The pharmacy profession in Hong Kong has come a long way. An important milestone in this tortuous journey is the founding of the bachelor of pharmacy program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 1992 and of another program at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 2009. The CUHK graduates have already played an active role in evolving the pharmacy profession in Hong Kong significantly during all these years. There are ample opportunities for us to contribute our drug expertise in achieving even better health care, especially with the anticipated expansion in pharmacy student enrollment in the years to come. The profession must continue to grow in depth as well as breadth in knowledge and skills in order to stand up to the challenges posed by the ever increasing complexity of patient needs. Under the visionary leadership of Professor Vincent Lee and Professor Kenneth Lee, The College of Pharmacy Practice was established in September 2010 to support local pharmacists in advancing their scope of practice.
The College was structured as an independent, internationally recognized professional body with a mandate to provide specialist training to pharmacists. By ensuring the competency of pharmacists in various practice areas, the College expects that the professional image of pharmacists will be enhanced and the public recognition of the profession will be increased. The fifteen founding members came from different practice sectors and professional generations, with five of them being SOP graduates.
An open forum was organized on 25 Feb 2011 to introduce the structure and share the vision of the College with colleagues. It was attended by about 40 pharmacists, and many participants encouraged the College to swiftly lead the transformation of pharmacy practice in step with a changing health care system. Good suggestions were received particularly on topics of specialty training areas. On the basis of these suggestions and related discussions at the forum, an on-line survey was developed and launched. The survey will remain open until the end of August. The results will be analyzed with the objective to establish a framework for a curriculum of specialty training consistent with the collective view of the responders.
Our long-term vision for the College is to establish itself as an independent accreditation and recognizable professional titles granting authority for the pharmacy profession in Hong Kong, including the election of fellows who are pharmacists at the forefront of pharmaceutical care. We need you support in achieving this important goal for the profession and for making a healthier Hong Kong a realty.