Advancements in the pharmacy profession and its educational landscape, along with new technologies and models of care have heightened the demand for pharmacists with leadership skills applied to organizational behavior and change management at the individual, dyadic, team, and organizational levels, facilitating collaborative practice, and leading public health initiatives and healthcare policy decision-making. The profession is primed for pharmacy leaders who not only lead but also support leadership development in others.

In this evolving landscape, a wide range of employers are looking to hire pharmacists who are ready to advance their public and private organizations and who are equipped to lead the profession within a healthcare system of evolving functions and complexity. There is demand for pharmacy leaders who can lead with a broad perspective of the healthcare system and a solid understanding of how pharmacy connects with it. Increasingly, pharmacy leaders also interact with policies that require a solid understanding of the processes and best practices involved in drug and clinical service policy decision-making, and of the interprofessional perspectives implicated in these decisions. Policies involving drugs and/or pharmacy services are developed, implemented, evaluated, and revised in the Canadian health care system in contexts such as: private pharmacy businesses, organizations that provide decision-makers with policy recommendations, provincial regulators, public drug plans, Health Authorities, and private health insurance companies. In order to engage in policy decision-making, pharmacy leaders need skillful assessment of the fundamental elements that influence policy-making in all contexts and settings, namely: evidence appraisal, economic evaluation, input from patients and other stakeholders, organizational culture and priorities, political climate, and commercial pressures. We developed the new Master of Pharmacy Leadership (MPL) program to meet this need.

The new MPL will be a new kind of program because of its unique curricular focus, flexible format to accommodate working pharmacists, online course delivery, and unique immersive opportunities within authentic professional settings. The MPL courses will challenge students to develop leadership skills while considering perspectives on policy- and decision-making within an environment that supports teamwork, fosters inclusivity, and models interprofessionalism.