Introduction: Healthcare is changing rapidly around the globe. As such, the pharmacy of the future will occupy many different spaces in the healthcare ecosystem. Future pharmacists will need a vast array of new knowledge and skills to navigate the shifting professional landscape. Education plays a crucial role in actualizing the exciting future that lies ahead for the profession. Pharmacy practice and education are inextricably linked; hence, you cannot reimagine one without the other. Pharmacy education of the future needs to be dynamic, nimble, adaptable, future-oriented, and skills-based to thrive. How do we build this contemporary curriculum within the academic and professional frameworks we work within?
Methods: Drawing on experience from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto's curricular renewal project, this interactive session will explore future healthcare trends and threats facing contemporary higher education and their potential impacts on pharmacy education. We will examine strategies for curricular reform initiatives that meet regulatory requirements and address these challenges while prioritizing faculty, student, professional well-being, and health human resource issues.
Results: After completing this session, participants will understand opportunities and threats to pharmacy education and how they can use these ideas to spark conversations within their pharmacy programs to rethink and reimagine pharmacy curricula. Participants will also understand the impact of curricular reform initiatives on various stakeholders who intersect pharmacy education.
Conclusion: The evolution of healthcare practice and rising threats to higher education put pharmacy training programs at risk of obsolescence, declining applicant pipelines, and human resource issues. To survive, pharmacy programs must challenge the status quo, reimagine education, and implement creative solutions to graduate fit-for-purpose, future-ready graduates.

Introduction: As pharmacists’ scope of practice evolves to include expanded responsibilities such as prescribing, having a robust consultation technique is imperative. The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA), in partnership with Audirie and Hale AI, has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) powered patient simulation enabling pharmacists to experience consultations and receive feedback on their performance. This innovation aims to enhance practitioner development and improve patient care.
Method: In March 2024, pharmacists in Queensland were legally permitted to prescribe hormonal contraception under a new Queensland Community Pharmacy Hormonal Contraception Pilot. PSA developed a training program that assesses pharmacists’ competence in recommending and prescribing contraception according to Queensland Health Clinical Practice Guidelines. AI technology was employed to assess pharmacists’ consultation skills in alignment with these guidelines.
Results: Launched in July 2024, the PSA Sexual and Reproductive Health Contraceptive Service – Queensland training program features an interactive AI-powered simulation assessment. This includes two simulated patient consultations involving dynamic interactions requiring the pharmacist to make appropriate recommendations for each patient. Pharmacists are evaluated on their ability to understand patient needs, communicate management options, apply shared decision-marking, convey treatment decisions and adhere to documentation requirements. The AI-powered feedback assesses performance on key competencies, including patient empowerment, empathy, diagnostic accuracy, intervention quality and treatment advice.
Conclusion: The PSA Sexual and Reproductive Health Contraceptive Service – Queensland training program supports pharmacists expanding their role to include prescribing hormonal contraception. Through innovative AI-powered simulations, this program offers pharmacists a realistic and immersive assessment experience to demonstrate and enhance their consultation competence