A Progress Report on the State of Pharmacy Informatics Education in US Pharmacy Schools and Colleges

摘要

>Objective. To characterize informatics education opportunities in US colleges and schools of pharmacy curricula.>Methods. Informatics curricular information online was catalogued via publicly available websites. Website content was searched via domain-specific keywords. Online course descriptions were reviewed. Website searches were also conducted for informatics-related opportunities.>Results. Of 132 pharmacy curricula found online, 47 (36%) included an informatics course. Of those, 64% (n=30) were required while 47% (n=22) were elective courses. Additionally, 20% (n=26) provided informatics advanced and/or introductory pharmacy practice experiences, 20% (n=27) offered an informatics residency, and 17% (n=22) listed certificate and/or graduate degree programs in informatics.>Conclusion. Over the past 10 years, little observable progress has been made in pharmacy school curricula in response to the increasing importance of informatics to the profession. Pharmacy programs can address this educational gap by internal (eg, course development) and external (eg, open source curriculum) solutions.