American Society of Health-System Pharmacists is a professional organization that represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in hospitals, health systems, ambulatory clinics, and other healthcare settings. The organization's nearly 58,000 members include pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. ASHP maintains a national database on U.S. drug shortages that is published on their website..
The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Academic Affairs Committee (2025-2026) was charged with continuing to advance competency-based pharmacy education (CBPE) efforts. Specifically, the committee was asked to develop and pilot readiness-to-change instruments for faculty, administrators, preceptors, and learners, as well as to develop recommendations for the training and development of coaches in the context of CBPE. A national Delphi panel and stakeholder focus groups informed the development of the instruments. A scoping review focused on the training and development of coaches was completed. This report summarizes CBPE work to date and outlines practical recommendations and suggestions based on our findings and a thorough review of the published literature. Although the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy is uniquely positioned to lead this conversation, offer faculty and staff development, and develop frameworks and guidance, individual institutions can make meaningful progress by assessing organizational and individual readiness, building programmatic assessment capacity, and developing effective coaches. Although agreement has not yet been fully achieved around CBPE language, concepts, or implementation, preparing the profession to adopt a coherent CBPE model capable of meeting the evolving needs of learners, practice, and society is necessary.
PURPOSE:To develop a structured, pharmacy-specific framework that defines the essential digital health and telehealth knowledge and skills required for student pharmacists and practicing pharmacists across educational and practice settings. SUMMARY:An expert panel convened by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists conducted a targeted literature review and environmental scan, followed by an iterative, consensus-driven development process over 18 months. The resulting framework organizes competencies into 7 domains: Technology and Digital Literacy; Patient Communication, Education, and Engagement; Documentation and Information Management; Clinical Assessment and Decision-Making; Operational Management and Workflow Integration; Regulatory Compliance and Ethical Practice; and Quality Improvement and Evaluation. Each domain includes actionable skills aligned with real-world telehealth workflows and mapped to entrustable professional activities to support competency-based education. The framework also incorporates practical curricular applications, including learning objectives, assessment strategies, and experiential activities, to facilitate integration into didactic curricula, experiential training, and continuing professional development. This approach addresses gaps in current pharmacy education, where digital health training is often fragmented, inconsistent, or insufficiently tailored to the pharmacist's role in interdisciplinary care. CONCLUSION:This framework provides a comprehensive and adaptable foundation for integrating digital health and telehealth competencies into pharmacy education and practice. By standardizing expectations and aligning training with evolving healthcare technologies, it supports the preparation of pharmacists to deliver safe, effective, and patient-centered care in digitally enabled environments while promoting ongoing professional development and workforce readiness.
OBJECTIVES:To synthesize available literature and guidance on competency expectations in PharmD education and to propose a practical framework that distinguishes foundational competencies required of all graduates from competencies best developed through structured specialization pathways. FINDINGS:Pharmacy practice is expanding across clinical, scientific, regulatory, public health, and technology-enabled roles, increasing pressure on PharmD curricula that are already densely packed. Reports and studies indicate that while foundational competencies are broadly endorsed, students' readiness to apply them in complex settings is variable. Programs can protect core clinical preparation while enabling intentional depth by using scalable, opt-in models such as longitudinal tracks, embedded capstones, and cross-sector partnerships, supported by advising and mentored practice. SUMMARY:Clarifying what must be achieved by all graduates versus what should be pursued through structured specialization can help mitigate curricular overload pressures, strengthen professional identity formation, and support a practice-ready and adaptable workforce. Thoughtful pathway design grounded in equity, accreditation requirements, and outcomes evaluation offers a feasible route to align PharmD training with the profession's evolving needs.
