(225) Exploration of Disaster Preparedness Content in the Pharmacy Curriculum

Objective : The CDC has outlined 6 domains of Emergency Preparedness. Overall research question: Are schools and colleges of pharmacy prepared to deal with national emergencies or public health disasters?

Objectives: 1. To identify if schools and colleges of pharmacy cover content on preparing for national disasters in their curriculum? 2. To compare curricular content across schools and colleges of pharmacy.

Methods: An 18-item survey was created which asked respondents to share information about the demographics of their institution that they belong to as well as the emergency preparedness content in their program’s curricula. Items explored to what extent this type of content was included and if there was guidance from the CDC domains. The survey was emailed to the Deans of Assessment of schools/colleges of pharmacy across the US. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Responses were received from 39 programs, the majority of which were teaching focused (69.2%) and located in the South (38.5%). Curricular content related to emergency preparedness was either required (52.6%) or elective (7.9%). Didactic method of teaching was preferred (61.1%). Of the six domains of emergency preparedness, countermeasures and terrorism was the most applied in the curriculum (20%). Colleges in the western region reported the highest application of the CDC domains on emergency preparedness (4/6 domains), followed by colleges in the northeastern region (3/6 domains). Only five schools did not use any of the CDC domains to teach emergency preparedness content.

Conclusions: The results suggest the inclusion of various domains of emergency preparedness content in pharmacy programs. Faculty members may evaluate curricular content and identify gaps to better prepare students.