Continuing Education – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Continuing Pharmacy Education

The ACPE Board of Directors adopted a document developed by the ACPE Continuing Pharmacy Education Commission entitled, “ACPE Guidance to ACPE-accredited CE Providers to Incorporate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within Organizations and CE Activities.” This document may be found on the ACPE website by clicking HERE.

Providers are encouraged to send examples of how they incorporated principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in their CE activities. Submitted examples will be posted to ACPE’s website with the goal of sharing practices with ACPE accredited providers. Please send a description and/or tool to [email protected] .

In 2021/2022 and 2023, a survey was sent to all ACPE-accredited CE providers to gain insights into the extent of DEI focus and initiative in continuing education activities. The initial survey consisted of four items: 1) “What, if any, steps have your program taken to advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at your organization? (select all that apply),” 2) “Has your program issued a formal statement on DEI?,” 3) “Has your program identified any specific best practices to incorporate DEI principles in its programming and/or courses to advance DEI you would like to share?”, and 4) “ What are your program’s goals for DEI?.” For the 2023 survey, an additional item was added to identify opportunities where ACPE could assist and support CE program DEI initiatives: 5) How can ACPE assist in DEI initiatives at your institution?”

Overall, 50 and 33 responses were received in 2021/2022 and 2023, respectively. There were a total of 271 ACPE-accredited CE providers in 2022 and 280 in 2023, resulting in response rates of 18% for 2021/2022 and 12% in 2023.

In both 2021/2022 and 2023, the most common step taken by programs to advance DEI was to engage pharmacists and/or pharmacy technicians in DEI discussions.
Compared to 2021/2022, a larger percentage of providers reported providing faculty development in fostering inclusive classrooms and undertaking analysis of participants in CE activities and number of CE activities to better understand DEI within the program.
In 2021/2022, 10% of respondents reported having a DEI statement on the organizations website which increased to 12% of respondents in 2023.
No statements regarding DEI were under active consideration at 48% and 58% of respondent organizations in 2021/2022 and 2023, respectively.

The full quantitative item results can be found in Table 1.

Qualitative analysis identified themes within categories of Best Practices (CE Programming DEI Strategies, Organizational DEI Strategies), DEI Goals (Mission Statement and DEI Strategic Plan, Developing CE, CPE Committee and Task Force, and Faculty Development and Guidance), and ACPE Support (Sharing Best Practices and Training and Technical Support). Identified themes and representative quotes can be found in Table 2.

In July of 2023, ACPE staff submitted a manuscript to the Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, which is currently under review. This manuscript highlights the findings presented here and may serve as a tool for identifying and implementing best practices for DEI in continuing pharmacy education. To submit your feedback on DEI in Continuing Pharmacy Education please take our brief survey .