Quality Assurance of Pharmacy Programs in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Accreditation agencies are imperative to assure quality education. Furthermore, standardization of health professions, while costly and time consuming, is necessary to ensure longevity and success. Today, online undergraduate and graduate level college degrees are becoming more popular due to convenience and accessibility, especially during the pandemic. Nonetheless, many critics suggest that online education is not possible for fields related to patient care nor is there any reference to online standardization. However, considering the COVID-19 pandemic, many health professions, including pharmacy, were mandated to take their education online. The recent shift in delivery methodologies suggest that the accreditation bodies should take a step back and access the standardization of care in a post-COVID-19 world to ensure that current students do not get left behind or potentially place future patients at risk when developing and accessing online competent practitioners.

Author(s): Amjad M Qandil, PhD1; Emily R. Esposito, PhD2; Arthur G Cox, PhD2; Abeer M Al-Ghananeem, PhD2*

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