Abstract
Many pharmacists report they lack nutritional knowledge and believe the best time to educate pharmacists about nutrition is during pharmacy school. Purpose: This study was conducted to determine if today’s pharmacy students receive education in nutrition and if they realize the importance of a nutrition course. Methods: Ninety-five pharmacy students attending pharmacy school were surveyed in two pharmacy schools in the United States. Results: The survey showed only 13.7% received nutrition education and 82.9% of students believed nutrition education should be incorporated into the pharmacy degree curriculum. When the pharmacy-related experience was taken into account, 73.3% of students believed that a nutrition course should be incorporated into the curriculum. Conclusion: This study suggests that pharmacy students from two major universities in Alabama and Illinois realize the importance of nutrition education and believe a nutrition course should be incorporated into the pharmacy degree curriculum.
Highlights
Pharmacists have been traditionally regarded as experts in medications, not in food and nutrition [1]
Results from the current study report that only 1/10th of the pharmacy students receive nutrition education, and regardless of previous nutrition education or pharmacy-related experience, pharmacy students believed that pharmacy schools should incorporate nutrition education
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of pharmacy students towards incorporating a nutrition course in the pharmacy degree curriculum
Summary
Pharmacists have been traditionally regarded as (and regard themselves as) experts in medications, not in food and nutrition [1]. Pharmacists are more accessible to the general public [1,5,8,9,10], inpart because many pharmacies are located in grocery stores [8]. Because one-third of products sold in pharmacies are nutritional products or nutraceuticals [5], it has become necessary for pharmacists in today’s market to have knowledge of nutrition [9]. Definite links between diets and diseases are becoming evident, which means it is extremely important for pharmacists to prepare themselves with the necessary knowledge in the field of nutrition [11]. The purpose of this study was to determine the number of pharmacy students who have taken a nutrition course and to recognize the importance of nutrition courses among pharmacy students. The second purpose was to investigate how factors such as past nutrition education and pharmacy-related experience influence their opinion on the need for a basic nutrition course in a pharmacy degree core curriculum
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