Abstract
Objectives: To identify fourth year Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) students' attitude towards pharmacy profession, their career preferences, and factors involved in this selection. Materials and Methods: A pre-designed questionnaire was administered to fourth year Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) students. Information were collected regarding students' attitude about the scope of pharmacy, career preferences, and factors influencing their selection, impact of pharmacy profession on health care system, and post-graduate studies. Results: Overall response rate was 83.6%. Of total 51 respondents, only 17 (33.3%) students were aware of the scope of pharmacy before admission to pharmacy program. A majority of the students (40, 78.4%) believed that pharmacy education and practice affect the health care system. About half of the students (54.9%) were interested in research, while remaining students were either uninterested (35.3%) or unsure about their decision (9.8%). A substantial number of students (58.8%) were unaware of different post-graduate prospects of pharmacy education. Very limited numbers of students (3, 5.9%) were of the opinion that they will join non-pharmacy career areas upon graduation. Clinical pharmacy was selected as preferred area of work upon graduation by 13 (25.5%) students, industrial pharmacy by 11 (21.6%), hospital pharmacy by 10 (19.6%), and teaching by 8 (15.7%) students. Personal interest was the most important factor (68.6%) involved in the selection of career area, followed by anticipated income (9.8%) and family influence (9.8%). Conclusion: Fourth year students believed that pharmacy education and practice affect the health care system. Their favorite career areas were clinical pharmacy, industrial pharmacy, and hospital pharmacy. Personal interest was the most important factor involved in this selection. Most of them were interested in pharmacy-related research activities.
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