A literature review on the state of pharmacy education in Zambia

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this paper is to provide a narrative review of pharmacy education in Zambia, in terms of: overview of the historical development of pharmacy education, the current state of pharmacy education and successes achieved, efforts made to provide pharmacists with the requisite competency and recommendations for future directions. Method: A literature search was conducted in November 2020 on PubMed, Google scholar and Medscape databases, the search was confined to research articles published between 2002 to 2021. Result: A total of 23 journal articles were retrieved, articles that capture reports on the state of pharmacy education in Zambia were reviewed. Conclusion: Pharmacy education has undergone a series of modifications over the past few decades in an effort to fulfil the changing demands of society. For a pharmacy education system to thrive, it must be continually evolving and driven by the needs of society or nation at hand at all times. This involves updating the pharmacist in training with up-to-date skills required of the modern-day pharmacist and research that enables continual improvement of the education system.