Pediatric Pharmacotherapeutic Education: Current Status and Recommendations to Fill the Growing Need Robert G. Aucoin, Pharm.D., Marcia L. Buck, Pharm.D., L. Lee Dupuis, M.Sc.(Pharm.), FCSHP, Karen D. Dominguez, Pharm.D., and Katherine P. Smith, Pharm.D. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education and the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs state that their respective programs should provide a curriculum appropriate to produce general practitioners of pharmacy. Millions of prescriptions are written for infants and children each year, and relatively few pharmacists practice in environments devoid of pediatric patients. To fulfill the stated mandate, professional pharmacy curricula must include adequate content dedicated to pharmaceutical care of the pediatric patient. Current pediatric curricula are inadequate and must be improved. Pediatric topics should be introduced early in the curriculum to increase students’ awareness of the special needs of this vulnerable population. Other recommendations include the provision at least 25 hours of didactic instruction in core pediatric areas and at least one pediatric clinical rotation to all students. Pharmaceutical care of pediatric patients can also be improved by offering pediatric rotations to all pharmacy practice residents and encouraging their participation. However, a change in attitude may be most important. The contention that pediatric pharmacy practice is an isolated subspecialty can no longer be supported. Key Words: pharmacy education, pediatrics, curriculum, recommendations. (Pharmacotherapy 2005;25(9):1277–1282) Children are an important segment of the population that pharmacists serve. In 2003, approximately 80.2 million children resided in the United States, representing 27.6% of the total population. 1 Canadian statistics are similar to these, with 7.8 million children making up 24.6% of the population. 2 In a study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pediatricians prescribed drugs in approximately 65 million office visits in 1998. 3 With the continued trend to outpatient therapy, no signs suggest that this level of prescribing will abate, and there are relatively few pharmacists who are not exposed to pediatric patients. Therefore, all pharmacists are expected to have baseline knowledge about the most common medically treated diseases and the drugs used in pediatric patients. This knowledge must be introduced at the earliest possible time in their education. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education 4 and the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs 5 state that Doctor of Pharmacy curricula and undergraduate From the Department of Pharmacy, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Dr. Aucoin); the Department of Pharmacy Services, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia (Dr. Buck); the Department of Pharmacy Services, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Ms. Dupuis); the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Dr. Dominguez); and the College of Pharmacy, University of Southern Nevada, Henderson, Nevada (Dr. Smith). This paper represents the opinion of the Pediatric Practice and Research Network of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). It does not necessarily represent an official ACCP commentary, guideline, or statement of policy or position. Address reprint requests to Robert G. Aucoin, Pharm.D., Department of Pharmacy, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, 5000 Hennessy Boulevard, Baton Rouge, LA 70808.