A concept paper from EIPG Advisory Group on Competencies vol.2, 2023

This paper is an update of the previous EIPG paper and intends to raise awareness of the changing requirements of the professional profile of Industrial Pharmacists for Pharmacists at any stage of their career who intend to pursue careers in the Pharmaceutical Industry and those involved in the education of Pharmacists to update the education provided accordingly.

This paper is aimed at Pharmacists at all stages of their careers, including Pharmacy students, early career Pharmacists and Pharmacists working in a sector other than the Pharmaceutical Industry. The considerations presented are based on the collective expertise of the group. Therefore, this paper should be consulted as a starting point and is not a complete discussion of Pharmacist knowledge, competencies and skills nor a comprehensive overview of the Pharmaceutical Industry.

The EIPG with responsibility for the Pharmaceutical World, decided to continue the Project of the Advisory Group of Competencies. They used as a baseline document the first version of the position paper from 2020, in order to update the missing or outdated areas in the Pharmaceutical Industry. By examining some new trends and evolutions in drug science and technology, they explained the opportunities and challenges that are likely to arrive. All this information is intended for those at any stage of their Pharmacy career who want to understand their potential within the Pharmaceutical Industry.

The target of the project is to evaluate and determine the roles where the Industrial Pharmacist will work in the future and what knowledge, competencies and skills are needed to fulfill the requirements in these future roles. It is a shared understanding that there are gaps in the current curricula, but academia cannot cover all the needs of the Pharmaceutical Industry. For this reason, the Advisory Group have made some recommendations and proposals to recognize and fill those gaps. Hence, Pharmacists will have a clear view of the various roles in the pharmaceutical life cycle, and will be able to identify areas to develop on order to secure selected roles in the industry. This document may also be helpful in differentiating Pharmacists from other professions when applying for these roles.

You may find the full paper here.