The Federal Association of German Hospital Pharmacists
The Federal Association of German Hospital Pharmacists (ADKA) is a society for Clinical and Hospital Pharmacy. It represents the interests of all hospital pharmacists in Germany.
The abbreviation ADKA stands for „Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Krankenhaus Apotheker“ – Working Committee of German Hospital Pharmacists.
More about the organisation (in German)
The ADKA has supported and further developed Hospital Pharmacy to a high clinical and practical standard, as well as representing the professional interests and responsibilities of hospital pharmacists.
To the goals of the organisation (in German)
What are hospital pharmacists? Which duties do they have in the hospital? These, and other questions about the hospital pharmacist career are explained in more detail in the EAHP’s YouTube video.
The ADKA Society
The ADKA is a professional association and society for Clinical Pharmacy and Hospital Pharmacy. It is the only association representing the interests of German hospital pharmacists, by comparison to non-pharmacy associations such as DKG, GBA, AKDÄ, and other pharmacy associations such as ABDA, EAHP and FIP, amongst others.
The predecessor of today’s professional association body, “The Chief Pharmacists Union of the 3rd Reich”, was founded in Stuttgart in 1911. The ADKA has had a varied history since 1985 to it’s present form, becoming a national association and registered society. Currently, of approximately 2,400 pharmacists in German hospitals, about 2,200 are members of the ADKA.
The goals of the ADKA are to support and further develop Hospital Pharmacy to a high clinical and practical standard, as well as to represent the professional interests of hospital pharmacists. These goals are set out in the “ADKA-Zielepapier”, as well as in “Ziel 2021: Closed Loop Medication Management”.
Committees and project groups, within the ADKA, are dedicated to achieving these goals, as well as being responsible for the development of statements and guidelines in the Hospital Pharmacy sector.
The association also initiates and comments on amendments to the law, at a national and regional level, some of which are also presented in the Health Committee of the German Parliament.
By organizing congresses and further training on all relevant ADKA-topics, the association supports its members and interested parties to reach a high clinical and practical standard. The congresses are established by the ADKA Scientific Committee, amongst others, and supervised by the Committee’s office.
The exchange of knowledge within the professional group is also very important to the ADKA. Therefore, a large number of the speakers at the congresses and training courses are from the ADKA. In addition, the ADKA has set up its own system for certified further education, with which, training events can be accredited and certified for all members attending courses regularly. This is conducted by the “ZeFobi (certified further education)”.
An ADKA member is not only externally represented, but can also draw on various benefits in his daily work. For example, the magazine „Krankenhauspharmazie”, „Stabil- & PÄD i.V.-Liste“, „ADKA AM Info-Datenbank“, „ADKA DokuPik“, „KAMPI“ and the internal mailing list of hospital pharmacists.