collection. Future research should focus on further theory-based work evaluating structures, processes, and outcomes of DPP role implementation.

PHARMACY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The main objective of this project is to replace the manual billing generate system to the computerized the billing process the pharmacy store. The man power is reduced and the accurate bill is generated. The system is expected to be efficient, useful and affordable on implementing tasks that is instructed by the pharmacy manager. Software will do all things in pharmacy like sales, insert new incoming goods, make bills, calculate taxes, and debt, also compute worker salaries, give information about. The pharmacy manager can easily operate the software and no false bills are generated. Compare to the manual billing this is more effective in terms of time consuming, accurate data is provided, the stock details are in hand and it is easy to handle all the details about pharmacy store. The main purpose of this project is to reduce the man power and manual billing. Key words – Billing, invoice message generation, stock details and database.

Assessing Student Perceptions of Blended and Online Learning Courses in Pharmacoeconomics, Management, and Leadership

Objective. Blended learning combines traditional face-to-face education with online instruction. This learner-centered approach has been shown to improve student engagement, critical thinking, and performance outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess and trend student pharmacist perceptions of blended and online learning used to teach pharmacy management, leadership, and economics within a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum.Methods. Qualitative methods were employed using in-depth, semistructured interviews. Second- and third-year student pharmacists were recruited by purposeful and snowball sampling and interviewed to a point of saturation. The interview guide was based on social cognitive theory. Themes identified through initial deductive thematic analysis were categorized by the three domains of social cognitive theory: cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors. The coding team additionally analyzed the transcripts using inductive thematic analysis to ensure no themes outside of social cognitive theory were missed.Results. Twenty students were interviewed. Themes reveal perceptions that blended learning facilitated greater understanding of course material, increased motivation among learners, provided more flexibility in workload completion, and was a more enjoyable way to learn compared to traditional didactic instruction. Furthermore, blended learning offered additional distinct advantages over traditional and online-only pedagogies.Conclusion. Student pharmacists perceived blended and online learning positively and acceptable for the delivery of a pharmacy course on management, leadership, and economics over traditional didactic instruction. Blended learning may enhance innovation, leadership, management, and economics content delivery and the student learning experience.

CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES TO PHARMACEUTICAL MARKETING

The article deals with the issues of conceptual approaches to pharmaceutical marketing and the problems of its efficiency improvement with due regard to its specific features. The scientific basis for the organization of marketing management in pharmacy is substantiated, which leads to qualitative and quantitative changes in the managed object. The peculiarities of the impact of marketing processes in the global and local dimensions on the state of social and economic subsystems in the context of ensuring their sustainable development are determined. At the macro level, the actions of the pharmaceutical business and the government, declaring economic interests, realize the resources described above using appropriate methods (economic, political, ideological and administrative). This is manifested through the policy of "controlled inflation" (burning all citizens’ savings), monetization of benefits, support for the development of consumer lending, the taxation system, government grants, customs policy, etc. Five groups of management resources in pharmacy are identified, each with its own tools and methods. To ensure the effectiveness of marketing tools in the market of information security in the pharmaceutical industry (ISP), the article defines what "products" are offered in this market, since each type of product has its own consumer groups and effective ways of promotion. The article considers the possibilities of applying the Agile approach to the pharmaceutical industry, which will facilitate faster and better adaptation to competition in a changing market and in conditions of limited resources, as well as help to build a flexible marketing campaign, obtaining a significant increase in profits. Modern trends that can be observed in any client pharmaceutical segment are identified and prospects for the development of the industry are outlined.

Pharmacy Management System using ML

Pharmacy Management System using ML application helps the pharmacist to manage pharmacy in systematic ways. Pharmacy Management system using ML can make the work easier by giving the details of Medicines. It becomes very difficult in big medical stores to handle the details of the medicine manually so by using this system we can maintain the records of all the medicines. Also, nowadays doctors are very busy so, they tend to scribble unreadable prescribed medicines which leads to the problem of misinterpreting medicine names. Patients are sometimes curious to know information about their prescribed medicines before purchasing them. Therefore, this system recognizes handwritten medicine names and returns a readable digital text of the medicine.

