On July 7, 2012, Kevin Moores PharmD, gave a lecture titled “Drug Information and Evidence-Based Practice-role in Pharmacy Education in the US” at the 15th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Drug Informatics in Osaka, Japan. Moores is an associate professor (clinical) and director of the Division of Drug Information Service in the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy. Approximately 600 pharmacy practitioners, educators, and industry representatives were in attendance.

In his presentation, Moores described the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) standards for the curriculum in pharmacy education with a focus on those that are drug information (DI) related. He also disseminated information about drug information practice expectations and standards from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NAPLEX) blueprint, the ACCP core DI concepts, and statements from other pharmacy professional organizations in the United States.

Moores described recent survey results from U.S. pharmacy schools regarding how they are meeting the DI objectives. He shared information about DI services offered in hospitals and colleges, and described those services at Iowa and the Iowa Drug Information Service (IDIS) database. He discussed Institute of Medicine Reports regarding health professions education, evidence-based medicine and common philosophies in drug information practice.

Dr. Moores enjoyed time with his Japanese colleagues, and the exchange of information was beneficial for all parties. “This National Drug Informatics Association meeting in Osaka was a unique opportunity for us to share drug information education and services offered at the University of Iowa. The University of Iowa College of Pharmacy has established relationships with Colleges of Pharmacy in Japan, and we have had a number of faculty and student exchanges over the past decade. This visit will help further develop relationships in the area of drug information. The opportunity to share information about the services that we provide with pharmacy educators as well as representatives in pharmacy practice and the pharmaceutical industry may help us expand interactions with additional segments of the pharmacy profession in Japan,” said Moores.

Also in attendance from the UI College of Pharmacy was Kazuhiko Kido, a PharmD candidate from the class of 2013, who participated in a symposium analyzing drug information education from different perspectives. The title of his talk was “Introducing the features of DI education program in the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy from student point of view and discussing the way of acquiring applied skills of drug information to each patient case through the program.”