The 5th Asian Association of Schools of Pharmacy (AASP) Deans Forum, organized by AASP and hosted by the School of Pharmacy, Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), has been successfully held at MUST, Macau, on 9 – 11 July 2018. This 3-days forum has invited a total of 26 internationally acclaimed experts from 11 countries including China, USA, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia as guest speakers and welcomed nearly 100 attendees, comprising deans, educators, leaders and academics of pharmacy education, researchers and scientists as well as students.

President of AASP, Associate Professor Dr. Fe-Lin Lin WU, Rector of MUST, Chair Professor Dr. Liu Liang and Dean of School of Pharmacy of MUST, Chair Professor Dr. Zhu Yi Zhun, were invited to deliver welcome remarks at the opening ceremony of the forum. In Dr. Fe-Lin Lin Wu’s welcome address, on behalf of AASP, she welcomed all delegates for their active participation and expressed her sincere gratitude, to Dr. Zhi Yi Zhun and his team at MUST for their tremendous efforts in hosting this 5th AASP Deans Forum. AASP Deans forum serves as a platform to promote communication and exchange on curriculum development, direction of pharmacy education and research activities among academia and pharmacy practitioners in Asia. She also emphasized the development of pharmacy education that can equip pharmacy graduates with ability and passion to contribute in the rapidly changing health-care environment in coming decades.

In the welcome address delivered by Chair Professor Dr. Liu Liang, Rector of MUST, he warmly welcomed all guests to this forum and highlighted that an international exchange opportunity like this event can help to move forward the development of pharmacy education and pharmaceutical research, thereby contributing to the development of China's pharmaceutical industry. Chair Professor, Dr. Zhu Yi Zhun, emphasized that pharmacy education and pharmaceutical R & D are essential to the development of health-care industry and life sciences. He encouraged the industry counterparts and stakeholders of pharmacy education to come together to foster mutual learning, interactions and communication, to improve the development of pharmacy education in Asia such that the future pharmacy graduates will be better equipped, contributing to the advancement of human health and life sciences.

The forum has a total of 27 lectures and presentations. The topics were engaging and had stimulated enthusiastic interactions among the guest speakers and attendees.  In Dr. Zhu Yi Zhun’s report on "Start of Pharmacy Education in Macau: Today and Tomorrow", he introduced the establishment and the growth of School of Pharmacy of MUST since 2016 and future development plan. Being the first pharmacy school in Macau, the presence of School of Pharmacy of MUST is undoubtedly a great milestone achieved in the history of Macao. Although the school is still in the early stage of its development, its’ association with the State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines (Macau University of Science and Technology partner laboratory), which is equipped with capability in advanced scientific research, good teaching facilities and excellent academic staff, has enabled it to gradually demonstrate its vigorous vitality. For scientific achievements, there are 22 publications with impact factor greater than 5 whereas 2 publications with impact factor greater than 10. The School of Pharmacy is currently actively developing a joint master's program with the School of Pharmacy of the University of Pittsburgh in the United States, with the aims to cultivate international vision in the students and to further advance the development of pharmacy education.

The Dean of University of Texas School of Medicine, USA, Professor Lynn Crismon gave an overview on the influence of the transformation in Medical system on the mode of pharmacy education in USA in his presentation on "Perspectives on advances in pharmacy education in the USA”. Professor Yao Wen Bing from China Pharmaceutical University shared the history and development of clinical pharmacy in mainland China since 2007 and the challenges encountered in his presentation on "Current situation and professional certification of clinical pharmacy in China". Professor Koichiro Ozawa from Hiroshima University, Japan, introduced the present model of core curriculum of Japanese pharmacy education and its evaluation standard. Professor Ibrahim Jantan from Universiti Kebangsaan of Malaysia has shared on Malaysia's current pharmaceutical education system and future directions whereas Associate Professor Xie Ying of the MUST shared experiences on the education of Pharmacokinetic courses based on practical.

This forum has received acclamation and remarkable appraisals from both the overseas and local attendees. This 3-day forum not only strengthened the exchanges between the industry counterparts and academics, but also promoted the interaction and communication among different national agencies, creating a wonderful memory and fruitful experience for all attendees to take home.

Dean of School of Pharmacy, MUST, Dr. Zhu Yi Zhun (left), AASP President, Dr. Fe-Lin Lin Wu (centre) and Rector of MUST, Dr. Liu Liang took a picture together after the opening ceremony of 5th AASP Deans Forum

Group photos of all attendees of the 5th AASP Dean's Forum

Rector of MUST, Chair Professor Dr. Liu Liang giving his welcome address

Special report by Dean of School of Pharmacy, MUST, Chair Professor Dr. Zhu Yi Zhun

Special report by Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Texas, USA, Professor Lynn Crismon