The specialized competency framework for industry pharmacists (SCF-IP): validation and pilot assessment

Hala Sacre; May Saab; Chadia Haddad; Mansour Haddad; Rony M Zeenny; Marwan Akel; Aline Hajj; Katia Iskandar; Pascale Salameh

doi:10.1186/s40545-023-00602-8

The specialized competency framework for industry pharmacists (SCF-IP): validation and pilot assessment

J Pharm Policy Pract. 2023 Jul 31;16(1):96. doi: 10.1186/s40545-023-00602-8.

Authors

Hala Sacre^{1

2}, May Saab³, Chadia Haddad^{4

5

6

7}, Mansour Haddad⁸, Rony M Zeenny^{1

9}, Marwan Akel^{1

10

11}, Aline Hajj^{1

12

13

14}, Katia Iskandar^{1

10

15}, Pascale Salameh^{1

16

15

17}

Affiliations

¹ INSPECT-LB (Institut National de Santé Publique, d'Épidémiologie Clinique et de Toxicologie-Liban), Beirut, Lebanon.
² Drug Information Center, Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon, Beirut, Lebanon.
³ Faculty of Pharmacy, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁴ INSPECT-LB (Institut National de Santé Publique, d'Épidémiologie Clinique et de Toxicologie-Liban), Beirut, Lebanon. chadia_9@hotmail.com.
⁵ Research Department, Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross, P.O. Box 60096, Jal Eddib, Lebanon. chadia_9@hotmail.com.
⁶ School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon. chadia_9@hotmail.com.
⁷ School of Health Sciences, Modern University for Business and Science, Beirut, Lebanon. chadia_9@hotmail.com.
⁸ Faculty of Pharmacy, Yarmouk University, Irbid, 21163, Jordan.
⁹ Department of Pharmacy, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
¹⁰ School of Pharmacy, Lebanese International University, Beirut, Lebanon.
¹¹ School of Education, Lebanese International University, Beirut, Lebanon.
¹² Laboratoire de Pharmacologie, Pharmacie Clinique et Contrôle de Qualité Des Médicaments (LPCQM), Faculty of Pharmacy, Saint Joseph University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
¹³ Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.
¹⁴ Oncology Division, CHU de Québec Université Laval Research Center, Québec, Canada.
¹⁵ Faculty of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Hadat, Lebanon.
¹⁶ School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon.
¹⁷ Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University of Nicosia Medical School, 2417, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to validate a specialized competency framework for industry pharmacists and assess correlates related to the competency domains in a pilot sample.

Methods: A team of experts assessed the old framework and improved its content validity after a thorough literature review, using the Delphi technique. Domains and their respective competencies and behaviors were re-defined in the framework. Afterward, a web-based cross-sectional study was carried out between March and October 2022, enrolling a convenient sample of ten industry pharmacists who worked in Lebanese pharmaceutical plants. Participants were contacted through the Syndicate of the Pharmaceutical Industries in Lebanon.

Results: The specialized competency framework for Lebanese industry pharmacists comprised seven domains. Behavioral items had appropriate loading on their respective factors, which could involve one, two or three competencies. Cronbach alpha values for all domains were close to one, showing appropriate reliability. Each domain was correlated with at least another one, except for domains related to pharmaceutical and industrial development and emergency preparedness, which were not correlated with other domains. The lowest confidence was found in the research and development domain, particularly among participants with only a PharmD.

Conclusions: This study validated the specialized competency framework for Lebanese industry pharmacists. Some domains, specifically those related to industrial development and emergency preparedness, were found to diverge from others. Therefore, it would be recommended to include additional education in the emergency preparedness, research and development fields and to integrate industry-specific skills, courses, and training programs into academic curricula. Furthermore, specialized postgraduate degrees may be necessary to produce practice-ready pharmacists to operate effectively in this vital setting.

Keywords: Competency; Framework; Industry; Pharmacist; Reliability; Validity.