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Introduction Pharmacists have a unique opportunity to promote good health through assuring the quality use of medicines. One of the most important tools to achieve this is medication counseling. Counseling plays an important role in enhancing medication adherence and optimizing medication therapy. Therefore, for improving the quality of services delivered by community pharmacists, it is essential to assess the current situation of counseling services delivered to patients. Aims and objectives To date, there is a paucity of data regarding the quality of counseling services delivered to patients in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to fill this gap through evaluating the counseling skills and counseling content delivered by pharmacists in a sample of community pharmacies in Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. Methods The study was conducted at eleven community pharmacies in Qassim region. A convenient sample of community pharmacies was chosen based on their willingness to participate. To gather information, a form was prepared based on the core and complementary drug use indicators for evaluation of drug use in healthcare settings developed by the WHO. The study was conducted through observing the counseling services performed by the community pharmacists who participated in the study. Results Two hundred and thirty-five forms were completed in eleven community pharmacies. A total of 44.4% of the counseling skills was found to be performed adequately, while only 20.1% of the counseling contents were performed adequately. Conclusions The overall standard of medication counseling services provided to patients to improve usage of their medications, and consequently, their well-being was poor.

Assessment is an essential and crucial component of the curriculum of all faculties. It is an integral part of learning and one of the tools used to help students in their learning progress. It also is considered to be an important point when rating faculties by accreditation bodies. Therefore, it is essential when talking about education to cover assessment. Different strategies and methods of assessment have been developed to support and measure students’ performance. This chapter presents those strategies and methods and their role of assessment in pharmacy education. Then it elaborates on: written examinations, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), and portfolios. Thereafter, methods/tools of assessment are discussed further in terms of presenting some guidelines for selecting the appropriate assessment method. General guidelines like cost considerations, institutional culture, and curriculum considerations are also presented. Finally, merits and limitations of automation of assessment are discussed.

Despite the efforts of national and international regulatory agencies and organizations, presence of substandard and counterfeit drugs in developing countries' markets continues to rise. This necessitates the development of new countermeasures that can help to combat this problem. This chapter introduces perspective, knowledge, and attitude of various stakeholders, with special emphasize on consumers, in developing countries on counterfeit and substandard medicines with the aim of offering better understanding of the influence of these factors on vulnerability to substandard and counterfeit drugs. This better understanding is hoped to help policy makers to develop more effective combating strategies that are specifically designed to suit developing countries' setting. This chapter ends by presenting the recommendations, challenges, and lessons learned and has concluded that, for more effective strategies to combat substandard and counterfeit drugs in developing countries, it may be better to include measures specifically tailored to suit consumers in developing countries' context.

This chapter introduces the concept of adequate pharmaceutical service, ideally provided by pharmacists, as a vital component of the health care system in Sudan. The chapter starts with a comprehensive description of Sudan's health care system in general and different aspects related to pharmacy practice specifically. In emphasizing aspects related to pharmacy practice, the chapter covers industrial pharmacy and pharmaceutical technology, medicine supply and distribution, medicine pricing and financing, and regulatory issues governing pharmacy practice before introducing practice regulation in general. The following subsections highlight issues like pharmacy education, achievements and challenges in the pharmacy practice, opportunities, and future recommendations. Lastly, the chapter lists a number of lessons learned that need to be addressed for more effective strategies and better pharmacy practice in Sudan.