(253) The Teaching of Pharmacy Ethics at U.S. Pharmacy Schools

Objective : To determine how US pharmacy schools meet teaching pharmacy ethics ACPE Standards 2016; whether ethics faculty desire subject content expansion; and what additional teaching resources would be beneficial.

Methods: 142 school deans were asked to identify responsible pharmacy ethics faculty. A 12-question survey instrument was designed and emailed to these faculty, or the dean if no identified faculty. Follow-up emails were sent at 2-week intervals. If nonresponsive after three attempts, then telephone solicitation was attempted.

Results: Ninety schools (63%) responded; 53% were public and 47% private. 66% had class sizes of 100 or less, 33% with 101-250, and 1% with over 250. 28% of respondents meet the ACPE requirement with a separate required course, while 72% meet the requirement as elements of other course(s). As for type of instruction used, the largest group (29%) devotes 6-10 hours in didactic instruction, while 39% spend 1-5 hours in experiential instruction. The preferred desired time for didactic instruction, by 32%, was 16-30 hours, while desired time for experiential ethics instruction, by 39%, was 1-5 hours. Ethics electives were available at only 17% of responding institutions. Ethics instruction resources used included journal articles (56%), social or print media (54%), case law (51%), and a pharmacy ethics textbook (48%). Teaching resources desired included case studies (81%), assessments or assessment methods (46%), assignments (43%), PowerPoint slide decks (34%), and reading materials (33%).

Conclusions: Pharmacy ethics faculty desire additional time for instruction, and additional teaching resources with which to teach. Since time, content, and resource requirements for pharmacy ethics instruction are not specified in the ACPE Standards 2016, these results provide a starting point to judge what is adequate and/or preferred.