Validation of quality indicators for evaluating geriatric pharmacotherapy services in primary care: a mixed methods study

ObjectiveTo assess measurement properties of 121 face and content validated quality indicators (QIs) for medication safety in geriatric pharmacotherapy in primary care.DesignA mixed methods study: a 6-month observational study in...

Which hematology/oncology patients are high priority for ambulatory clinical pharmacist review? A three-round Delphi survey by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Prioritization and acuity tools have been leveraged to facilitate targeted and efficient clinical pharmacist interventions. However, there is a lack of established pharmacy-specific acuity factors in the ambulatory hematology/oncology setting. Therefore, National Comprehensive Cancer Network's Pharmacy Directors Forum conducted a survey to establish consensus on acuity factors associated with hematology/oncology patients that are high priority for ambulatory clinical pharmacist review. A three-round electronic Delphi survey was conducted. During the first round, respondents were asked an open-ended question to suggest acuity factors based on their expert opinion. Respondents were then asked in the second round to agree or disagree with the compiled acuity factors, in which those with ≥75% agreement were included in the third round. The final consensus was defined as a mean score ≥3.33 on a modified 4-point Likert scale (4 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree) during the third round. A total of 124 hematology/oncology clinical pharmacists completed the first round of the Delphi survey (invitation response rate, 36.7%), of which 103 completed the second round (response rate, 83.1%) and 84 the third round (response rate, 67.7%). A final consensus was achieved for 18 acuity factors. Acuity factors were identified in the following themes: antineoplastic regimen characteristics, drug interactions, organ dysfunction, pharmacogenomics, recent discharge, laboratory parameters, and treatment-related toxicities. This Delphi panel of 124 clinical pharmacists achieved consensus on 18 acuity factors that would identify a hematology/oncology patient as a high priority for ambulatory clinical pharmacist review. The research team envisions incorporating these acuity factors into a pharmacy-specific electronic scoring tool.

Provision of Patient Care Services and Goals for Expansion in Community and Ambulatory Care Pharmacies in Southeastern North Carolina.

In February 2022, the North Carolina legislature expanded pharmacist dispensing authority without a prescription. We conducted a cross-sectional interview of currently licensed pharmacy managers of outpatient pharmacies located in five counties in southeastern North Carolina. Pharmacy managers were eligible to participate if their pharmacy was either a community pharmacy, clinic-based pharmacy, or outpatient health system pharmacy. Forty-four of 116 eligible pharmacy managers participated (38% response rate). The most common services offered by pharmacies included medication synchronization services (93.2%), on-site immunizations (90.9%), and refill reminders (88.6%). The least common services offered include INR screens (0%), A1c screens (7%), and 'incident-to' billing services associated with CPT codes: annual wellness visits (0%), chronic care management (0%), transitional care management (0%), and remote patient monitoring (2.4%). The services that pharmacy managers wanted to learn more about through continuing education included: oral/transdermal contraceptives (60.5%), administration of long-acting injectables (LAIs) (36.8%), and dispensing of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) (23.7%).

Exploring and Validating Performance Measurement Domains of Community Pharmacists Using Structural Equation Modeling: Implications and Recommendations for Research

Background: Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a widely used quantitative technique among social and management science researchers. Self-reported questionnaires are in prevalent use among researchers in pharmacy management. But validity and measurement invariance measures of questionnaires are not commonly reported in research studies.&#x0D; Objectives: To determine the construct validity and invariance validity of the research instrument. To provide guidelines for applying confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in pharmacy management research.&#x0D; Methods: A cross-sectional study with an anonymously structured questionnaire randomly administered to six hundred community pharmacists in southwestern, Nigeria. The CFA algorithm in SEM software was used to develop a measurement model and test hypotheses.&#x0D; Results: The measurement model satisfied the model and construct validity benchmarks. The measurement invariance parameters were adequate.&#x0D; Conclusion: The study concluded that the theoretically developed constructs- economic, operational, and social performance were valid representations of theory. Mandatory inclusion of validity and measurement invariance test reporting in pharmacy management research is advocated.

