Perspectives Of Pharmacy Students Research Articles

Applying narrative medicine to prepare empathetic healthcare providers in undergraduate pharmacy education in Singapore: a mixed methods study

BackgroundNarrative medicine demonstrated positive impact on empathy in medicine and nursing students. However, this pedagogical approach had not been evaluated in pharmacy education. This study sought to apply and evaluate the narrative medicine approach in extending empathy in Asian undergraduate pharmacy students.MethodsNarrative medicine was applied through workshops which used narratives of people with different experiences and perspectives. First-year undergraduate pharmacy students who volunteered and attended these workshops formed the intervention group (N = 31) and the remaining first-year cohort formed the control group (N = 112). A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach was adopted in which quantitative methods were first used to measure impact on pharmacy students’ empathy using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy– Health Professions Student (JSE-HPS), and qualitative methods (i.e. group interviews) were then used to assess pharmacy students’ emotional responses to narratives, and the perspectives of pharmacy students and faculty of this pedagogical approach.ResultsThere was no difference in JSE-HPS scores between intervention and control groups across baseline (i.e. upon matriculation), pre-intervention, and post-intervention timepoints. Pharmacy students in the intervention group had lower scores in Factor 3 (“Standing in People’s Shoes”) following the intervention. Five themes, guided by internal and external factors in cognition, emerged from the Group Interviews: (1) incongruence between students’ motivation and faculty’s perception, (2) learning context, (3) academic context, (4) cognitive system, and (5) affective system. Themes 1, 4 and 5 referred to internal factors such as students’ motivation, perceived learnings, and feelings. Themes 2 and 3 referred to external factors including workshop materials, activities, content, and facilitation.ConclusionThis study is the first to demonstrate that pharmacy students engaged with the narrative medicine approach as narratives elicited emotional responses, exposed them to diverse perspectives, and deepened their appreciation of the importance of empathy and complexities of understanding patients’ perspectives. Scaffolded educational interventions using narratives and real-life patient encounters, alongside longitudinal measurements of empathy, are necessary to bring about meaningful and sustained improvements in empathy.

Pathway to success: exploring students’ perspectives on career aspirations in pharmacy

Embarking on a career in pharmacy is a dynamic and engaging journey, making it imperative to delve deeper into students' viewpoints. This study holds paramount significance as it seeks to unravel the students' perspectives on choosing pharmacy as a career. Understanding these viewpoints becomes pivotal for academic institutions, guiding them to navigate and align seamlessly with the ever-evolving landscape of pharmacy careers. The objectives of this study include to explore students’ attitudes towards pharmacy as their future career aspiration and to determining the relation between students’ academic performance and their attitudes towards pharmacy as their future career aspiration. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected through Google Forms from ninety Diploma in Pharmacy students of Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Kampus Bertam. Employing a convenient sampling, data tabulation and statistical analysis were executed using SPSS. Results from this study indicate that pharmacy students generally express a high level of pride (88.9%) in their field of study and a strong commitment (88.9%) to the values of the pharmacy profession. Additionally, a significant portion sees being a pharmacist as an integral part of their identity (74.5%). A majority agreed that pharmacy is an ideal lifelong career (76.7%) and expressed contentment with their choice to study pharmacy (68.9%). While a notable percentage would still choose pharmacy if given the chance again (53.4%), there is a consensus (81.1%) that a career in pharmacy is desirable. Importantly, the overall score of 4.07 suggests a general agreement with the positive statements about studying pharmacy. In conclusion, this study illuminates the positive inclinations and affirmations that students hold regarding pharmacy as a career choice. The findings not only contribute valuable insights into the attitudes and perspectives of pharmacy students but also underscore a predominantly optimistic outlook on their chosen profession.

Remote learning during Covid-19 lockdown: A study on anatomy and histology education for pharmacy students in Jordan.

The Covid‐19 pandemic has changed almost all aspects of education. The anatomy and histology courses for pharmacy students focus heavily on the face‐to‐face communication of theory and practical knowledge, and due to the pandemic, only theory content was delivered in an online format. This brought up many concerns about pharmacy student preparedness. This work explores the effectiveness and student perspective of remote teaching of the theoretical anatomy and histology course in Jordanian universities from the perspective of pharmacy students. The objectives are to determine the strengths, challenges, and the effectiveness of remote delivery on student learning. An online‐based validated questionnaire was distributed to students majoring in Pharmacy and enrolled in the course during the second semester of 2019–2020 at 11 universities in Jordan. A total of 442 students participated in the study. Results showed that there were significant differences in perceptions of the social media platforms used in distance learning and remote delivery of the course. Most participants had positive perceptions of the educational process and studying via distance learning. There were many strengths noted including time flexibility and several challenges such as the lack of face‐to‐face interaction with instructors, inadequate internet connectivity, and technical issues. In conclusion, online‐taught anatomy and histology course during the Covid‐19 lockdown in Jordan was a success as perceived by students, but the course still possessed challenges need to be overcome in the future.

