| Summary: | Background and objectives: Community and hospital pharmacists provide important counselling to patients using medical devices (MDs) and drug-delivery products (DDPs). The aim of this study was to assess the current medical technology education of MDs and DDPs for pharmacy students and pharmacists in Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Norway. Methods: The questionnaire was completed by academic staff members, by B.Sc. or M.Sc. Pharm students and representatives of professional organizations of community and hospital pharmacy from May to October 2014 using an internet based study platform eFormular. Results: Total 50 responses were collected: 34 from academia and 16 from professional organizations. Seventy-four percent of the respondents considered professional knowledge about MDs as important for pharmacists. Of practicing pharmacists, 77 % reported to never participated in any continuing education courses about MDs and DDPs. At universities, the knowledge on MDs and DDPs was in most cases obtained in the courses of medicine and pharmaceutical technology. In these courses, more theoretical than practical aspects were covered. Specialists of MDs or medical technology industry were more involved in the courses for practicing pharmacists (45 %) than for pharmacy students (28 %). More than the representatives of academia, the practicing pharmacists underlined the need for increasing the education about MDs for pharmacy students (53 % vs. 17 %) and importance of international courses about MDs (53 % vs. 18 %). Conclusions: There is an increasing need for professional knowledge about MDs and DDPs among pharmacy students and practicing pharmacists in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Networking for the effective exchange of existing knowledge on medical technology would foster to improve the competency of pharmacists in the field of MDs and DDPs in the future.
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