A Critical view of Pharmacy Education and Practice in Kenya

The importance of the pharmacy practitioner to the healthcare team in general and to the patient in particular is under serious threat in Kenya. T he perception that the exclusive role of the pharmacist is to dispense medication and manage the supply chain of drugs and related commodi ties underscores the dim view held by the public and other cadres of the healthcare system towards the pharmacy profession. While the rest of the world continues to actively make the practice of pharmacy dynamic, the situation in Kenya has for a good long time remained frustratingly static. Presently, Bachelor of Pharmacy (B. Pharm) is a 5-year program. It is offered in seven institutions namely the University of Nairobi (UoN), Kenyatta University (KU), Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Methodist University (KeMU), Mount Kenya University (MKU) and United States International University (USIU).1 However, the curriculum is structured in such a way that clinical phar macy accounts for a very small part of the program with a year or two being deemed sufficient contact time with this discipline of pharmacy. Moreover, the B. Pharm degree is the minimum pre-requisite for licensure as a pharmacist in the country.