Prof. Yandi Syukri Envisions Strengthening Quality of Indonesia’s Pharmacy Higher Education

Yogyakarta—Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) has again shown its commitment to improving the quality of Indonesia’s health-sector higher education. This time, UII professor and Head of Pharmacy Major, Prof. Dr. apt. Yandi Syukri, M.Si, was elected as Chairman of the Indonesian Pharmacy Higher Education Association (APTFI) for the 2023-2027 period.

He was elected and approved by the members’ congress. UII’s Pharmacy Major has been the association’s member for the past 23 years since 2000.

The APTFI is a forum that aims to develop Indonesia’s pharmaceutical sector, with members comprising of leaders from each of the university member.

Prof. Dr. apt. Yandi Syukri said that one of the key problems in Indonesia’s pharmaceutical sector was the shortage of pharmacists. “There’s a gap between what the industry needs and how many pharmacists can higher education institutions produce,” he said. “The production is low, but the demand is high, especially in the eastern part of Indonesia and other underdeveloped areas.”

Therefore, he said, a difficult task for the industry was to add more excellent-grade undergraduate pharmacy program studies at Indonesian universities. More than 50% of undergraduate pharmacy programs is still graded C, according to the professor.

“Efforts for coaching and development are critical. There must be quality improvements so that pharmacy program studies with lower accreditation can get a higher grade,” he said.

“If their undergraduate program accreditation improves to at least B, then they can establish a pharmacy professional study program. The minimum accreditation to establish this program is B, or very good,” said Prof. Dr. apt. Yandi Syukri.

The professor also reminded of the importance of strategic partners in improving the quality of pharmacy education. “Of utmost importance is how to improve the quality of Indonesia’s pharmacy higher education programs, including facilitations to accelerate their establishment of a pharmacy professional program,” he said.

“For this, APTFI plays a critical role because the establishment of such program requires recommendation from the association as well as the Indonesian Pharmacists’ Association,” the professor added. (VIP Magazine Vol 10)