The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) is launching an exciting new course, the APhASystematic Curriculum Design and Implementation (APhA SCDI) © for Community-Based Pharmacy Residency Education and Training Programs, at the upcoming 2016 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Baltimore. The innovative new program combines online learning with highly interactive active learning in a workshop format, and is an addition to APhA’s successful Meeting the Requirements for Accreditation of PGY1 Community Pharmacy Residency Programs, launched in 2013 and offered annually.

“The APhA SCDI© program demonstrates APhA’s ongoing commitment over 30 years of advancing community-based pharmacy residency training,” said APhA Executive Vice President and CEO Thomas E. Menighan, BSPharm, MBA, ScD (Hon), FAPhA. “This new program builds upon established foundational principles and approaches historically used in pharmacy residency training and aligns with current processes, systems and methods used in the design of quality residency education and training programs for other health care professionals including physicians.”

The inaugural offering of the APhA SCDI© will be held on March 4 at APhA2016. The new program, based on sound principles of educational theory and curricular design, expands upon other pharmacy specific residency design models. The program provides participants with the knowledge and skills required to effectively design and implement a longitudinally structured community-based residency training program.  Participants will be awarded continuing pharmacy education (CPE) credit upon successful completion of the 31431program including online, on-demand training modules and an 8-hour live workshop. Preregistration is required and special inaugural registration rates are available. It is anticipated the online, on-demand pre-meeting modules will be launched in the next several weeks.

“Whether designing a program from the ground up or working on the quality improvement of an existing one,” Menighan said “this systematic process for designing and implementing a structured curriculum provides the tips, techniques and know-how to create a high quality residency education and training program. Residency Program Directors, residents and others involved in community-based residency training can all benefit from this program.”

APhA SCDI© is aligned and applicable to both the current ASHP-APhA PGY1 Community Accreditation Standard and the newly approved ASHP-APhA PGY1 Pharmacy: Community-based Residency Accreditation Standard. The program was developed to permit flexible delivery options so additional offerings can be made available to participants throughout the year and to provide convenient options to train more individuals.  Further information on special offerings to individual programs and planned regional offerings will be announced later in 2016.

As a leading provider of high quality, exceptional continuing pharmacy education, APhA continues to meet the education and training needs of pharmacists in the profession as they prepare for the future. APhA continues to assess the requirements and needs of all pharmacists engaged in residency training and looks forward to developing additional resources, education, products and programs.