Educational and Career Goals of Pharmacy Students Upon Graduation

Objective. To assess the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students’ desire to obtain additional degrees after graduation.Methods. During the spring 2011 semester, an anonymous 14-question survey instrument was administered to students across all 6 years of the PharmD program to evaluate their interest in obtaining an additional degree after graduation. Demographic data was also collected and analyzed from this convenience sample.Results. Approximately 34% of the respondents (n=1,239) indicated a desire to seek an additional degree. Of the additional degrees offered in the survey instrument, more than one-third of the students expressed interest in the master of business administration (MBA). Also, 79% of those respondents were willing to take summer courses to achieve a dual or additional degree.Conclusion. Pharmacy students are interested in obtaining an additional degree(s) after graduation and are willing to complete summer courses to achieve their career goals.     

A Career Exploration Assignment for First-Year Pharmacy Students

Objective. To develop, implement, and assess student-learning outcomes from an assignment designed to expose first-year pharmacy students (P1) to a wide range of pharmacy career pathways.Design. Students enrolled in a required Pharmacy Practice and Ethics course at the Lebanese American University chose 1 pharmacist career to investigate from a suggested list of 28 career pathways. Students completed a literature review on the selected career, interviewed a pharmacist practicing that career path in Lebanon, wrote a paper, and prepared and delivered a summary presentation to their classmates about the career pathway. Students peer evaluated their classmates after each presentation.Assessment. More than 85% of the students scored ≥70% on the assignment based on their achievement of student learning outcomes. Responses on an anonymous questionnaire showed that more than 94.6% of students were satisfied with the extent to which the course allowed them to meet the established learning outcomes.Conclusion. A career exploration assignment provided pharmacy students with an opportunity to widen their knowledge and understanding of the different career pathways that are available for them.     

What Secondary School Career Advisors in New Zealand Know about Pharmacy and How that Knowledge Affects Student Career Choices

Objective. To explore what career advisors at secondary schools (high schools) in New Zealand know about the pharmacy profession, how they obtain that knowledge, and what their potential influence is on students’ decisions to study pharmacy.Methods. This study employed a cross sectional questionnaire design. A postal questionnaire was sent to 250 randomly selected secondary schools in New Zealand.Results. The response rate was 112/248 (45%). Responding career advisors were familiar with many of the roles of pharmacists (mean knowledge score 11.5 out of 16). Over 90% of career advisors were familiar with the roles of pharmacists in the community setting; however, many had a poorer understanding of other pharmacist roles. One suggestion for improving the promotion of pharmacy within secondary schools was a greater involvement of pharmacists and pharmacy students in the promotion of pharmacy as a profession.Conclusion. Career advisors need a broader understanding of the potential roles of pharmacists. Increasing contact from practicing pharmacists and undergraduate pharmacy students are potential ways of increasing student interest in pharmacy.     

Assessment of Cultural Competence in Pharmacy Students Prior to Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences

Objective. To assess various aspects of cultural competence in second year Doctor of Pharmacy students’ and investigate the relationship between cultural competence and students’ demographics, work experience, and prior education.Methods. A 63-item survey modified from the Clinical Cultural Competency Questionnaire (CCCQ) and comprising four domains (knowledge, skills, encounters or situations, and attitudes towards cultural competency) was administered to second year pharmacy students before they started their advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). Additional questions regarding their ability to identify and recognize elements of cultural competence were asked. The effects of demographics, work experience, and education on cultural competence also were assessed.Results. Ninety-seven students (86.6%) participated in the study. The majority of participants were Asian, female, and in their late 20s. Most students agreed or strongly agreed that they could identify and recognize elements of cultural competence. However, participants indicated they were only a little or somewhat comfortable when asked questions about knowledge, skills, and comfort. Students indicated they had “quite a bit” of competence regarding attitudes towards other cultures. Previous cultural diversity training in undergraduate studies and pharmacy school were associated with higher scores on the modified CCCQ.Conclusion. The findings emphasize the importance of schools providing training in the didactic and experiential portion of the pharmacy curriculum to increase pharmacy students’ knowledge, skills, comfort, and attitudes towards other cultures.     

Measuring Achievement Goal Orientations of Pharmacy Students

Objectives. To measure the achievement goal orientations of pharmacy students attending a 3-year (accelerated) doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program.Methods. A 16-item survey based on the Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ) was administered to first-year (P1) and second-year (P2) pharmacy students at the Appalachian College of Pharmacy (ACP). Students were instructed to indicate to what degree each statement was true for them using a 7-point Likert scale (1=not true of me, 7=very true of me).Results. One hundred twenty of the 155 students (77%) completed the survey. Most students had mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and/or performance-avoidance goal orientations; few had work-avoidance goal orientations. Second-year students and male students had higher work-avoidance mean scores than did P1 students and female students (p<0.05).Conclusion. Pharmacy students were mastery- and performance-oriented learners, and most did not have work-avoidance goal orientations. Male students and P2 students had higher work-avoidance than did female students and P1 students, respectively. More longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these findings.     

