약사의 전문성강화를 위한 국가별 평생교육제도 비교연구

A Comparative Study on the Continuing Professional Development for the Pharmacists in Korea

The purpose of this study is to provide the comparative study results for the purpose of the developing con- tinuing professional educational systems for Korean pharmacists. The professional continuing educational systems of the UK, USA, Japan and Korea were analyzed. General Pharmaceutical Council in UK controls the pharmacy professions for the protection of the health of the citizens in UK and certifies the schools of pharmacy and the continuing education pro-viders. The USA and Japan have the several accreditation bodies for the pharmacy education and the continuing phar-maceutical education. However, the quality assurance systems in Korea for the continuing education and specialty programs are not implemented, yet. The renewal system of the pharmacist license should be introduced like the health care providers like doctors to improve professionalism. Finally, it is recommended that all of these things should be done by a single admin-istrative authority such as Korean Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.