Dr. SOEURN Visal
In the first step to move to competency-based education, UP Faculty of Pharmacy created a workshop to consult with all pharmacy professionals and relevant stakeholders in Cambodia to create a competency framework for UP Pharmacy Graduates. The core competency framework describes, in generic terms, the knowledge, skills, behaviors and attitudes that are central to pharmacists performing effectively and to an acceptable standard in contemporary professional practice in Cambodia. They include performance criteria that focus on key aspects of performance and express what a competent professional would do in terms of observable results or behaviors. The 2011 Pharmacist Competency Framework separately defines specific foundations for pharmacy practices and certain competencies that pharmacists must possess to perform their daily practice in hospital and community pharmacy along withprofessional and personal behaviors. However, it lacks some of the detail and there are several fewer domains and competencies. It did not specify the behaviors required per area of domain and per competency. Neither did it mention about the competencies of pharmacists who work in the medical laboratory and traditional medicine. To reflect on these gaps, core competencies need to be dynamic and subject to review at regular intervals. This 2019 competency framework builds on past efforts but includes modifications to clarify the behaviors of pharmacists in each competency and domain; to improve readability and use-ability and more applicable to the evolving roles and services pharmacists can provide within their scope of practice. In contrast to the National Competency Standards Framework 2011, the 2019 Framework contemplates the standards as forming a matrix where those that apply universally to all pharmacists regardless of their scope or area of practice. This framework focuses on 5 targets and 11 domains, each with a number of competencies. The behavioral statements given for each competency indicate how individuals working in that competency will be behaving in practice. This framework is primarily designed for the development of curricula of university and informing the educational standards for accreditation of undergraduate education and training. Secondly, individual pharmacists should use the framework to guide professional development and to help identify their own learning needs through a reflective approach based on the skills and competencies required for their specific professional practice. Thirdly, it provides a useful benchmark for patients, other healthcare professionals, policy-makers and others of the key skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors associated with and expected of pharmacists.