Specialty pharmacy: Incorporating workflow management and medication access into pharmacy lecture and laboratory courses

Background and purposeThe purpose of this study was to implement and evaluate a specialty pharmacy workshop across pharmacy management and skills lab courses. Educational activity and settingA specialty pharmacy workshop was developed and implemented. The lecture cohort (fall 2019) consisted of a 90-min lecture in pharmacy management. The lecture/lab cohort (fall 2020) consisted of the lecture plus a 30-min pre-lab video assignment and a two-hour laboratory activity. At the completion of lab, students presented findings virtually to specialty pharmacists. Pre-surveys and post-surveys assessed knowledge (10 items), self-confidence (9 items), and attitudes (11 items). FindingsOf the 123 students enrolled in the course, 88 students (71.5%) completed pre- and post-surveys. On a 10-point scale, knowledge improved from 5.6 (SD = 1.5) to 6.5 (SD = 2.0) points in the lecture cohort and from 6.0 (SD = 1.6) to 7.3 (SD = 2.0) points in the lecture/lab cohort with a significance difference favoring the lecture/lab cohort. Perceived confidence improved for five out of nine items in the lecture cohort but improved significantly for all nine items in the lecture/lab cohort. Attitudes toward learning about specialty pharmacy were generally positive for both cohorts. SummaryThe specialty pharmacy workshop exposed students to workflow management and medication access processes. Students perceived the workshop to be a relevant and meaningful, allowing them to feel confident in developing knowledge and understanding of specialty pharmacy topics. The workshop can be replicated at a larger scale with schools of pharmacy utilizing the integration between didactic and laboratory courses.

Adherence to practice, management regulations, and quality improvement activities in community pharmacies in Bayelsa state and Rivers state, Nigeria

Community pharmacist had suffered more intrusions from allied health care professionals and non-health professionals in the fields of practice/or endeavor, in history and even lately. Efforts in improving on its tenets of practice in Nigeria are still at the seeding states. This study determines the extent of practice carried out in pharmacy administrative areas such as premises and structure, practice management and quality improvement domains in community pharmacies in Bayelsa State and Rivers States as at the year 2017. Of three hundred and thirty-seven (337) questionnaires distributed, three hundred and twelve (312) were successfully retrieved (92.58% response rate), and results were analyzed using SPSS VERSION 27. The study reveals involvement of more male pharmacists (161; 51.6%) most of whom are below age 30 (177; 56.7%) having B.Pharm (177; 56.7%) having 6 to 10 years’ experience (140; 44.9%) in self-owned premises (190; 60.8%) located mostly in Rivers States (172; 55.1%). There was a significant adherence to premises and structure regulations (p

Sistem Informasi Manajemen Apotek Menggunakan Metode Extreme Programming

Prima Angel's Pharmacy is engaged in the health sector and is located on Jl. Ki Merogan No. 117, Kertapati Palembang. Prima Angel's Pharmacy is a pharmacy that buys and sells medicines needed by the community. The current system at Prima Angel's pharmacy is still using the conventional system which is manually doing the record of purchase and sale transactions into a ledger, thus making the data processing, data search, and report generation become inefficient. The purpose of this research is to facilitate data processing and data storage, so that the data can be neatly arranged and easily processed into the required information. This Prima Angel's Pharmacy management information system was built with a combination of research methods between qualitative methods in terms of system development using Extreme Programming and quantitative methods using descriptive statistical data analysis. The results of the development of the Prima Angel's Pharmacy management information system can run as expected, namely processing data, searching data, and making reports effectively and efficiently.

Oncology drugs need stewardship, too.