An Assessment of Pharmacy School Curricula in Florida and Inactivated Influenza Vaccine (IIV) Administration to Pregnant Women.

Background: There is a high risk for morbidity and mortality in pregnant women associated with influenza virus illness. Vaccine uptake rates in pregnant women remain lower than the targeted Healthy People 2020 goals despite recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Few studies have examined the role of the pharmacist in providing immunization services to pregnant women, fewer still have directly examined the PharmD curricula and the perspectives of pharmacy students on how they perceive their role in providing influenza inactivated vaccine (IIV) to pregnant women. Objective: This study examined the PharmD curricula instruction with regard to immunizing pregnant women and how pharmacy students perceive it. Methods: Semi-structured, in-depth, in-person qualitative interviews were conducted with the six Academic Deans of the accredited schools of pharmacy in Florida, and three focus group sessions were held with third- and fourth-year pharmacy students (n = 18) in Florida. A thematic analysis was conducted. Results: Most academic deans reported providing instruction on immunization in schools with respect to vaccine administration in pregnant women and called for a need for all schools to make it compulsory to include pregnant-women-specific content. Pharmacy students reported a gap in knowledge of content related to administering the IIV in pregnant women, but feel that when presented with the opportunity, they will be willing to provide IIV to pregnant women. Conclusions: Pharmacists are in a good position to play a role in increasing IIV rates among pregnant women. Implications for practice include the need for incorporation of pregnancy-specific content to immunization curricula.

The knowledge of COVID-19 treatments, behaviors, and attitudes of providing the information on COVID-19 treatments: Perspectives of pharmacy students.

BACKGROUND:Increasing community awareness about the transmission and treatment of COVID-19 will stop the spread of the virus. Pharmacy students are the potential facilitator to give community education about COVID-19 treatment. The objective of this study is to evaluate the pharmacy students’ knowledge of COVID-19 treatment, behavior, and attitude of providing the information about COVID-19 treatment.MATERIALS AND METHODS:We conducted cross-sectional study, recruiting 429 pharmacy students from three schools of pharmacy in Indonesia. The questionnaire about the knowledge of COVID-19 treatment, behavior, and attitude of providing the information on COVID-19 treatment met the validity and reliability criteria. We defined the proportion of knowledge, behavior, and attitude of the students using SPSS® version 22.RESULTS:Most of the students are in the earlier years (46.63%), female (84.15%), find the information about COVID-19 from many sources of media (85.08%) including scientific articles and know information about COVID-19 transmission around their life area (76.46%). The students’ knowledge about antiviral and plasma convalescent is good (>70%), the positive behaviors are related to the COVID-19 treatment information regarding to the antiviral and the provision of Vitamin C (>50%), and the positive attitude are related to giving information about the use of avigan®, plasma convalescent, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and immunomodulator (>50%).CONCLUSIONS:As a future pharmacist, the knowledge of pharmacy students about COVID-19 treatment needs to be improved since earlier years. Furthermore, using the good knowledge about COVID-19 treatment, the positive behavior and attitude of providing information of the students, the community behavior and attitude will be improved. The high year students have a tendency for the good knowledge and positive behavior and attitude of providing the information.

Cultural awareness and competence of pharmacy educators and learners from the perspective of pharmacy students at Qatar University: A mixed-methods approach.

BackgroundSince healthcare professional educators and practitioners in Qatar are culturally diverse, the impact of this diversity on the education and training of healthcare students should be evaluated. This study, therefore, aims at examining pharmacy students’ perspectives on the level of cultural awareness and competence of pharmacy educators and learners at Qatar University and the influence of cultural diversity on pharmacy education in Qatar.MethodsA convergent mixed-methods design was adopted. The Cultural Awareness Scale (CAS) was utilized in the quantitative phase, which was administered on 122 pharmacy students at Qatar University College of Pharmacy (QU CPH), of whom 70 responded. The qualitative phase comprised four focus groups with a total of 23 students. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected concurrently, and the results were integrated.ResultsThe findings suggest that the QU CPH is an institution of a culturally diverse community. Educators and students alike are generally culturally aware and sensitive; however, demonstration of a holistic awareness was hindered by a few barriers. This study suggests curricular changes to reinforce cultural competence, cultural inclusiveness, and the preservation of Qatar’s cultural identity and values in the educational environment.ConclusionsThe internationalization of pharmacy education in Qatar has inspired students and educators alike to achieve new dimensions of cultural awareness. To infuse passion and enthusiasm in learning while maintaining Qatar’s cultural values and identity, healthcare professional educators, researchers, and policymakers are required to collaborate to promote culturally sensitive pharmacy education.

