Assuring excellence in distance pharmaceutical education: art. no. 94

Assuring Excellence in Distance Pharmaceutical Education explores methods for providing quality distributive education, one of the most complex issues facing pharmacy and all of higher education today. Significant issues are identified including quality assurance guidelines, strategies for teaching and learning at a distance, research into the effectiveness of various methodologies, as well as technologies available to deliver distance education and evaluation. Practical issues such as the unique challenge in interacting with students that are not physically present are discussed. Since research provides tangible measures of performance in distance education and supports the assumption that distance learning can be quality learning, this paper concludes with 7 recommendations for colleges, 5 recommendations for AACP, and 4 recommendations for ACPE to ensure excellence in distance education programs.