Advancing Interprofessional Education in Pharmacy in French-speaking countries: Insights from CIDPHARMEF Survey
Résumé
Integration of Interprofessional Education (IPE), in partnership with patients and families, in pharmacy training reflects the advancement of interprofessional practice. CIDPHARMEF, an association comprising 62 French-speaking Faculties/Schools of Pharmacy (FoPs) from 21 countries, shows variation in IPE adoption. A CIDPHARMEF working group aims to raise awareness among pharmacy faculties of the importance of teaching collaborative practice/patient partnership and to support the implementation of IPE activities adapted to local pharmaceutical care.
In 2023, a survey was sent to deans of the 62 FoPs to identify FoPs offering IPE and map available educational resources. Its six main themes were: school demographics, IPE teaching strategy, IPE curriculum structure, teaching organization, student competence assessment, research on IPE, and IPE development perspectives.
Thirty FoPs (48.4%) responded, with 23 in high, 2 in medium and 5 in low Human Development Index (HDI) countries. Seventeen faculties, all in high HDI countries, are currently involved in IPE activities, 10 of which having been offering IPE for over 5 years. Four plan to implement IPE. The average IPE teaching hours per student is 42.6 hours (SD = 39.0; min <20h; max >100h); IPE starts in the 2nd year in 6 faculties and is proposed in the final years (5th and 6th) in 15 faculties. IPE activities offered to pharmacy students mainly involve medical (84.2%) and nursing students (73.7%) among others. Local demand primarily drives IPE development. IPE is led by interfaculty entities in 7 universities and is managed directly by the FoP in 6 others. Only 2 faculties have a dedicated space for IPE, and 5 have trained teachers in IPE.
This survey is the first step in supporting the development of IPE curricula and the involvement of patients as educators in French-speaking countries. The next step is to create a repository of shared French pedagogical materials and experiences.