23

Summary

The data collected in this sample covers 109 countries and territories worldwide, but with some data gaps remaining. The responding countries and territories report, in total, around 175,000 graduating students per annum, this being an estimate of the capacity production of students who, for the most part, go onto registration or become licensed. Taking the nationally reported degree length, from 89 countries and territories who supplied full data, this represents a pharmacy student cohort size of 680,000 worldwide. However, the data set can be said to be characterised by wide variation in capacity across nations, with sub-Saharan Africa having the lowest proportional educational capacity.

The economics and cost of higher education for entry into the profession also vary. Costs tend to correspond with national incomes and wealth and reflect national systems for higher education.

There is additional variance in the degree title and lengths (with these characteristics being related) which, would suggest differences in content and education provision models between countries and regions. This variance alone suggests that additional investigations should be made with the aim of seeking similarities and differences in the educational outcomes associated with differing degree titles and lengths.

There were no direct measures of quality or learning experiences made in this survey. FIP and IPSF are conducting a significant work in this area that can, in the future, be mapped to the demographic data presented here. Future work should look closely at the quality issues and how these link with learning experiences and country level demography, including a correlated economic evaluation of the total costs of education for entry into the profession.

Overall, this data set provides interesting and impactful comparisons, although more data should be obtained from countries who could not provide data for this report.

Figure 3.13: Mix of science and practice in early curriculum | n=47.

................................................................................. .................................................................................