Clinical pharmacy practice in Saudi Arabia: Historical evolution and future perspective

Over the past three decades, the pharmacy profession in Saudi Arabia has been evolving steadily in different areas of practice, particularly in clinical pharmacy. This evolution has resulted from the significant advancements made in clinical pharmacy education and training. From an educational perspective, the vast majority of newly established pharmacy schools have adopted the Doctor of Pharmacy degree instead of the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree. From a training perspective, there has been a massive expansion in the number of residency training sites. A significant advancement was declared when several Saudi pharmacy schools and residency training programs were able to meet the standards that were set forth and were similar to those available in the United States. This was achieved through certification and accreditation from well-established accreditation bodies like the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Currently, clinical pharmacists in Saudi Arabia have assumed advanced practice roles as a result of these advancements. Hence, there is a need to describe the advancing role of the clinical pharmacy practice model in Saudi Arabia. This paper will review clinical pharmacy education and training, its historical evolution, the current practice model, the challenges, and future perspectives in Saudi Arabia.