Changing and Reframing the Norms of Pharmacy Graduate Education

Changing and reframing the norms of pharmacy-based graduate education are needed in a time when spending efficiency is paramount to maximize the output and impact of governmental investments in research. Pharmacy-based graduate education fills a critical void in expertise within the pharmaceutical industry, government, and academic entities to advance the discovery of treatments for and prevention of chronic disease. We have known of the critical role scientists from pharmacy-based graduate programs play in translating research from discovery to impact for decades. Our Academy has addressed this concern in publications dating back to 1942, calling for changes in the content, format, and organization of graduate education. Furthermore, we have repeatedly debated all aspects of the best way to educate, the definition of pharmacy research scope, and the competency requirements. This commentary addresses 3 key issues. While progress has been made over the years, the high cost and long time frame for educating these graduate students remain in our current programs. Specifically, the societal demand for our graduates in numerous venues can only be met if we reduce the onerously long format and structure of our graduate programs. In addition, graduate programs need a focus on competency-based skill development (which includes power skill assessment) and reduced didactic curricular requirements. We propose a series of bold goals and recommendations as a call for major changes to increase the efficiency of pharmacy-based graduate education and assess the required skills necessary to provide a robust pipeline of researchers for the future.