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3.4. Education and Continuing Professional Development Ensuring high quality undergraduate

education and continuing professional

development programs is vital to support

the implementation of patient-centred,

outcomes-focused care.

In 1999, the WHO developed the concept of

the seven-star pharmacist, detailing the

skills and attitudes required of pharmacists

to be effective members of the health care

team. In 2000, the International

Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) adopted

this concept in its policy on pharmacy

education. The roles of the pharmacist were

described as caregiver, decision-maker,

communicator, manager, life-long learner,

teacher and leader. The WHO and FIP

ultimately added the function of researcher

in their 2006 handbook entitled Developing

Pharmacy Practice: A Focus on Patient Care

30. Education needs to address all these

competencies and skills both at the under-

and post-graduate level.

FIPEd, the new umbrella directorate

encompassing FIP Education Initiatives, is

working to stimulate transformational

change in pharmaceutical education and

engender the development of science and

practice, towards meeting present and

future societal and workforce needs around

the world. It advocates for the use of needs-

based strategies where pharmacy education

is socially accountable, where practice and

science are evidence-based and

practitioners have the required

competencies to provide the needed

services to their communities.