2018 Volume 2 Article ID: 2018-006
Evaluation of pharmaceutical education programs is a field-specific evaluation of six-year pharmacy education, aiming at nurturing pharmacist ‘familiar with clinical practice’ and ‘capable of playing a role in a medical team’. It is often pointed out that the programs attach too much importance to education for merely passing the national exam. This study examined the challenges during the second cycle of evaluation from the viewpoint of ‘Three Policies’ by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Whereas ‘Basic Credentials for Pharmacist’ set educational goals for fostering competencies rooted deep in one’s character, ‘The Model Core Curriculum of Pharmaceutical Education’ only describes the content that students should learn. Thus, universities need to first determine actual curriculum and course syllabi. Second, due to the hierarchy of knowledge such as ‘knowing and doing by rote’, ‘grasping the meaning and refining the knowledge’, and ‘meaningful use and creation’, authentic assessment should be devised.
Consequently a challenge remains, whereby universities must reflect the basic credentials of ‘Diploma Policy’, as well as adopt performance evaluation of ‘Curriculum Policy’, while at the same time the Japan Accreditation Board for Pharmaceutical Education regards the ‘comprehensive seminar’ for test-preparation required for graduation as a breach of the two policies.
