Where will we be tomorrow? We need a 2020 vision

American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, Summer 2002 by Beck, Diane E

Council of Faculties

Chairman's Section

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith. "

- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

INTRODUCTION

In July 2001, I challenged the Council of Faculties that "we can be better tomorrow than we are today." To achieve this, we need to have a vision of what "tomorrow" will likely entail for pharmacy faculty. Although AACP members have highlighted these issues and these are largely a part of our organization's strategic plan, I believe we need a clearer picture of what faculty and pharmacy schools will look like in 2020.

What will be expected of pharmacy faculty tomorrow and how do we get there from where we are today? Perhaps we can gain some wisdom about answering these questions by recalling Alice's experiences in the fairy tales, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass(l). For example, when Alice questioned Chesire Cat about which path to take, he indicated "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to." The lesson here is that a clear vision or a goal describing what you want to achieve is essential. As Alice navigated her way through the Looking Glass House, she encountered challenges, unusual creatures, and unexpected paths. But, through this experience, she grew from a girl to a woman. A lesson for us is that even if we have 2020 vision about pharmacy education, we will encounter unexpected situations and challenges along the way. Therefore, we need to "move forward with strong and active faith" in order to successfully forge the path to 2020.

Since July 2001, I have had opportunities to step "through the looking glass" by reading about the future of academia and talking with Council of Faculties members, the AACP Board of Directors, my mentor, and other colleagues about the future roles and responsibilities of pharmacy faculty. The following description summarizes what I have learned about the Looking Glass Room of higher and professional education.

FORCES DRIVING CHANGE

In order to envision what faculty roles and responsibilities will likely be in 2020 we need to first better understand the forces driving change in higher and professional education and the pharmacy profession. The primary forces that will impact future pharmacy faculty roles and responsibilities are the expectation of efficiency, efficacy, and excellence by our stakeholders. The continuing evolution of technology which promotes self-directed learning and assessment is a common thread across all of three of these primary forces and its momentum will significantly facilitate success of all three factors. Technology allows students to access facts and information from expert resources and this information can be learned without a teacher(2). Access to this information permits students to question the content of what a faculty member teaches and how an experiential faculty member manages a patient. As many of us have already encountered, Benor(2) has noted that this will have a sociological impact because students will no longer consider a faculty member's wisdom as "irreproachable"(3). Although most of us have already stumbled upon the primary forces of efficiency, efficacy and excellence, I encourage you to reflect on the following paragraphs and assess what our Council of Faculties members need today in order to be successful faculty members in 2020.

Efficiency. The need for a more efficient delivery of education is being driven by several motives. First, the demand for higher education is already increasing and nontraditional students who are seeking new careers and lifelong learning will continue to increase in numbers(4,5). In spite of this increased demand, financial support at the public level for higher education will continue to decrease. Privatization and for-profit institutions of higher education will radically drive everyone to be more efficient. Since faculty and staff salaries comprise a vast portion of a pharmacy school's budget, we will be required to find more efficient approaches in the delivery of instruction(6). Technology will continue to evolve and become easier to access and use. Therefore, we will turn to it as a means for handling larger numbers of students in a more efficient manner.

Efficacy. The second force that will drive change in the future is the need for more effective teaching and learning strategies. Robert Chalmers, our beloved past pharmacy leader put us on the right path over 10 years ago by advocating abilities-based pharmacy education(7,8). The public is making it clear that institutions of higher education must do more than just transmit knowledge to students and the attributes they are demanding are abilities-based. Specifically, in order to remain a strong nation, we need graduates who can "do something" with information, work collaboratively with others in their workplace and community, and assume leadership roles in these settings(5,9). Higher education is being called upon to inculcate values such as diversity, honesty, personal responsibility, and compassion due to the rapid changes our society is undergoing and will continue to face(10). Finally, health professionals will be called upon more than ever to adapt to change and assist in managing change. Health profession educators therefore, are being called to teach students how to adapt to and manage change(11). Facilitating the development of complex abilities rather than just transmission of knowledge will continue to require faculty members to use a "learning" rather than a "teaching" paradigm and this will drive significant cultural changes within our faculties(12,13).