Abstract
PurposeIn contemporary pharmacy, the role of pharmacists has become more multifaceted, as they now handle a wider range of tasks and take more responsibility for providing patient care than 20 years ago. This evolution in pharmacists’ responsibilities has been accompanied by the need for pharmacists to display high-quality patient-centred care and counselling, and to demonstrate professionalism, which now needs to be taught and assessed as part of pharmacy education and practice. This study aimed at identifying definitions of professionalism in pharmacy practice and critically evaluating published instruments for assessing professionalism in pharmacy practice.MethodsWe searched the medical literature listed in Scopus, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO databases from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2018. All papers meeting our selection criteria were reviewed and summarised into a clear review of professionalism requirements in pharmacy practice. Details of the instruments measuring professionalism were reviewed in detail.ResultsThere is no accepted simple definition of professionalism, although we identified several theoretical and policy frameworks required for professional pharmaceutical practice. We identified 4 instruments (the Behavioural Professionalism Assessment Instrument, Lerkiatbundit’s instrument, the Pharmacy Professionalism Instrument, and the Professionalism Assessment Tool that build on these frameworks and measure professional practice in pharmacy students. These were found to be reliable and valid, but had only been used and tested in student populations.ConclusionGiven the increasingly broad role of community pharmacists, there is a need for assessments of professionalism in practice. Professionalism is a complex concept that is challenging to measure because it has no standardised definition and the existing literature related to the topic is limited. Currently available instruments focus on measuring the development of the elements of professionalism among pharmacy students, rather than pharmacists.
Highlights
All the instruments built directly on the 6 domains of professionalism proposed by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) [16] and the instruments were in accordance with the 2000 white paper on student professionalism published by the American Pharmaceutical Association–Academy of Students of Pharmacy/American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy–Council of Deans Task Force on Professionalism [49]
Professional behaviour is crucial in everyday practice, as pharmacists are expected to demonstrate qualities such as politeness, respect, and courtesy in dealing with patients and others
The instruments presented to date in the literature have focused on measuring elements of professionalism among students, rather than practising pharmacists
Summary
To have the authority and accountability needed to achieve complete autonomy in their career. This means that a pharmacist can manage many medication decisions without referral to the prescriber [3]. Pharmacy practice is focused on pharmaceutical care, rather than on the soft knowledge and skills that were emphasised previously, such as preparing and supplying medicines in patient care [4,5]. The role of the community pharmacist has shifted significantly towards providing more patient-centred care and counselling [1,4,5]. The current health regulatory bodies in Australia, such as the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, emphasise the importance of the pharmacist’s clinical role in promoting advanced pharmaceutical care practices and applying the highest possible level of professional competence [6,7]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