Donald C. Moore Dose rounding, expanding the use of biosimilars, and administering high-cost medications in outpatient settings are all strategies to bring the benefits of medication stewardship to cancer care, says Donald C. Moore, clinical oncology pharmacy manager at the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, NC. Moore was the lead speaker at the December 4 session Not Just for Antimicrobials: Integrating Oncology Stewardship into Practice at the 2022 Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition in Las Vegas, NV. “There is a growing sense in the general healthcare world and in pharmacy of stewardship outside the context of just... antimicrobials,” Moore said. “We’re really trying to optimize care while also trying to decrease the overall cost of care.” Moore said dose rounding, or defaulting to the nearest product vial size that’s within an acceptable percentage of the prescribed dose, can be appropriate for medications packaged in preservative-free, single-use vials. Clinical studies support the safety of dose rounding for monoclonal antibody therapies because they have wide therapeutic dose ranges.

Implementation challenges and lessons learned from the STREAM clinical trial—a survey of trial sites

BackgroundDesign and implementation of multi-country clinical trials for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are complex for several reasons, including trial duration, varying levels of experience and infrastructure across settings, and different regulatory requirements. STREAM was an MDR-TB clinical trial that recruited over 1000 participants. We documented challenges and best practices/lessons learned from the site perspective to improve implementation of future trials.MethodsWe conducted a voluntary survey of trial staff at all sites to obtain information on challenges encountered and best practices/lessons learned from implementation of the STREAM trial. Respondents were asked to identify substantive aspects of trial implementation from a list that included: trial administration, laboratory strengthening/infrastructure, pharmacy and supply chain management, community engagement, regulatory and ethics requirements, health economics, and other (respondent designated) about which a practical guide would be useful to improve future trial implementation. For each aspect of trial implementation selected, respondents were asked to report challenges and best practices/lessons learned during STREAM. Lastly, respondents were asked to list up to three things they would do differently when implementing future trials. Summary statistics were generated for quantitative data and thematic analysis was undertaken for qualitative data.ResultsOf 67 responses received from 13 of 15 sites, 47 (70%) were included in the analyses, after excluding duplicate or incomplete responses. Approximately half the respondents were investigators or trial coordinators. The top three aspects of trial implementation identified for a best practices/lessons learned practical guide to improve future trial implementation were: trial administration, community engagement, and laboratory strengthening/infrastructure. For both challenges and best practices/lessons learned, three common themes were identified across different aspects of trial implementation. Investment in capacity building and ongoing monitoring; investment in infrastructure and well-designed trial processes; and communication and coordination between staff and meaningful engagement of stakeholders were all thought to be critical to successful trial implementation.ConclusionsExisting practices for clinical trial implementation should be reevaluated. Sponsors should consider the local context and the need to increase upfront investment in the cross-cutting thematic areas identified to improve trial implementation.

P02 Novel pharmacy roles strengthen the multidisciplinary hospital infection team

