The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) is exploring the option of tying up with the US Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) with a view to help Indian pharmacists get easy job openings in the US.

ACPE is a body recognised by the US Department of Education for the accreditation of professional degree programmes in pharmacy education and is also the national agency for the accreditation of providers of continuous pharmacy education.

Talking to Pharmabiz, Dr.B.Suresh, president, PCI said, "Initial discussions are on to help Indian pharmacists get accreditation in US. In this connection, PCI hopes to come up with a concrete plan within a few months. Further deliberations would be done with Michael J. Rouse, assistant executive director, International and Professional Affairs, ACPE, who will be visiting India during 4th-5th of March, 2006 to participate in the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) national convention on pharmacy education to be held in Coimbatore."

At present ACPE has an international accreditation programme as part of its endeavour to promote pharmacy education practices beyond the borders of the US. ACPE already works closely with the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programmes (CCAPP) and the Canadian standards for the entry-level pharmacy degree based on ACPE's Pharm.D standards. Pharm.D is the sole accredited professional degree in the US. Countries like Canada, Japan, Portugal, Korea and South Africa have been assisted by ACPE to establish or develop their own quality assurance systems for pharmacy education. ACPE also took the initiative to set up an international forum for the quality assurance of pharmacy education to promote information exchange among organisations and agencies involved in the quality assurance of pharmacy education, informed ACPE sources.

ACPE is an autonomous and independent agency whose Board of Directors are selected from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) and the American Council on Education (ACE).