International Commission

• Michael Katz, PharmD

  Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Sciences, and Director, International Programs and Residency Programs, University of Arizona, College of Pharmacy 

  Tucson, Arizona, USA (Chair)

• Sherief Khalifa, PhD

  Professor and Vice Chancellor for Quality and Global Engagement, Dean, College of Pharmacy, Gulf Medical University, UAE, and Professor of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Suez Canal University, Egypt

  Ajman, UAE (Vice Chair/Chair-Elect)

• Abeer M. Al-Ghananeem, PhD

  Professor of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics and Director of Research at Sullivan University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences; Member of the Board of Trustees at Talal Abu-Ghazaleh University College for Innovation 

  Louisville, Kentucky, USA

• Yousif Abdu Asiri, MS, PhD

  Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and President, Taif University

  Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

• Jannet M. Carmichael, PharmD, BCPS, FCCP, FAPhA

  President of Pharm Consult NV, LLC

  Reno, Nevada, USA

• Donald E. Letendre, BSPh, PharmD, FASHP

  Dean and Professor, University of Iowa, College of Pharmacy

  Iowa City, Iowa, USA

• Shailendra Saraf, MPharm, PhD

  Professor, University Institute of Pharmacy, and Director, Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC)
  

  Raipur, India

• Jenelle Sobotka, PharmD, FAPhA

  Professor and Director, Online Certificate and Masters Programs in Pharmacy Leadership, University of Cincinnati, James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy

  Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

ISP Advisory Group (ISPAG): 2022 – 2023 Term

• Abdullah M. Alhammad, PharmD, BCPS

  Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

• Lilian Azzopardi, BPharm (Hons), MPhil, PhD, MRPharmS, FFIP

  Msida, Malta

• Tina Penick Brock, RPh, MS, EdD

  Boulder, Colorado, USA

• Rula M. Darwish, PhD

  Amman, Jordan

• Rümeysa Demirdamar, PhD

  Lefke, Northern Cyprus

• Nettie Dzabala, MSc Pharm

  Blantyre, Malawi

• Manohar D. Karvekar, PhD, MPharm

  Bangalore, India

• Beom-Jin Lee, PhD

  Yeongtong-Gu, Suwon, South Korea

• Silvana Nair Leite, PhD

  Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil

• Arijana Meštrovic, MPharm, DrSc

  Zagreb, Croatia

• Imelda G. Peña, RPh, DrPH

  Manila, Philippines

• Antonio Sánchez Pozo, PhD

  Granada, Spain

• Mohamad Rahal, PhD

  Beirut, Lebanon

• P.T. Thomas, BPharm, MS, PhD

  Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

• Daisy Volmer, PhD

  Tartu, Estonia

Certification of Professional Degree Programs

ACPE ISP Quality Criteria may be voluntarily adopted by degree programs in pharmacy outside of the United States.

Certification Quality Criteria

International Quality Criteria for Certification of Professional Degree Programs in Pharmacy
Adopted: June 23, 2016; Released: July 1, 2016

Glossary

Glossary For ISP Certification and Precertification Documents

Policies and Procedures

The ACPE Board has adopted policies and procedures that apply to the Certification and Precertification* of professional degree programs in pharmacy that are based outside the United States of America (USA) and its territories; namely, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands.

• Policies and Procedures for Certification and Precertification of Professional Degree Programs in Pharmacy in Countries other than the United States and its Territories (Adopted June 17, 2021; effective June 17, 2021) (Version 1.2 March 23, 2022)

• *News Release regarding terminology change to “International-Accreditation”

• Memo Regarding Updated ACPE Travel Policy (Addendum 2) in Policies and Procedures (March 2022)

• Guiding Principles for Policies and Procedures for Certification and Precertification (June 2021)

Application for Certification:

ACPE accepts applications for Certification* for programs that are a minimum of four academic years in length.
A summary of the steps in the application process and associated documentation, forms, flowcharts, and timelines are available for download.

*News Release regarding terminology change to “International-Accreditation”

Guidance:

• Guidance for Submission of a Letter of Intent
• Eligibility Criteria
• Glossary For ISP Certification and Precertification Documents
• Threshold Rubric for Authorization of Initial On-Site Visit
• Documentation and Data Required for Self-Study Report for Certification of Professional Degree Program of Schools of Pharmacy based outside the United States of America
• Guidelines and Suggested Questions for On-Site Evaluations for Certification of Professional Degree Program of Schools of Pharmacy based outside the United States of America

• Webinar: How to Complete Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Report Template

• Sample Guidance on the Submission of Appendices List and Descriptions in the Self-Study Report (SSR)

• Guidelines for Preparing Electronic Documents for Submission (August 2018)

Forms and Templates

• Summary of Certification Application Steps and Required Documentation
  *Confirm with ACPE whether country-specific requirements are met. For schools located in Saudi Arabia, email Silvi Kastrati, for further information and additional guidance.
• Invitation to Evaluate
• Certification Application Flowchart
• Description of Pharmacy Practice (Criterion 1)
• Faculty (Academic Staff) List (Criterion 19)
• Faculty (Academic Staff) Profile (Criterion 19)
• Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Report (Criterion 19)

• • Webinar: How to Complete Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Report Template
• Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Tables (Criterion 20)

• Self-Assessment Instrument for Certification of Professional Degree Program of Schools of Pharmacy based outside the United States of America (Version for Schools/Colleges of Pharmacy)

Deadlines for Submission of Application for Certification*

• January 2024 Certification decision by the ACPE Board: Application Deadline Has Already Passed

• June 2024 Certification decision by the ACPE Board: Click Here to See Sample Timeline

• January 2025 Certification decision by the ACPE Board: Click Here to See Sample Timeline

Application for Precertification:

ACPE accepts applications for Precertification* for programs that are a minimum of four academic years in length. A summary of the steps in the application process and associated documentation, forms, flowcharts, and timelines are available for download.

