Pharmacy education in Myanmar: The past, present, and future

Abstract

This review article aimed to describe an overview of pharmacy education, including the challenges and barriers to pharmacy education in Myanmar. Pharmacy education in Myanmar is a content-based education system. The curriculum’s courses in undergraduate professional subjects are related only to pharmaceutical sciences; those related to clinical, social and administrative sciences are not covered. Clinical pharmacy is implemented in postgraduate programs; however, it is not sufficiently developed. Moreover, the subject of social and administrative pharmacy has not yet been implemented in Myanmar. Updating the curriculum and establishing a pharmacy council were identified as key challenges because the current curriculum does not align with modern pharmacy practices, and the absence of a regulatory pharmacy council limits the standardization, governance, and advancement of pharmacy education, particularly in specialized areas within pharmacy schools. The rapid and ongoing change in pharmacy worldwide forces pharmacy education in Myanmar to adapt to patient and public safety and efficiency in drug utilization. It is concluded that a four-year pharmacy program should be revised to address the challenges and barriers worldwide.