In the next 50 years, we will continue to see the profession of pharmacy and the continuing pharmacy education landscape evolve based on changes in practice, regulations, and learner needs. Some of these potential changes are outlined and described below:

• Expanded Scope of Practice: The patient-care services that both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are entrusted to provide have expanded rapidly in recent years, with several states allowing for pharmacist-provided cognitive services and prescriptive authority, including but not limited to: hormonal contraception, test-to-treat, and tobacco cessation. In the future, there will continue to be opportunities for, and advancements in, pharmacist and pharmacy technician expanded scope of practice. As a result, pharmacy learners will require additional education to obtain the knowledge, skills, and abilities to provide these services.
  
•  Advanced Credentials: As pharmacist and pharmacy technician scope of practice expands, opportunities to be reimbursed for the provision of these services can potentially follow. In several states, pharmacists can undergo a credentialing process with public payers (i.e., Medicaid) to deliver and bill for patient care services. As reimbursement opportunities and credentialing requirements continue to expand, continuing pharmacy education will play an essential role in the development of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, with the credentialing process requiring evidence of education and abilities related to the services provided.
  
• Increasing and Complex CPE Requirements: Along with expanded scope of practice and opportunities for reimbursement, regulatory requirements for the provision of enhanced services and relicensure have grown increasingly complex. While states have specified the number of hours and setting (i.e. live) of continuing pharmacy education required for relicensure for many years, these requirements have grown.
  
•  Standard of Care Regulatory Model: At the same time, a new regulatory model (Standard of Care), has increased in popularity, with several states adopting this model for regulating pharmacists. Within this process, the specific requirements of continuing pharmacy education are often minimized, while emphasizing the importance of competence, knowledge, skills, and abilities. Within this model, pharmacists can provide an expanded number of services, provided those services are not expressly prohibited by law. While specific CE requirements will continue to vary by state and regulatory model, continuing pharmacy education will continue to play an important role in both meeting regulatory requirements and ensuring pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are providing care that is reflective of a reasonable and prudent practitioner with the appropriate training and experience.
  
• Continuing Professional Development: Over the past decade, professional organizations and employers have called for a hybrid model of professional development, with individualized, goal-based, and practice-relevant educational needs driving participation in continuing pharmacy education. As such, the continuing professional development (CPD) framework and continuing pharmacy education activities will be increasingly integrated to provide individualized learning plan development that contains evidence-based, unbiased educational activities.

As this evolution occurs, it is essential for continuing pharmacy education to continue to meet the needs of learners and ensure that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and abilities that will be required to provide patient care.