tailieunhanh - Testimony of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) “Addressing Health Care Workforce Issues for the Future” February 12, 2008

Competencies within different contexts may require different bundles of skills, knowledge and attitudes. The challenge is to determine which competencies can be bundled together to provide the optimal grouping for performing tasks. Another challenge is designing learning experiences that support students as they practice using and applying these competencies in different contexts. Continual refinement of defined competencies is necessary so that enhanced performance in a variety of contexts can be assessed. In essence, CBE is a process, not a product. . | Testimony of the Ámerican Ássociation of Colleges of Pharmacy Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions HELP Addressing Health Care Workforce Issues for the Future February 12 2008 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy 1426 Prince Street Alexandria VA 22314 703 739-2330 American Association of Discover Learn Care Improve Health Thank you for the opportunity to present testimony to the Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions HELP . The issue of a health professions workforce is of national and international concern. My testimony will be provided without the benefit of accompanying graphs and charts. Information regarding the pharmacist workforce as well as any other health professions workforce is readily accessible to you and your staff. My intention is to briefly describe why we need 1. a federal presence in the development of a comprehensive health professions workforce strategy and 2. an incremental strategy that can assist in the strategy development. Regarding the international implications of our lack of a comprehensive federal health professions workforce strategy I will direct you to the recent report of the World Health Organization WHO . The following statement of the WHO Global Health Workforce Alliance supports my contention that we must work now in a comprehensive manner to address our nation s health workforce needs. We will not view the workforce in isolation but as the principal component in strengthening health systems and tackling priority health problems - all integrated into a nation s health and development priorities. 1 The Bureau of Labor Statistics in their Occupational Outlook Handbook shows that the demand for almost all health professions will remain strong. 2 Individual health professions and federal agencies can relate current snapshots of the health professions workforce. 3 Today we should remove ourselves from the issue of quantity and discuss our next steps in the area of a health .