ORGANIZATIONAL BASES FOR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF PHARMACISTS IN CANADA

Abstract

The article deals with the issue of professional training of pharmacists in Canada, organizational bases for realization of this process. Demands for admission to the professional training and demands to knowledge and abilities of future pharmacists at the point of completing the BSc (Pharmacy) degree program are characterized. It is defined that all pharmacy programs in Canada are accredited by the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs (CCAPP), the separate body responsible for developing and evaluating educational standards. Curriculum of BSc (Pharmacy) students’ professional program in the University of Alberta is analyzed. Disciplines which are to be studied at each year of education are characterized. Conditions of getting Doctor of Pharmacy Degree are defined. It has been determined that professional programs of pharmacists’ training are aimed at preparation of competent specialists who correspond to quick changes in the professional and social needs, expand their role and duties in the society, are ready for interprofessional cooperation and effective communication with patients and medical staff. Surveys in Canada have indicated that pharmacists are among the most trusted professionals in the country. The following organizational bases for qualitative training of pharmacists have been determined: complete state regulation and provision for this process; accreditation of training programs; strict demands to admission and procedure of graduates’ examining and licensing; structured curriculum; provision of interprofessional cooperation; necessity of obtaining Doctor of Pharmacy Degree for the entry into professional activity. The need of studying organizational bases, as well as forms and methods of this process in order to define the progressive ideas of Canadian experience which can be implemented into Ukrainian education field is substantiated.