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KMID : 1142220080030010071
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Regulatory Research on Food, Drug & Cosmetic
2008 Volume.3 No. 1 p.71 ~ p.77
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Evolution of Pharmacy Education in Taiwan
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Shen Li-Jiuan
Wu Fe-Lin Lin
Ho Yunn-Fang
Liu Karin C.S. Chen
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Abstract
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Pharmacy education in Taiwan began in 1950s after the government moved from mainland China to Taiwan. It started with a 4-year university program. After a period of chaos from 1966 to 1999, all pharmacy education programs are 4 to 5 years at the university level after year 2000. These programs have to cover drug research and development, community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy and drug industry. Each year there are about 1000 pharmacy students graduated from 7 universities. Only 50% of them passed licensure examination per year. In 2006, 65% of licensed pharmacists were in practice. Among them, 28%, 28% and 23% respectively worked at hospitals, community pharmacies and private clinics. The remaining 20% worked in drug companies. National insurance program and failure to separate pharmacy from medical practice influence pharmacy practice tremendously. A 2-year clinical pharmacy or hospital pharmacy master program with patient-oriented courses and advanced clinical experiential training was developed in 1993 at 2 national universities. Similar program has been developed in the other 3 universities with diverse contents. However, only 20 to 30 students nationwide may be admitted each year. In 2005, the 6-year pharmacy education program was widely discussed in a national pharmacy education conference. In addition, taking “ACPE guideline” as a model, the “white paper on pharmacy education in Taiwan” was developed through the efforts of all pharmacy faculties, some preceptors from teaching hospitals and councils of 2 pharmacy societies. All pharmacy students in Taiwan have to fulfill practice-experience hours before graduation. Due to the advancement in hospital pharmacy practice since 1990s and the lack of prescriptions released to the community pharmacies, practice experience in hospital is emphasized. A joint committee formed by representatives from 2 pharmacy societies and the pharmacy union standardized the hospital pharmacy externship and preceptor training in 2005. Pharmacy licensure examination was reviewed by pharmacy faculties, and the proportion of pharmacy practice and pharmacotherapy will be increased from 20% to 40% in 2008. A 6- year pharmacy program concurrently with a traditional 4-year program in the National Taiwan University School of Pharmacy was approved by the Ministry of Education in June 2008, and will enroll new students in 2009. The reform of pharmacy education in Taiwan has a longway to go. Future perspectives include expansion of pharmaceutical care in hospitals and community pharmacies, recruitment of experienced pharmacists as clinical faculties or clinical instructors, and implementing a standard pharmacy education program that meets the international standards.
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KEYWORD
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pharmacy education, Taiwan, 6-years
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