Abstract
Purpose: To evaluate hospital pharmacists’ clinical knowledge and practical skill levels for pharmaceutical care.Methods: A quasi-experimental prospective longitudinal study design was used to evaluate the level of clinical skills with problem-based learning (PBL) sessions. Pharmacists’ in three different government hospitals in Madinah, Saudi Arabia recorded their responses or assessments in their work manuals for preparing reports. Instructors encouraged interactive learning by presenting case studies, in which pharmacists had to interpret medical history and clinical assessments of various body systems. Course learning design also focused on drug use evaluation, monitoring plans, and reaching clinical evidencebased decision-making.Results: A total of two hundred and fifty-five (255) hospital pharmacists participated in the study. The study sample was comprised of 128 (50.9 %) males and 127 (49.1 %) females. A significant (p < 0.01) difference was noticed between genders (male: 47.91 ± 7.15, female: 50.31 ± 4.88) for total mean scores of clinical skills. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for case data recitation was 0.91, while clinical assessment skills coefficient was 0.89. Overall, pharmacists reported that they “agree” (4.01 ± 0.67) that they acquired the ability to use case data recitation taught in the PBL; they also reported a positive evaluation (4.48 ± 0.58) of their ability to perform clinical data assessment.Conclusion: The findings indicate that pharmacist’s self-confidence to perform clinical assessment activities is low. Lack of confidence remains a critical education issue among pharmacists in the study setting.Keywords: Clinical pharmacy, Problem-based learning, Clinical skills, Pharmacist focus group, Therapeutics, Pharmaceutical care
Highlights
Pharmaceutical science has gradually transitioned from the professional activities and responsibilities of traditional pharmacy tasks to patientcentered care services
A significant difference was found in terms of gender with regard to “valuing” the content of problem-based learning (PBL) session associated with clinical skill assessment or tasks
This study suggests that the current pharmacy curriculum should encourage the development of pharmacist practitioners who are motivated to implement the concept of pharmaceutical care in their practice
Summary
Pharmaceutical science has gradually transitioned from the professional activities and responsibilities of traditional pharmacy tasks (e.g., compounding and dispensing) to patientcentered care services. Hepler [1] developed the concept of pharmaceutical care as a clinical practice philosophy that includes all pharmacy services necessary for patient care in order to responses or assessments in their pharmacist work manuals for preparing reports. Pharmacy educators are responsible for developing clinical skills among pharmacists in order to increase competency and confidence as they implement pharmaceutical care in their future practice [2]. Pharmaceutical care is the patient-centered care in which the ‘Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process’ is involved. It includes collecting, assessing, planning, implementing, and follow-up monitoring & evaluating information about patient progress [4]. Education research suggests that it is evenly important to enhance pharmacist positive attitudes and motivation to practice pharmaceutical care [5]
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