Digital pharmacists: the new wave in pharmacy practice and education

Abstract

Pharmacists now face the biggest challenges in the history of the profession: the use of digital technologies in pharmacy practice and education and the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019. Worldwide, pharmaceutical care and pharmacy education via digital technologies have significantly increased and will be incorporated into patient care and the teaching–learning process, respectively. Thus, in this new era of pharmacy practice and education, curricula should promote the development of specific competencies for the cognitive, conscious, and effective use of digital tools. This requires the training of “disruptive” educators, who are capable of using teaching–learning methods adapted to the digital environment and educational processes suitable for stimulating the use of effective disruptive technologies. This commentary argues that the pharmacy profession can no longer wait for the slow integration of digital technologies into pharmacy practice and education.