A study on the knowledge, attitude & perspectives of final year students of bachelor of pharmacy programme in Malaysian Universities towards the implementation of the separation of drug prescribing & dispensing activity in Malaysia

Abstract

Dispensing separation in Malaysia has been a widely discussed topic among the medical fraternity. It is a highly sensitive topic as it involves both professional and economic considerations for doctors, pharmacists, and the general public. There has been no decision made thus far but the discussion is ongoing, making a study on this topic very relevant. The subjects of this study, final year students of Bachelor of Pharmacy Programme in Malaysian universities, are chosen to reflect their awareness, preparedness, and knowledge on dispensing separation, which will affect their future in the pharmacy profession. The study was conducted among all 20 Public and Private Institutions of Higher Learning recognized by the Pharmacy Board, Malaysia. This was a cross-sectional study design, and data was collected using a convenience sampling method. The research instrument was an online questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire covers the demographic information about the respondent, like name, age, gender, and institution. The second part covers the knowledge, awareness and perspectives of respondents towards the implementation of the separation of prescribing and dispensing activities in Malaysia. The final part of the survey focuses on suggestions or problems arising. There were 126 respondents to the survey, way above the 96 respondents needed to make the survey valid. The majority of them are aware of and understand the dispensing separation. Most of them agree that the government should legalize the dispensing separation activities as they believe pharmacists are more knowledgeable and better equipped to dispense drugs. The majority of them believe by implementing dispensing separation, the health care system will be better optimized, and the service will be better. They also believe that patients can accept and adapt to the role of the pharmacist in dispensing medication. The majority of them also agree that the price of medicine will be lowered by the implementation of dispensing separation. Based on the study, these students who are future pharmacists are very knowledgeable on the dispensing separation issue. They believe strongly that the implementation of dispensing separation in Malaysia will bring more beneficial changes to the health care system. The patients will also benefit from this. With such a positive attitude, the implementation of dispensing separation in Malaysia could be imminent