nalysis of priority thematic areas of the pharmacists’ continuous professional development

In the context of rapid changes within the healthcare system, the role of the pharmacist is being transformed from simple drug dispensing to comprehensive therapy management requiring new knowledge from specialists. In view of this, the study of the educational needs of pharmaceutical specialists acquires particular importance in the context of the sector’s reforms since education plays a central role in the development of pharmaceutical services. Aim. To analyze the priority thematic areas of the pharmacists’ continuous professional development. Materials and methods. A retrospective descriptive and analytical study with elements of the content analysis and cluster analysis using the results of a 5-year anonymous survey of attendees of the pharmacists’ continuous professional development (CPD) cycles was conducted. Data was collected using electronic questionnaires in Microsoft Forms. The questionnaires contained semi-structured and open-ended questions concerning the desired topics for future continuous professional development activities. The responses collected were exported and combined into a standardized dataset. The cluster analysis was performed using VOSviewer 1.6.20 software by analyzing the co-occurrence networks of keywords from the responses. The further analysis of the results was conducted using MS Excel. Results and discussion. The research resulted in 10 clusters of 57 keywords, grouped based on the link density method. The average frequency of keywords ranged from 6.33 (cluster 10) to 191.45 (cluster 1). Cluster 1 focused on herbal remedies proved to be the most popular. The study revealed the high attendee interest in subject matters associated with clinical pharmacy (pharmaceutical care, rational drug use, evidence-based medicine). Significant demand was also demonstrated for topics concerning biopharmaceutical aspects and quality assurance at all stages of the drug lifecycle. The correlation analysis has confirmed the high internal consistency of the results, and the sustained relevance of the priority topics indicates the stability of the attendees’ priorities focused on safety, evidence, and quality. Conclusions. The priority thematic areas for the pharmacists’ continuous professional development have been analyzed based on the survey results of attendees who completed specialization and thematic advanced training cycles for pharmacists at the Zaporizhzhia State Medical and Pharmaceutical University in 2021-2025. The most popular subject matters among specialists are pharmaceutical care and clinical pharmacy, biopharmaceutical aspects of medicines, and quality assurance at all stages of the drug lifecycle.