The University of Florida College of Pharmacy has become the nation’s first pharmacy college to secure provisional accreditation for its Continuous Professional Development, or CPD, program. In July, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, or ACPE, granted this status under its new CPD accreditation pathway. CPD is a proactive, self-directed, outcomes-focused approach to lifelong learning using various activities for professional and personal growth.
The provisional accreditation status allows the college’s Office of Continuing Pharmacy Education, or CPE, to offer CPD units to faculty, preceptors, and pharmacists for board recertification and professional development. These units will be incorporated into existing and new activities managed by the CPE office.
“Pharmacists make a pledge to lifelong learning, and earning CPD units is one way they fulfill that commitment to their patients and the profession,” said Teresa Roane, Pharm.D., M.B.A., BCACP, director of continuing pharmacy education and a clinical associate professor in the UF College of Pharmacy. “It’s exciting to be the first college of pharmacy to earn this provisional accreditation status from ACPE and lead the way in developing this new initiative.”
Roane’s team is currently defining the processes the office will use for earning CPD units and the qualifying activities. ACPE is expected to consider the program for full accreditation by the end of the year.