Pharmacy students attitude towards academic research in south India

The current cross-sectional survey of six months duration was performed to assess pharmacy student's attitude towards academic research in self-financing private pharmacy institutions in south India. The study included students of both genders of all pharmacy who showed their willingness by administering a standard validated questionnaire with a total of sixteen inventories. In our review of four hundred and thirty student responses, female (55.35%) students were female, and 90.93% student participants belong to the age group of 20-25 years. More than half of the students (53.49%) agreed. Research participation is a vital parameter in employment, research and pharmaceutical education. More than fifty per cent our study participants recommend proper financial and resource funding and timelines are the significant limitations in performing research activities. In our study, 62.32% of respondents recommended a fortified research establishment for academicians which could improve and integrate a sustained development in teaching-learning and practice of scientific research in graduating students for their education and career. conclusion, the perspective of pharmacy students towards research investigated in our study was found satisfactory; and recommended a significant focus on financial grant or support, fortified research environment, and dedicated research curriculum for the sustainable development of academic research.

Pharmacovigilance: Present Scenario and Future Goals

Melon Pharmacovigilance is the science and activity relating to the collection, detection, assessment, monitoring, and prevention of adverse effects with pharmaceutical products. Pharmacovigilance basically targets safety of medicine. Pharmacists have crucial role in health systems to maintain the rational and safe use of medicine for they are drug experts who are specifically trained in this field. The perspective of pharmacy students on pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting has also been discussed with an aim to highlight the need to improve content related to ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance in undergraduate pharmacy curriculum. Globally, although the role of pharmacists within national pharmacovigilance systems varies, it is very well recognized. Incorporation of ADR reporting concepts in education curriculum, training of pharmacists and voluntary participation of pharmacists in ADR reporting is very crucial in achieving the safety goals and safeguarding public health. Also, these knowledge gaps can be fulfilled through continuous professional development programs and reinforcing theoretical and practical knowledge in undergraduate pharmacy curriculums. Without adequately identifying and fulfilling training needs of pharmacists and other health care professionals, the efficiency of national pharmacovigilance systems is unlikely to improve which may compromise patient’s safety.

Pharmacovigilance: pharmacists' perspective on spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting.

Globally, adverse drug reactions (ADRs), one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality, will continue to pose a threat to public health as long as drugs are being used to treat various ailments. Prompt ADR reporting is crucial in ensuring drug safety. The aim of this narrative review was to highlight the role of pharmacists in pharmacovigilance and to identify barriers and facilitators toward ADR reporting documented in the literature. The perspective of pharmacy students on pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting has also been discussed with an aim to highlight the need to improve content related to ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance in undergraduate pharmacy curriculum. Globally, although the role of pharmacists within national pharmacovigilance systems varies, it is very well recognized. In general, pharmacists acknowledge that ADR reporting is part of their professional responsibility and have a positive attitude toward reporting ADRs. However, current research evidence suggests that there are still critical knowledge gaps with regard to ADR reporting among pharmacists, especially in countries where the role of pharmacists within the health care system is limited. These knowledge gaps can be fulfilled through continuous professional development programs and reinforcing theoretical and practical knowledge in undergraduate pharmacy curriculums. Without adequately identifying and fulfilling training needs of pharmacists and other health care professionals, the efficiency of national pharmacovigilance systems is unlikely to improve which may compromise patient’s safety.

A study on the perspectives of pharmacy students and faculties on social networking sites

Context: People tend to use social networking sites (SNSs) often as a means of communication. Aim: This study was designed to find out the view, trend, and influence of SNSs among students and faculties of a Pharmacy School in India. Subjects and Methods: One hundred and eighty pharmacy students and 45 faculties received the questionnaire, out of which 132 students and 20 faculties provided their response. The questionnaire was framed using SurveyMonkey, an online paid survey tool to gather information from the responders. The questionnaire was sent as a link via E-mail to all the students and faculties with formal periodical reminders. Results: The response rate was 95.56% and 44.44% from the students and faculties, respectively. About 80.9% had regular access to SNS. Facebook was the most widely used SNS. All the student responders claimed that their study time as well as academic performance was not influenced by their involvement in social networking; in fact 72.73% of the students reported to have improved their academic performances even while using SNSs. Neither the students nor the faculties had any health-related concerns because of the use of social networking. Conclusions: The use of SNSs did not bring any changes in one's personal behavior or led to any health-related issues to worry. Instead it was helpful for learning purposes, professional activities, and to improve educational acquaintance.