Empowering Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians: A System-Wide Continuing Education Program

Continuing Education (CE) is vital for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to maintain competence, as defined by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Our hospital system is mainly based in New York State, which has specific CE requirements for live credits such medication error and compounding. Recognizing the health system’s pediatric service line has expertise in pediatric pharmacy, we describe a CE program was established to fulfill licensure requirements, foster professional development, and disseminate current pediatric pharmacotherapy knowledge across the health system. Each CE included a five-question pre-test and post-test to assess knowledge gained. Since July 2023, 13 events have been conducted (3 patient safety, 1 compounding, 9 disease state/drug therapy), achieving a median live attendance of 136 participants (range 56-152). Pharmacists demonstrated a 29% increase in post-test scores, while technicians showed a 6% increase. The program successfully met its goals by efficiently providing essential education virtually, integrating participant feedback for topic refinement, and supporting system initiatives. A limitation was historically lower participation from pharmacy technicians, partly due to the recent formalization of their NYS licensure.