Professional Technical Standards in Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy

Objective. To determine the prevalence, characteristics, and use of professional technical standards among colleges and schools of pharmacy accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Methods. The Web site of every college and school of pharmacy accredited by ACPE was searched to identify information regarding the availability, content, and use of technical standards and to obtain demographic information. Results. Information was obtained from all of the 114 colleges and schools of pharmacy and 67 (59%) had technical standards in place. Common themes for technical standards were: observation; communication; motor; intellectual, conceptual, integrative and quantitative abilities; and behavioral and social attributes. Of those colleges and schools with technical standards, 61 (91%) had standards that addressed all 5 of these themes and 34 (51%) specified that the technical standards were used in their admission, progression, and graduation procedures. Conclusion. More than half of the colleges and schools of pharmacy examined in this study have technical standards; however, 41% have yet to develop and implement them. Colleges and schools of pharmacy looking for guidance in technical standards development could use the technical standards themes identified in this study.