Legal and applied aspects of digitalisation of higher pharmaceutical education in Ukraine: implementation of the european experience

author: Oksana Manchenko

Urgency of the research. The European integration aspirations of Ukraine determine the formation of its state policy following the trends and priorities of the development of digital healthcare in the European Union. This makes it expedient to study and implement the European experience of digitalisation of higher pharmaceutical education in Ukraine, taking into account regulatory and applied achievements.

Target setting. Global trends in the development of the pharmaceutical market, and the search for approaches to the integration of the domestic pharmaceutical sector into the world, in particular the European one, require, on the one hand, taking into account the challenges associated with the complex socio-cultural situation in Ukraine, and, on the other hand, should be focused on the needs of the State and society regarding the prospects for the development of the pharmaceutical services market and their compliance with the best pharmaceutical standards. In recent years, the digitalization of the pharmaceutical sector and the introduction of an electronic healthcare system in European countries have become the most rapid. Given this, it is advisable to analyze the legal and applied aspects of the implementation of European experience in the field of digitalization of higher pharmaceutical education in Ukraine.

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. The theoretical and practical aspects of the introduction of digital technologies in higher pharmaceutical education have been studied by N. Alyokhina, N. Gorchakova, A. Doroshenko, G. Zaychenko, L. Kaidalova, S. Mosentseva, N. Savchenko, O. Chkhalo and others. However, there is a lack of works that analyze the consistency of regulatory and applied principles of implementation of European experience in the field of digitalisation of higher pharmaceutical education in Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to analyse the regulatory and applied framework for the digitalisation of higher pharmaceutical education in Ukraine in terms of implementing European best practices.

The research objective. The objectives are as follows: to identify and analyse examples of consistency of regulatory and by-laws of Ukraine on the digitalisation of the healthcare sector with European documents; to substantiate the feasibility of implementing European experience in the practice of developing and implementing legal documents on the digitalisation of higher pharmaceutical education, the formation of digital competencies of practicing and future pharmaceutical professionals.

The statement of basic materials. The digital development of the healthcare system in Ukraine is supported by the state and society, as evidenced by the adoption of several important regulatory acts, including the Law of Ukraine “On Medicines”, the Strategy for the Development of Medical Education in Ukraine, and several orders of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, including “On Approval of the Concept for the Development of Digital Competencies and Approval of the Action Plan for its Implementation”, “On Approval of the Concept for the Development of Electronic Healthcare”. An example of a successful implementation of digital tools in the healthcare system is eHealth, which currently includes several IT systems, registries, digital services, and digital products, the most famous of which is the electronic healthcare system (EHS), a key information and communication system that contains medical data on the health of 35 million Ukrainians and unites most medical institutions and pharmacies in the country into a single digital medical space. Thanks to the UHS, Ukrainian citizens can use digital services such as e-prescriptions, e-referrals, e-medical certificates, etc. The implementation of the state policy on digitalization of higher pharmaceutical education in modern Ukraine is based on the development of digital technologies and covers all specialties. This necessitates overcoming the existing limitations in the development of digital transformation in higher pharmaceutical education, and the formation of future masters of pharmacy digital competencies at the stage of acquiring the future profession. Thus, the use of digital technologies in the educational process should improve the quality of students’ self-study work, stimulate the development of research activities of both teachers and students, create a new didactic and methodological framework for the activities of institutions that would meet the requirements of the digitalisation process, and contribute to the intensification of the educational process under martial law in Ukraine.

Conclusions. The state policy of Ukraine on the digitalisation of higher pharmaceutical education is fully consistent with the priorities of the European Union in this area and also takes into account the experience of developing and implementing European standards and regulations. Regulatory and legal acts of Ukraine in the field of digitalisation of higher pharmaceutical education are developed and implemented in practice to improve the level of digital competencies of practitioners and future masters of pharmacy, to help in the creation of state policy and planning of educational initiatives aimed at increasing the level of digital literacy and practical use of digital technologies in the educational process of higher medical/pharmaceutical education institutions.

Keywords: digital transformation of the healthcare sector, digitalisation of higher pharmaceutical education, digital competencies of future masters of pharmacy

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