药学类专业学生的职业生涯规划引导

在健康养生逐渐成为人民群众普遍追求的今天,高素质、高层次的药学类专业学生备受有关用人单位的青睐.但随着毕业生的逐年增加,药学类专业学生亦要面对各种新的挑战,有必要引导学生进行职业生涯规划,包括正确的自我认识、合理定位、情绪控制、职业分析、树立正确择业观与职业目标等,对学生的发展至关重要.     

Bullying in the Clinical Training of Pharmacy Students

Objective. To determine whether bullying is a significant factor in the clinical training of pharmacy students.Methods. The literature as well as the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standards and American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) surveys were reviewed for mention and/or measurement of bullying behaviors in the clinical training of pharmacy students. The authors used a Delphi process to define bullying behavior. The consensus definition was used to analyze 2,087 in-house student evaluations of preceptors for evidence of bullying behaviors. The authors mapped strings of text from in-house student comments to different, established categories of bullying behaviors.Results. The ACPE Standards and AACP surveys contained no mention or measures of bullying. The 2013 AACP survey data reported overwhelmingly positive preceptor ratings. Of the 2,087 student evaluations of preceptors, 119 (5.7%) had at least 1 low rating. Within those 119 survey instruments, 34 comments were found describing bullying behaviors. Students’ responses to the AACP survey were similar to data from the national cohort.Conclusions. Given the evidence that bullying behaviors occur in pharmacy education and that bullying has long-term and short-term damaging effects, more attention should be focused on this problem. Efforts should include addressing bullying in ACPE Standards and AACP survey tools developing a consensus definition for bullying and conducting more research into bullying in the clinical training of pharmacy students.     

Sleep Quality Among Pharmacy Students

Objective. To determine the quality of sleep among pharmacy students in the didactic portion of the curriculum at one school of pharmacy.Methods. The study consisted of an anonymous, voluntary survey that included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a self-rated instrument that measures sleep habits for a month.Results. The survey was completed by 253 students. Students in the lower grade point average (GPA) category had higher scores on 2 of 7 components of the PSQI and on the global score. Poor sleep quality, indicated by a global PSQI score of greater than 5, was reported by 140 students. The rate of poor sleeping was higher among students in the lower GPA category.Conclusion. Poor sleep quality was pervasive among surveyed pharmacy students in the didactic portion of the pharmacy school curriculum, especially among those with lower GPAs.     

Validation of an Empathy Scale in Pharmacy and Nursing Students

Objective. To validate an empathy scale to measure empathy in pharmacy and nursing students.Methods. A 15-item instrument comprised of the cognitive and affective empathy domains, was created. Each item was rated using a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Concurrent validity was demonstrated with the Jefferson Scale of Empathy – Health Professional Students (JSE-HPS).Results. Reliability analysis of data from 216 students (pharmacy, N=158; nursing, N=58) showed that scores on the empathy scale were positively associated with JSE-HPS scores (p<0.001). Factor analysis confirmed that 14 of the 15 items were significantly associated with their respective domain, but the overall instrument had limited goodness of fit.Conclusions. Results of this study demonstrate the reliability and validity of a new scale for evaluating student empathy. Further testing of the scale at other universities is needed to establish validity.     

Moral Development of First-Year Pharmacy Students in the United Kingdom

Objective. To investigate the moral development of pharmacy students over their first academic year of study at a university in the United Kingdom.Methods. Pharmacy students completed Defining Issues Test (DIT) at the start of their first year (phase 1) and again at the end of their first year (phase 2) of the program.Results. Pharmacy students (N=116) had significantly higher moral reasoning at the beginning of their first year than by the end of it. Scores differed by students’ gender and age; however, these findings differed between phase 1 and phase 2.Conclusion. First-year pharmacy students in the United Kingdom scored lower on moral reasoning than did pharmacy students in the United States and Canada.     

A Workshop on Smoking Cessation for Pharmacy Students

Objective. To develop, implement, and evaluate a targeted educational intervention focusing on smoking cessation with final-year undergraduate pharmacy students.Design. A smoking-cessation educational workshop entitled Smoking Cessation in Pharmacy (SCIP) was designed on the principles of adult learning and implemented with a full cohort of final-year undergraduate pharmacy students at the University of Sydney. A previously validated questionnaire testing the knowledge and attitudes of respondents was administered both before and after implementation of the designed workshop to evaluate changes resulting from the intervention. Informal feedback was obtained from students.Assessment. Pre-course mean total knowledge and attitude scores calculated were 65.8±9.1 and 86.4±12.1, respectively. The post-course mean total knowledge score was 74.9±8.1, and the attitude score was 88.8±9.1 Improvement in knowledge and attitudes was significant (p<0.05).Conclusion. Educational interventions for pharmacy students designed with careful attention to pedagogic principles can improve knowledge about evidence-based smoking-cessation strategies and enhance positive attitudes to pharmacist roles in smoking cessation.     

