Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cptl Commentary How a more detailed understanding of culture is needed before successful educational change can be made Meagen Rosenthal a, ⁎ , Shane Desselle b , Erin Holmes a a The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, Faser Hall Room 223A, University, MS 38677, United States b Tuuro University, College of Pharmacy Administration and Faculty 2, Rm. 218, 1310 Club Drive, Mara Island, Vallejo, CA 94592, United States ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Academic pharmacy Organizational culture Culture measures Culture change ABSTRACT Introduction: The profession of pharmacy is being afforded many important opportunities, and continues to face many challenges. To successfully address these issues schools and colleges of pharmacy must have a complete understanding of their current context, which includes culture. However, little of the work on culture in pharmacy education specifically defines what these cultures are, and equally importantly how this understanding of culture can be used to make changes, improve student learning, and ultimately develop pharmacists better prepared to im- prove patient outcomes. Perspective: Organizational culture has been defined in a multitude of ways in the literature. Martin's three-perspectives approach, which combines integrated, differentiated, and fragmented understandings, offers one way to approach defining culture and leveraging that definition of change. Furthermore, the organizational culture profile (OCP), is one tool that can be used to identify and differentiate between Martin's three perspectives. Implications: Culture plays an important role in academic pharmacy, but before it can reach its highest potential in improving student outcomes, and faculty experience, it must be completely understood. Martin's approach and the OCP offer one way to achieve this objective. Introduction As with all other health professions, pharmacy is constantly evolving to improve patient care. Provider status is gaining mo- mentum and will hopefully become a reality for all pharmacists in the United States (US) soon. 1 Community pharmacists across the country are creating networks of high performing pharmacies to improve patient care, and demonstrate the value of pharmacy services on a large scale. 2 Hospital pharmacists’ roles are expanding as new practice models are created to include new clinical privileges, the further development of specialty pharmacy services, and continue to prevent harmful medication errors. 3 There are also important challenges facing the profession. One recent study projected that the US may face an oversupply of pharmacists by the year 2030. 4 While the degree of this possible oversupply is a matter of debate, 5,6 dispensing fees are dwindling and becoming more difficult for community pharmacies to manage and understand, which may also result in changes to pharmacy staffing. 7 Furthermore, traditional roles associated with the pharmacist, such as prescription checking and dispensing, are being handed over to pharmacy technicians in many states. 8 An important component of ensuring the success of these changes is making sure pharmacy students obtain the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in this fluid environment. Organizations such as the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2017.05.020 Received 28 August 2016; Received in revised form 10 February 2017; Accepted 20 May 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: mmrosent@olemiss.edu (M. Rosenthal), Shane.Desselle@tu.edu (S. Desselle), erholmes@olemiss.edu (E. Holmes). Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 1877-1297/ © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Rosenthal, M., Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2017.05.020