*News Release regarding terminology change to “International-Accreditation”

Guidance

• Guidance for Submission of a Letter of Intent
• Eligibility Criteria
• Glossary For ISP Certification and Precertification Documents
• Threshold Rubric for Authorization of Initial On-Site Visit
• Documentation and Data Required for Self-Study Report for Certification and Precertification of Professional Degree Program of Schools of Pharmacy based outside the United States of America
• Guidelines and Suggested Questions for On-Site Evaluations for Certification and Precertification of Professional Degree Program of Schools of Pharmacy based outside the United States of America

• Webinar: How to Complete Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Report Template

• Sample Guidance on the Submission of Appendices List and Descriptions in the Self-Study Report (SSR)

• Guidelines for Preparing Electronic Documents for Submission

Forms and Templates

• Summary of Certification Application Steps and Required Documentation
  *Confirm with ACPE whether country-specific requirements are met. For schools located in Saudi Arabia, email Silvi Kastrati, for further information and additional guidance.
• Invitation to Evaluate
• Precertification Application Flowchart: Currently not available
• Description of Pharmacy Practice (Criterion 1)
• Faculty (Academic Staff) List (Criterion 19)
• Faculty (Academic Staff) Profile (Criterion 19)
• Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Report (Criterion 19)

• • Webinar: How to Complete Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Report Template
• Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Tables (Criterion 20)

• Self-Assessment Instrument for Precertification of Professional Degree Program of Schools of Pharmacy based outside the United States of America (Version for Schools/Colleges of Pharmacy) 

Deadlines for Submission of Application for Precertification

• January 2024 Precertification decision by the ACPE Board: Application Deadline Has Already Passed

• June 2024 Precertification decision by the ACPE Board: Click Here to See Sample Timeline

• January 2025 Precertification decision by the ACPE Board: Click Here to See Sample Timeline

Maintaining Certification:

News Release regarding terminology change to “International-Accreditation”

Forms and Templates: 

• Invitation to Evaluate for Continuation of Certification

Interim Reports:

• Guidelines for Interim Reports during the Certification Term and Interim Reports for Two-Years Post-Certification Focused On-Site Evaluation
• Interim Report Template
• Interim Report Template for Two-Years Post-Certification Focused On-Site Evaluation

• Interim Report Template for Focused On-Site Evaluation

• Interim Report Template Precertification Version

• Interim Report Template for Focused Visit Precertification Version

• Guidelines for Preparing Electronic Documents for Submission

Substantive Change(s) Reports:

• Substantive Change(s) Report Template (January 2021 version)

Annual Reporting:

• ACPE Policies and Procedures: Extract regarding Annual Reporting
• Enrollment Memo and Form
• Template: Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Report (Criterion 19) (December 2020)

• Webinar: How to Complete Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Report Template

Fees

The fee structure for ACPE international services and related resources are available below.

• 2022 Fee Schedule

• World Bank Data – Country Classifications (latest published data)

• For Estimated Total Fees for First Seven Years of Certification:

  Please contact ACPE

• For Estimated Fees for Future Years:

  Please contact ACPE

ACPE has a rich history of engagements and promoting information exchange internationally among organizations and agencies involved in the quality assurance of pharmacy education.

Communications

• News Release regarding terminology change to “International-Accreditation”

• Future Meetings and Presentations

  • May 2022 International Commission Meeting: May 23-25, 2022 (Virtual Format)
  • November 2022 International Commission Meeting: November 14-16, 2022 in Chicago, IL, USA
• Guidelines for Logos and Marks
• ACPE Report of Proceedings and Other Communications

• ISP Annual Report (February 1, 2021 – January 31, 2022)

• ISP Webinars

  • ISP Informational Webinar: May 3, 2022 at 9:00-10:30am Central USA time. To access the recording, click here.

• ISP Announcements

  • ACPE renews its MOU with Knowledge E on July 13, 2021
  • ACPE and CAA Virtual Signing Ceremony on December 7, 2020

Hosting International Visitors

ACPE has hosted visitors from around the world, and has provided assistance to many countries in their efforts to establish or develop their own quality assurance systems for pharmacy education. If you are interested in visiting ACPE, please e-mail ISP Director, Mike Rouse, at mrouse@acpe-accredit.org.

Consultation

ACPE offers consultation in a broad range of areas related to quality assurance and advancement of pharmacy education, including:

• Professional degree programs in pharmacy
• Continuing pharmacy education/continuing professional development
• In-service training
• Credentialing
• QA systems/development of standards

Workshops

ACPE offers and conducts training and workshops on topics such as preparation of self-studies, evaluator training, assessment, curricular development, continuing professional development, and standards development. Training programs may also be customized to meet the needs of global stakeholders.

The SMART Pharmacist Program is a sustainable, evidence-based educational initiative, designed for national professional institutions, associations, and chambers to foster changes in the pharmacy profession. To learn more, visit the SMART Pharmacist Program website: www.smartpharmacistprogram.org

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COVID-19 UPDATE

Partners of the SMART Pharmacist Program: In this very unusual and unpredictable time of pandemic, we would like to connect with all of you, in different countries, all over the World and express our support.

We would also like to recognize and thank our SMART Pharmacists who are serving patients at the front line. We have prepared a short video message that we would like to ask you to forward to all of them to keep the motivation and sustainability of the Program.