ACPE'S Role in Education and Training

From constituent feedback, and from discussions within the Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy (CCP), a potential role for ACPE in the nationwide quality assurance of pharmacy technician education - both for entry-to-practice and for continuing education – has become a consideration in recent years. ACPE’s Strategic Plan (pdf, 156 KB) now includes a commitment to further explore this potential role.

Members of the ACPE staff were very involved in the drafting of an updated White Paper on Pharmacy Technicians (pdf, 124 KB) and in a Summit on Pharmacy Technicians (pdf, 304 KB) held in May 2002. The white paper highlighted not only the increasing role that pharmacy technicians are playing in the delivery of pharmacy services, but also the diversity in the education, training, credentials, scope and regulation of practice of pharmacy technicians. The paper identified a number of unresolved issues, and served as the main resource document for the May 2002 summit. While some consensus was reached, the summit was, to a large extent, inconclusive. Endorsement of the White Paper by CCP’s 12 member organizations reinforced the call for change made in the paper. The need for further, profession-wide discussion was, however, evident and this led to CCP’s request to ACPE to initiate a profession-wide dialogue concerning the possible development of national standards and an accreditation process for pharmacy technician education and training.

ACPE’s mission is to serve the needs of the profession, and take on new roles only when so requested by the profession. ACPE believes that the request by CCP has now provided the opportunity for an expanded, profession-wide dialogue regarding pharmacy technician education and training. Pharmacy technicians are employed in all sectors of the profession, and ACPE has as its mission profession-wide standards for assuring educational quality, therefore, this request is understandable.

At its January 2003 meeting, the ACPE Board of Directors agreed to the CCP request (pdf, 84 KB), and in February 2003 initiated the dialogue by distributing widely throughout the profession of pharmacy, and further afield, an "Invitation to Comment" (pdf, 112 KB).

During 2003, over one hundred individuals and organizations submitted written responses to ACPE. Additionally, comments were received at the ten open hearings convened at national pharmacy meetings. In February 2004, ACPE provided CCP with a compilation of the written comments and summaries of the open hearings. Following its February 2004 meeting, CCP published a summary of its findings and conclusions in a news release. The compilation of comments is also available on the CCP website.

The exact nature and extent of the future role of ACPE in the education and training of pharmacy technicians is still to be determined. After reviewing comments submitted during 2003, ACPE will be in a better position to recommend what steps should be taken next.

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