A Study on the Perception of the Pharmacy Profession in Higher Secondary Students of Taiping, Malaysia

Abstract

The pharmacy profession is undoubtedly one of the healthcare professions with high responsibilities, particularly in ensuring the effective, safe, and reasonable use of medicines. The evolution of the pharmacist’s role in the healthcare system has been significant over the past few years as pharmacists play a critical role in connecting healthcare providers and forming coherent relationships between patients as well as the healthcare team. To date, no studies have been done involving higher secondary school students and their awareness or perception of the pharmacy profession and its relevance in the healthcare system, especially in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the difference between higher secondary school students’ perception of the pharmacy profession, which involves higher secondary school students from several secondary schools located in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia. Quantitative research was performed using a questionnaire survey to study perceptions towards the pharmacy profession in higher secondary school students. One-way ANOVA was performed to study the difference between higher secondary school students’ perception of the pharmacy profession according to their current forms. The result of the analysis shows that there is no statistical difference between the perception of the pharmacy profession of each form, and this also shows that the higher secondary school students have similar levels of knowledge on the pharmacy profession. Further research may be required as this study was focused on one state, Perak; therefore, the data or results do not represent the perception of all higher secondary school students in Malaysia.