Abstract Background Pharmacists have an essential role to play in the NHS Long Term Plan. Hospital pharmacy departments need to develop novel roles to strengthen teams and improve patient care. In September 2017, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust appointed a consultant antimicrobial pharmacist along with an administrative apprentice to strengthen pharmacy and infection leadership and support the delivery of the antimicrobial resistance national targets. From January 2018 to June 2020, the infection team worked with locums but no substantive consultant microbiologists. Objectives To describe the benefits of developing novel pharmacy roles to strengthen an infection multidisciplinary team Methods A shortage of consultant microbiologists provided opportunities to develop and enhance other infection roles. These included one year of funding from Pathology for a Band 6 Specialist Pharmacy Technician. The role was subsequently funded by the Adult Community Services team to support the home intravenous antibiotic service. Senior support was provided by the Pathology Group Manager, Head of Infection Prevention and Control and Director of Pharmacy. The apprenticeship levy supported a Level 4 Data analyst qualification to develop the pharmacy administrator role. Two other infection roles were developed: Advanced Clinical Practitioner and Trainee Clinical Scientist, both of which could not be sustained for lack of adequate consultant microbiologist resources for clinical supervision within the team. Results The Specialist Pharmacy Technician coordinates the home intravenous antibiotic service. Clinical responsibility remains with the discharging consultant medical officer. The antimicrobial pharmacy team led the introduction of antibiotic elastomeric pumps for home use, saving 2500 inpatient bed days. Patient and staff feedback on the novel pharmacy roles has been positive. Band 5 Pharmacy Data Analyst – Antimicrobials responsibilities include clinical trial participation, data collection and analysis including ward level working, reporting and coordination of the audit programme. The role has enabled contribution to national research studies, including Antibiotic Review Kit (ARK-Hospital) and Procalcitonin: Evaluation of Antibiotic Use in COVID-19 Hospitalised Patients (PEACH). Through a new strategy, consultant microbiologist workforce has progressively grown back to three full time equivalents and a 4th post advertised, enabling an increase in participation in ward rounds, multidisciplinary team meetings, antimicrobial stewardship, infection prevention &amp; control, Director of Infection Prevention and Control role and leading NIHR research trials. The consultant pharmacist remains in post as a senior leader, and also has a Trust role as Director of Innovation. This change provided funding for an increase from Band 3 to Band 5 data analyst, promotion of a senior Band 7 pharmacist to a Band 8a advanced clinical pharmacist, and conversion of a part time Band 7 pharmacist to a full-time role. Discussion An innovative approach to development of pharmacy, data, nurse and scientist roles has strengthened the infection service in a regional hospital and community services Trust. Pharmacy-led team meetings are now routine in the Trust allowing for more efficient use of consultant microbiologist time. Conclusions Potential future roles are further administrative support, pharmacy assistant, clinical nurse specialist – antimicrobials, and antimicrobial pharmacy team leader.

Health Humanities as a New Rapidly Growing Transdisciplinary Academic Field

Health or medical humanities is a rapidly growing transdisciplinary academic field that incorporates aspects of the arts and humanities to health and health care. It embraces various branches of humanities and social sciences such as religious studies, cultural and language studies, history, philosophy, anthropology and sociology and it has a wide-ranging application to medical education and health practices. Health humanities seeks novel ways of understanding health and illness in society, and how methods from the humanities and social studies may be brought to bear on biomedicine, clinical practice, and the politics of healthcare. Baccalaureate and Masters programmes in health humanities have been developed in the US, Canada and UK. Graduates of this programme are prepared for employment and success in many areas including, research technician, nonprofit facilitator, pharmacy manager, environmental law and policy, public health service, public administration, clinical research, marketing, media, PR, publishing &amp; journalism, consumer &amp; retail …etc. Therefore, this field should be studied at our universities and that should be encouraged through workshops, conferences and lectures on this issue. This study aims to improve our universities in order for them to follow suit and start to climb the world university rankings. Keywords: Medical humanities - health humanities - Anglophonic universities

Cultural Competency Education for Health Care Providers: A Literature Review to Guide Canadian Pharmacy Residency Programs.

The need for cultural competency education has been emphasized for health care professionals in Canada. According to the Canadian Pharmacy Residency Board accreditation standards, pharmacy residents must be able to provide culturally competent care for their patients, further building upon the education received during their undergraduate pharmacy programs. Although these standards exist, guidance for their implementation in pharmacy residency programs is lacking. To review the available literature and develop recommendations for pharmacy residency coordinators and directors on cultural competency training for pharmacy residents. A literature search was conducted to explore the literature concerning cultural competency education for pharmacy residents. The search was expanded to encompass literature involving pharmacy students and medical residents for information that could be applied to pharmacy residents. The initial literature search did not yield any results for cultural competency education provided to pharmacy residents. The expanded search yielded information about methods used to educate pharmacy students and medical residents, including didactic lectures, online modules, experiential learning rotations, seminars, workshops, patient simulations and case discussions, and guest lectures by experts in the field or by patients. It is recommended that interactive education methods be used to train pharmacy residents in cultural competency, to match the experiential learning structure of residency training programs. Methods that could be implemented include offering online modules or readings, arranging for guest speakers, contacting local experts and community members for guidance on creation of a suitable curriculum, and providing immersive rotations focused on diverse populations.