The Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahasarakham University (MSU), has collaborations with 5 ASEAN universities: the University of Health Sciences (Lao PDR), Haiphong University of Medicine and Pharmacy (Vietnam), Taylor’s University (Malaysia), University of the Philippines, Manila (Philippines), and Sanata Dharma University (Indonesia). The MOUs are presented in Table 1.
The main activities through these collaborations were student and staff exchanges to learn about the differences between the pharmacy schools. The first collaboration event was initiated in 2016 through the US-Thai and ASEAN conferences at Khon Kaen University. MSU gave a grant to the Faculty of Pharmacy for hosting the ASEAN conference.
After the ASEAN conference in 2016, MSU as a member of Pharmacy Education Consortium Thailand (PECT) helped organize the ceremony hosted by Chulalongkorn University to sign the MOA between ASEAN countries and PECT in 2017. The purpose of the MOA is to strengthen relationships between pharmacy schools in ASEAN countries and to work together to develop pharmacy education.
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ASEAN & PECT hosted a conference in 2019. The purpose was to be a platform for Deans from Faculties of Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences in Thailand and ASEAN countries to share their experiences and expertise in education innovation on smoking cessation and non-communicable disease.
In 2020, the ASEAN collaboration worked together to improve pharmacy education by doing research and writing a book chapter. The first collaborative research, “Readiness in Pharmacy Students Preparation to Provide Pharmaceutical Care for NCD patients in ASEAN Countries: a qualitative study”, is in the process of publication. The research included various topics related to teaching such as teaching methods and lifelong learning. The book chapter was published in The Handbook of Research on Updating and Innovating Health Professions Education published by IGI global in 2021. The title of the book chapter is “Challenges in Pharmacy Education with limited resources during COVID-19: ASEAN Perspective”.
In 2021, MSU provided a grant for a second research study entitled “Impact of Pharmacy Education and Practice on Primary Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases in ASEAN Countries: A Systematic Review.” The purpose of this study is to understand the direction of pharmacy education to prepare students to serve patients with non-communicable diseases.
Table 1 MOUs between Mahasarakham University and ASEAN universities, and ASEAN-PECT MOA
| No | Universities | MOU date | Extension 1 | Extension 2 |
| 1 | Hue University of Medicines and Pharmacy, Vietnam | 21/05/2010 2010-Hue.pdf | 16/05/2013-2018 2013-2018-MOU-HUE.pdf | 19/08/2018-13/09/2023 |
| 2 | Taylor’s University, Malaysia | 21/03/2015-2020 2015-2020-MOU.pdf | 1/03/2020-15/04/2025 | |
| 3 | University of Health Sciences, Lao P.D.R. | 5/15/2008-5/14/2011 MOU LAO.pdf | 22/06/2016-2021 2016-2021-MOU Laos.pdf | |
| 4 | University of Philippines Manila, Philippines | 03/05/2017-2022 2017-2022-UP Manila.pdf | ||
| 5 | Haiphong University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam | 2017-2022 2017-2020-MOU HPMU USD.pdf | ||
| 6 | University of Sanata Dharma, Indonesia | 2017-2022 2017-2020-MOU HPMU USD.pdf | ||
| 7 | ASEAN-PECT | 29/06/2017-28/06/2022 |