The 29th of July 29, 2023 marked the culmination of the 6-month Clinical Pharmacy Training Program (CPTP) with the graduation ceremony held at the Emilio T. Yap Auditorium of the UP College of Pharmacy.

The CPTP has been designed to orient and expose hospital pharmacy practitioners to the different issues, opportunities, and challenges in the Philippine pharmacy profession that concern clinical pharmacy services. The training program was made possible through an educational grant from Pfizer Philippines, Inc.

The program participants were trained to critically evaluate evidence for managing drug therapy problems, develop practical individualized pharmacist’s care plans, and develop sound clinical pharmacy project proposals. After a series of virtual sessions for the lectures, workshops, and case presentations, the 20 scholar participants from 18 hospitals and medical centers across the Philippines attended the face-to-face graduation ceremony where they received their Certificates of Completion.

After last year’s successful first implementation of the program, the program offering for this year has been improved and enhanced by including more clinical pharmacy services and pharmacotherapeutic topics as part of the modules. As a final requirement, the scholars were tasked to formulate their project proposals, which will eventually be implemented in their respective institutions. Also present during the ceremony were CPTP Program Leader and UPCP Dean Francis R. Capule, the faculty members of the UPCP Department of Pharmacy, representatives from Pfizer Philippines, Inc., and guests. The keynote speech was given by Ms. Chrisel G. Carreon, clinical educator of St. Luke’s Medical Center. A message on behalf of the scholar participants was given by Mr. Basil C. Baylon of the Western Visayas Medical Center. Congratulations to the second batch of Clinical Pharmacy Training Program on your graduation! Padayon!

I Francis R. Capule, Mac Ardy J. Gloria, Erica Nicole J. Tayko