Pharmacy education quality assurance in China: Moving towards a national accreditation system?

Abstract

Pharmacy programs in the UK, USA and Australasia have long been subject to assessment, initially by professional accreditation bodies and more recently by national university quality assurance agencies. This has had positive effects in terms of quality despite concerns around increased costs, workload, and stifling of innovation in curricula. The process of assessment of pharmacy courses is relatively new to China. This has come by way of reform and implementation of assessment across the entire higher education sector which has led to positive outcomes across the board. However, pharmacy-specific assessment processes are yet to be implemented. This paper details recent developments in assessment of pharmacy programs in China and compares the current status and future direction with Western counterparts.