A Scoping Review of Calls to Action in Pharmacy Education

Objectives: Calls to action within pharmacy education are frequently seen in the literature, with little information about their authors, audience, and focus, especially whether these calls led to any changes. This scoping review aims to (1) quantitatively and qualitatively characterize the calls to action in pharmacy education and (2) examine the traits of the published articles typically associated with effective advocacy.

Findings: A systematic literature search for scoping review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. From 3,287 articles, 232 articles were included and extracted for their specific call to action such as topics, audience, and quality of the call. Two-thirds (66.7%) of the calls were initiated by groups of faculty, 49% were commentary/opinion/editorial, and 39% focused on the PharmD curriculum. Over 90% of the articles were published between 2013-2023, with 26% published in 2023 alone. Most calls were directed at colleges/schools of pharmacy (81%). Only 21% of articles had a strong call for action with next steps or recommendations for enacting change.

Summary: The most frequently published calls to action were related to PharmD curriculum, authored by a group of faculty, directed to PharmD programs, and published in post-pandemic years but often not sufficiently strong to elicit change. To evoke change, calls to action should include several key characteristics based on this scoping review, such as written in an active voice, to a specific audience, with clearly stated problems, and with actionable solutions that could be implemented.