Should a Pharmacy Dean be a Pharmacist?

I submit this commentary with the belief that the matter at hand is of significance for the profession and the academy to which I have devoted my career. I also do so with some level of trepidation. The subject matter I fear may offend, disenfranchise, and/or even dishearten a number of professional colleagues for whom I have a high degree of personal and professional regard. Nevertheless, I believe pharmacy education is an outlier among health professional programs on this issue and debate is merited. The issue is simply stated in the title of this commentary: Should a pharmacy dean be a pharmacist? It is intentional that the title is not: Can a nonpharmacist be a pharmacy dean? The answer to that question is, obviously, yes. Numerous individuals with no formal education within the profession of pharmacy serve as deans of pharmacy programs. I know several who provide excellent programmatic leadership. The question I want to consider is not whether such individuals can serve in this role, but should they serve in this leadership position. More particularly, is it the best option for a pharmacy program to be led by a nonpharmacist? I begin with the assertion that pharmacy education represents an aberration of leadership characteristics among health professions programs. Table 1 summarizes the requirements for deanship of key health professions programs as stipulated by respective accrediting agencies. While there are other health professions programs that could be considered, these were selected because they are commonly free standing schools or colleges within their academic institution. In contrast, other health professions (eg, physical therapy, occupational therapy, medical physics) are generally structured as a department within a college or school. The majority of accrediting agencies of health professions programs, such as the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education, American Veterinary Medicine Association Council on Education, Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, and Council on Podiatric Medical Education, require deans to be educated formally in the profession they are leading. In addition to pharmacy, there are notable exceptions. (1) The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) does not require the medical school dean to be a physician. It is stipulated, however, such an individual must have the appropriate qualifications to lead an academic medical unit. Interestingly, the LCME indicates all current medical school deans are physicians. (2) Similarly, the Commission on Dental Education does not require the dean to be a dentist. An assessment of dental programs conducted on the Internet revealed only two schools with a dean who is not a dentist. (3) In both instances, these deans hold a PhD and were long-standing faculty members within the dental programs at the time of their appointments as dean. In contrast, 14% of accredited pharmacy programs are led by nonpharmacists. (4) While most nonpharmacist deans were long-standing faculty members in a pharmacy program prior to their appointment, some had no apparent experience within academic pharmacy or the profession overall. (4) It appears pharmacy is unique among health professions programs in its acceptance of being led by individuals inexperienced in the profession prior to their appointment. The backgrounds of current and recent pharmacy deans include medicine, physical therapy, various basic sciences, and political science. Such individuals seem to have been appointed without meaningful experience in pharmacy education or the profession. Similar to standards of accrediting agencies for medicine and dentistry, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standard 8 requires deans "be qualified to provide leadership in pharmacy professional education and practice, including research, scholarly activities, and service." (5) Guidelines within the standard stipulate the individual must have a degree in pharmacy or a strong understanding of contemporary pharmacy and health care systems, in addition to characteristics that necessitate significant experience within the profession and academic pharmacy itself, such as a scholarly concern for the profession and the diverse aspects of pharmacy practice.

Field of study: Education, Medicine