Abstract
The aim of this study is to find problems and possible improvement for current continuing education (CE) of pharmacists by assessing present status and performing survey data analysis. Present CE for pharmacists is administered by Korean Pharmaceutical Association and it has three separate modules for pharmacists depending on their specialty. The modules for community pharmacy and hospital pharmacy are mainly focused on patient care while the module for industrial pharmacists is on manufacturing and distribution of drugs. Survey data analysis revealed that more than half of the responders feel that present CE is inappropriate in terms of length and contents of the CE. Furthermore, about 40% of all responders answered it does not help them update professional knowledge. With regard to possible improvement of CE, 86% of the responders felt an accreditation council of CE needs to be established, and 64% answered that present three separate modules should be unified. More than three quarter (79%) of the responders wanted to have some part of CE administered by correspondence instead of on-site CE. Based on the findings from this study, present CE for pharmacists appears to need improvement to ensure appropriate drug use and to meet expectations of pharmacists who see problems on the present CE.