Alcohol Use Behaviors Among Pharmacy Students

Objective. To identify reasons for drinking, determine the patterns of alcohol abuse, and explore relationships between drinking motives and alcohol abuse patterns in pharmacy students.Methods. A cross-sectional anonymous, voluntary, self-administered paper survey instrument was administered to first-year (P1) through third-year (P3) pharmacy students as part of a professional seminar.Results. Survey instruments were completed by 349 pharmacy students (95.9% cooperation rate). Using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test criteria, 23.2% of students reported hazardous or harmful use and 67.2% of students reported consuming alcohol at hazardous levels during the past year. Students who were male (37.0%), single (25.3%), and attended the main campus (26.2%) were more likely than their counterparts to report hazardous or harmful alcohol use. Pharmacy students reported social motives as the most common reason for drinking; however, coping and enhancement motives were more predictive of harmful or hazardous alcohol use.Conclusion. Approximately 1 in 4 pharmacy students (23%) reported hazardous or harmful alcohol use. Education about the dangers of alcohol abuse and intervention programs from colleges and schools of pharmacy are recommended to help address this issue.     

Syrian Pharmacy Students�� Intentions and Attitudes Toward Postgraduate Education

Objective. To investigate Syrian pharmacy students’ intentions and attitudes toward postgraduate study, and to determine and evaluate the factors that influence their preferences.Methods. A questionnaire was developed and used to collect data from final-year bachelor of pharmacy (BPharm) students at Damascus University.Results. Of the 265 students who responded to the survey, approximately 50% intended to work, 25% intended to pursue further study, and 25% were undecided. Personal fulfillment was the factor that most influenced students’ intentions concerning future education. Men were more concerned over their financial future, while women’s intentions were more influenced by scientific issues. The 3 most preferred pharmaceutical areas of further study were biochemistry and laboratory diagnosis, pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical industry, and clinical pharmacy. More students favored pursuing graduate school abroad rather than in Syria. The majority of those who intended to enroll in local graduate programs were interested in academic programs while less than a fifth favored residency programs.Conclusions. The graduate programs in Syria do not appear to satisfy pharmacy students'' ambitions or have the capacity to accommodate the growing demand associated with the rapid increase in the number of pharmacy graduates in the country. Consequently, a majority of students prefer to pursue postgraduate study abroad.     

Patient-oriented Personality Traits of First-year Pharmacy Students

Objective

To determine, using the Gordon Personal Profile-Inventory (GPP-I), if the personality traits of first-year pharmacy students match the traits required for patient-centered practice.

Methods

The GPP-I, which measures the personality traits of ascendency, responsibility, emotional stability, sociability, cautiousness, original thinking, personal relations, and vigor, was administered to incoming pharmacy students at the beginning of their first semester.

Results

The pharmacy school had attracted students with strong traits of original thinking, followed by personal relations, and vigor. The students, however, were limited in emotional stability and ascendency.

Conclusion

The pharmacy profession needs to be more proactive in projecting the desired image and communicate its increasingly challenging and patient-oriented practice to attract individuals whose personalities are conducive to current practice models.     

Evaluation of an Injection Training and Certification Program for Pharmacy Students

Objective. To evaluate an injection training and certification program for third-year (P3) pharmacy students, and to measure the impact of students’ administration of immunizations at an influenza clinic on their knowledge, skills, and competence in immunization.Design. A repeated measures design was used to assess students’ injection skills across the injection training and certification program and the influenza clinic. A repeated measures design was also used to evaluate students’ self-reported knowledge, experience, and confidence.Assessment. Postcertification and during influenza clinic comparisons showed significant improvement in students’ knowledge, experience, and confidence after taking part in the influenza clinic. University staff members and students indicated in a survey that they were satisfied with the clinic services provided by pharmacy students.Conclusion. The injection training and certification program and the university influenza clinic were effective in enhancing and fostering student skills development.     

Pharmacy Students’ Interpretation of Academic Integrity

Objective. To explore pharmacy students’ recognition and interpretation of situations constituting breaches of academic integrity.Methods. A survey instrument comprising 10 hypothetical student(s) scenarios was completed by 852 students in the bachelor of pharmacy program at an Australian university. The scenarios were relevant to current modes of assessment and presented degrees of ambiguity around academic integrity.Results. Identification of the hypothetical student(s) at fault, particularly in the deliberately ambiguous scenarios, was not related to the respondents’ year of study or sex. Students with fewer years of postsecondary education were more definitive in their interpretation of contentious cases. Respondents from all 4 years of study reported witnessing many of these behaviors among their peers.Conclusion. This study provided novel insight into the ambiguity surrounding academic integrity and students’ perceptions relating to the deliberate or inadvertent involvement of other parties.