Accreditation

The strategic plan for The College of pharmacy at KSAU-HS clearly states that the College will thrive to “shape the future direction of the pharmacy profession in Saudi Arabia through education, research and the development of innovative practice models”. This is being achieved at this point via compliance with the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) guidelines, and through the adoption of the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy curriculum, an institution that is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Once the four year program is entirely implemented, the College of Pharmacy will seek a stand alone accreditation through the appropriate accrediting organizations.

Program Evaluation

While the College of Pharmacy program meets all national and American educational standards (as outlined by NCAAA and ACPE), there are many committees appointed by college of Pharmacy leadership  that focus on the constant assessment of all aspects of the program and make relevant recommendations for continuous improvement.  Members of these committees utilize many approaches to evaluate relevant feedback from students and faculty and utilize valid and effective analytical approaches of available and collected metric data. 

Assessment

Student Assessment is designed through the integration of various tools and methods to ensure that pharmacy students are retaining knowledge, mastering the required clinical skills, and are able to integrate and apply them in the health care setting. The formative assessment is conducted progressively to ensure the acceptable outcomes. Feedback, inclusive of self-assessment, is also a tool to measure student improvement and progress.

Summative examinations are conducted at the end of the course to assess student competencies. All of the student assessment methods are routinely subjected to validity and reliability evaluation and psychometric analysis to ensure their quality and continuous applicability.

The curriculum at KSAU-HS, College of Pharmacy is designed to develop professional attitudes and values, and to ensure that pharmacy students have the skills and abilities to integrate and apply learning in all health care settings and to all patient populations. In order to guarantee the students’ attainment of such outcomes, the KSAU-HS, College of Pharmacy has adapted the amended Tennessee 21 document based on the collaborative agreement it has signed with the Tennessee College of pharmacy. The Tennessee 21 document is derived from the NAPLEX competencies, the CAPE document, and the previous ACPE Standard 10.  The two added ability based outcomes to the Tennessee 21 are professionalism, and comprehension of drug safety concepts. Upon completion of the curriculum and attainment of the above ability based outcomes, a student should be prepared to enter any pharmacy practice setting where they can ensure optimal medication therapy outcomes and protect patient safety as they function as an essential member of the healthcare team.  In order to accomplish this through experiential education, the college provides a continuum of required and elective courses via introductory and advanced rotations, which are adequate in scope, intensity, and duration, to support the achievement of these competencies. 

Principles of the Curriculum

The PharmD curriculum at the College of Pharmacy in King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Science is adopted from the PharmD curriculum of the College of Pharmacy in Tennessee University, USA. The current curriculum connects basic pharmaceutical sciences to clinical sciences and clinical training. In addition the curriculum aspires to bridges the gap between pharmacy education and real-life pharmacy practice. Furthermore, our curriculum requires the successful completion of a research project, a requirement for graduation, in an effort to expose PharmD students to the principles and ethics of scientific research. In conclusion, the College of Pharmacy have developed a six year curriculum that integrates basic, clinical, and research sciences along with advanced clinical training and practice all aimed at improving health outcomes for patients.