Patient and public involvement in the design of education for pharmacists: Is this an untapped resource?

The involvement of patients and public in the design and delivery of public services, especially health services, is now commonly advocated, if not mandated, by governments, regulators, and professional bodies. Concurrently, the role of patients in the education of health professionals has been changing and increasing over recent years. However, the involvement of patients in curriculum development, program design, or assessment is less developed or utilized. The pharmacy profession’s role across the world is now even more patient focussed. There is very little published in the literature about pharmacist education and patient involvement, especially from the perspective of curriculum or learning-program development. The major literature reviews fail to mention pharmacy education in any significant way. The aim of this thought paper is to discuss the benefits and challenges of using patients in the design and development of learning programs for pharmacists. The involvement and integration of patients and public into the development of learning programs for pharmacists can have a range of benefits for the learner, developer, and provider organization. Practical examples about how education developer integrate patients and the public into their processes are provided and discussed in areas such as supporting the concept or plan for the learning program, helping with the design, writing or contributing to the content of the program, reviewing the content, and promotion of the learning program. It is likely that patients and public will also need to be trained to fully engage in the pharmacy agenda as models of pharmacy practice evolve.