Abstract

Role of Recent Technologies and its Importance in Pharmaceutical Education due to Outbreak of COVID-19

Bhagyashree Agrawal, Shruti Rathore, Deepesh Lall, Nisha Verma 1

8th WCPSDM.2021. APR.Published Online 18 APR 2021

Abstract : The novel coronavirus in late 2019 outbreaks each day breaking news about the disease, updated case numbers, and intense government announcements. These stories vary by global region but suggest a united concern for health care workers. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11th March 2020. In the same month, the Central Government of India, suspended physical attendance in all the educational institutes announcing the shift of all educational activities to online mode. This moves to distance learning, precisely online learning, forced the educational institutes and the academic staff to adjust their teaching and assessment methods. Similar to the other healthcare education programs in higher education, the pharmacy education sector was also affected. Both the academic staff and the students in the pharmacy had a very limited time to adjust their lifestyle as well as the educational activities. Challenging situations often lead to new and innovative ways. Pharmacy educators capitalized on this extraordinary time to create opportunities for them. For many years, leaders of educational institutions have considered the best manner in which to take advantage of the technological tools enabling the realization of e-Learning. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic many educators be able to move post these barriers to digitize their curricula and provide their learners with distance-based education. The present literature concludes about the digitalization of pharmacy education, its existing barriers, its importance, its acceptance and efforts of educators.