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

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 July 29, 2020; effective August 1, 2020)

• Memo Regarding Revised Policies and Procedures (to follow)

• Guiding Principles for Policies and Procedures for Certification and Precertification

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.

Guidance:

• Guidance for Submission of a Letter of Intent
• Eligibility Criteria
• Glossary For ISP Certification 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 (Version 2.0)
• 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 (September 2016 Version)
• 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.
• School of Pharmacy Administrative Information
• Invitation to Evaluate
• School of Pharmacy Overview
• Certification Application Flowchart
• Description of Pharmacy Practice (Criterion 1) (October 2013)
• Faculty (Academic Staff) List (Criterion 19) (September 2013)
• Faculty (Academic Staff) Profile (Criterion 19) (September 2013)
• Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Report (Criterion 19) (August 2013)
• Faculty (Academic Staff) Resource Tables (Criterion 19) (September 2013)

• Evaluation Instrument for Certification of Professional Degree Program of Schools of Pharmacy based outside the United States of America (Version for Members of On-Site Evaluation Teams)

• 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) (June 2020)

Deadlines for Submission of Application for Certification*

• June 2021 Certification decision by the ACPE Board: Application Deadline Has Already Passed

• January 2022 Certification decision by the ACPE Board: Click Here to See Sample Timeline

• June 2022 Certification decision by the ACPE Board: Click Here to See Sample Timeline

Application for Precertification:

ACPE staff is currently working on drafting a summary of the steps in the application process and associated documentation, forms, flowcharts, and timelines. The website will be updated once the documents are internally finalized.

Please e-mail us at “international@acpe-accredit.org” with any questions or inquiries.

Maintaining Certification:

Interim Reports:

• Guidelines for Interim Reports during the Certification Term and Interim Reports for Two-Years Post-Certification Focused On-Site Evaluation (June 2017 version)

• Interim Report Template (June 2017)

• Interim Report Template for Two-Years Post-Certification Focused On-Site Evaluation (October 2017)

• Guidelines for Preparing Electronic Documents for Submission (December 2013)

Fees

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

• 2020 Fee Schedule

• World Bank Data – Country Classifications (latest data published June 2019)

• 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.

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

• Future Meetings and Presentations

  • June 2020 International Commission Meeting: June 22-24, 2020 in Chicago, IL, USA
  • November 2020 International Commission Meeting: November 8-10, 2020 in Chicago, IL, USA
• Future Calls

  • International Commission Conference Call: None scheduled at this time.
• Guidelines for Logos and Marks
• ISP Proceedings and Reports

• ISP Annual Report (February 1, 2019 – January 31, 2020)

• ISP Newsletters
• ISP Press Releases
• ISP Presentations
• ISP Webinars

  • ISP Informational Webinar: None scheduled at this time.

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.

To view a list of all programs outside of the United States that have been granted Certification Status by ACPE, please click one of the following buttons.