Development and validation of a statement of professional competencies for practicing pharmacists in British Columbia (Canada) are described. The resulting 12 weighted general competency statements were designed to serve as a blueprint for constructing and validating instruments to assess practicing pharmacists' continuing competence. (Author/MSE)

The University of British Columbia promoted the establishment of a continuing education network for pharmacists in regions throughout the province. Practicing pharmacists serving as regional coordinators have been involved in planning and instructional roles. A summary of the 1976 planning workshop and a sample course design and organization…

The developmental history and nature of the written simulation technique is described, a study of the validity of four written simulations in clinical pharmacy is reported, and the implications of this study and its findings for the use of written simulations in continuing pharmaceutical education are identified. (JMD)

The licensing body in British Columbia, the College of Pharmacists, has initiated a program of competency assessment to help define educational needs and to provide a basis for licensure renewal. The development and implementation of the first assessment conducted during 1977-78 is described. (Author/MLW)

A test of pharmacists' practice knowledge, for use in professional continuing education, was developed by having practitioners prepare 673 assessment items related to specific competencies. Item pool was refined by psychometric evaluation and content validation. Two parallel tests, each containing 120 items, were pilot-tested with first-year…

A study was conducted to test the criterion validity of a set of written patient management problems (PMPs) through a comparison of pharmacist performance on the PMPs and performance in the practice setting. The PMPs were replicated in the practice setting by actors. Inconsistencies between PMP performance and practice performance were noted.…

Three approaches to setting the evaluation standards for testing pharmacy practice knowledge of pharmaceutical students are discussed and compared: relative standards; absolute standards; and a compromise approach using various sources of evaluation information. The application of the different approaches to a 120-item assessment previously…