Educational Competencies for the Pharm.D.

Global Competencies

  • Think critically and solve complex problems.
  • Communicate effectively verbally and in writing.
  • Demonstrate interpersonal skills and a professional demeanor.
  • Make rational, legal, ethical and responsible decisions.
  • Demonstrate sensitivity and tolerance of the cultural, societal and economic diversity in patients.
  • Assume responsibility for optimizing patient outcomes related to medication therapy.
  • Identify and analyze emerging issues, products and services in order to maintain professional competency. Self-assess learning needs to design, implement and evaluate strategies that promote intellectual growth and continued professional development.

Professional Competencies

  • Design, implement, monitor, evaluate and adjust evidence-based pharmacy care plans that are patient-specific; address health literacy, cultural diversity, behavioral and psychosocial issues.
    • Integrate and apply evidence-based knowledge of the biomedical, pharmaceutical and clinical sciences.
    • Collect information to prevent, identify and solve drug-related problems.
    • Retrieve, analyze and interpret professional, lay and scientific literature to provide drug information and counseling to patients, their families, their caregivers or other involved health care providers.
    • Develop a patient-centered pharmacy care plan.
    • Monitor patients to determine if the therapy is appropriate, effective and safe.
    • Effectively communicate information to patients, caregivers and other health professionals regarding rational drug therapy, wellness and health promotion.
    • Document interventions and outcomes in writing.
    • Provide initial emergency care by becoming certified in first aid and CPR.
    • Identify, prevent, manage and document adverse outcomes of medication therapy.
  • Manage a successful patient-centered practice (including establishing, marketing and being compensated for medication therapy management and patient care services rendered).
  • Provide population-based care through the ability to develop and implement population specific, evidence-based disease management programs and protocols based upon analysis of epidemiologic and pharmacoeconomic data, medication use criteria, medication use review and risk-reduction strategies.
  • Manage and use resources of the health care system in cooperation with patients, prescribers, other health care providers and administrative and supportive personnel to promote health; to provide, assess and coordinate safe, accurate and time-sensitive medication distribution; and to improve therapeutic outcomes of medication use.
  • Manage medication use systems through the ability to apply patient- and population-specific data, quality improvement strategies, medication safety and error reduction programs and research processes to minimize drug misadventures and optimize patient outcomes; to participate in the development of medication use criteria and health policy; and help design pharmacy benefits.
    • Evaluate drug orders or prescriptions.
    • Accurately and safely compound and dispense drugs.
    • Perform pharmaceutical calculations.
    • Ensure that medications are properly administered.
    • Demonstrate competence in informatics. Note: Competencies in informatics include basic terminology (data, information, knowledge, hardware, software, networks, information systems, information systems management); reasons for systematic processing of data, information and knowledge in health care; and the benefits and current constraints in using information and communication technology in health care. (Adapted from recommendations of the International Medical Informatics Association).
  • Promote health improvement, wellness and disease prevention in cooperation with patients, communities, at-risk populations and other members of an interprofessional team of health care providers.