The first Pharmacy Education Conference, which was organized by the College of Pharmacy at Umm Al-Qura University over a period of two days and witnessed the participation of 15 speakers from various universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and health facilities, came to a close yesterday. It concluded its events by emphasizing the necessity of updating the academic plans of the pharmacy colleges in line with the needs and requirements of the labor market, and setting future plans for the quality of pharmacy education in the kingdom.

Specialists maintained that the participation of students in virtual classrooms is an essential step to achieve student-centered education and harness students' professional skills. Moreover, such participation increases the ratio of clinical pharmacists to students, and enhances the effectiveness of academics in using various teaching and assessment methods to engage students in the educational programs.

The speakers in the conference dialogue sessions monitored the most prominent challenges regarding the integration of pharmacy students into the requirements of different courses and training under the current circumstances. They also discussed the impact of the Saudi Pharmacist Licensure Examination (SPLE) on the pharmacy curricula in Saudi universities.

The Dean of the College of Pharmacy, Dr. Faisal Al-Maliki, stated that their first conference is considered a starting point towards broad horizons in the field of pharmacy education. He pointed out that the Council of Deans of Colleges of Pharmacy adopted the idea of ​​holding an annual pharmacy education conference to discuss educational issues and developments in the field, explore solutions to emerging challenges, and keep abreast of the studies and research related to the use of technology to enhance the effectiveness of students during the education and training stages.

On his part, the General Supervisor of the University Vice Presidency for Educational Affairs, Ahmad Babalghaith, underlined in his speech that he delivered on behalf of His Excellency the UQU President, Prof. Moaddi Aal Madh-hab, that the conference aimed to preserve and promote the advancement of specialized education through its various themes and the scientific experience gained by the specialists participation in the workshops that discussed issues related to pharmacy education. He also stressed the role played by the conference in meeting the academic accreditation requirements and providing scientific and ethical standards for pharmacy students and practitioners.