Pharmacy Thesis final

7/23/2019 Pharmacy Thesis final

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CHAPTER 1

1.0 INTRODUCTION

A pharmacist is a professional scientist who possesses the skills in all aspect relating

to the design, development, delivery, supply, control and the usage of drugs (USM,

2008! "enerally, training education for pharmaceutical course will take a#out four to

si$ years all over around the world (%almdoc, 200&! 't is depending on the

universitys educational program! )urrently, pharmacy education is one of the

demand courses among the school leavers especially in developing country such as

Malaysia! *he competition for entry into pharmacy program is very intense! As an

e$ample, every year, more than +000 applicants competes for only + places in

School of %harmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia which is the pioneer

institution in offering pharmacy degree program in Malaysia since -.2! *hus, many

individuals who may meet minimum admission re/uirements (USM, 2008 do not

gain admission to the program as maority of applicants do possess a very high

admission than the #aseline cut off points set for admission purpose!

*he curriculum design of pharmaceutical program varies among countries (1S,

200-! At Universiti Sains Malaysia, the school is currently using an integrated

approach in teaching and learning since pharmacists need to ac/uire a #road range of

scientific education! *he 1achelor of %harmacy (13%harm correlates scientific

findings with a strong foundation of core science courses! 1esides that, in related to

social pharmacy, social integration of su#ects are also em#edded well in the current

curriculum (USM, 2008 in order to prepare a well rounded pharmacist in the future!

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'n many parts of the world, completion of a pharmacy degree does not automatically

/ualify an individual for licensure (%almdoc, 200&! 'n most cases, a post graduation

(pre3registration in3service training period often referred to as 4internship5 which

#een mostly regulated #y the provincial licensing #ody rather than the local

educational institution is re/uired! *he length of this internship varies across the

country, #ut it is generally 2 months in duration (%almdoc, 200-! 'n addition to this

in service training period, candidates for licensure are re/uired to complete a series of

provincial and national e$aminations (Austin and 6nsom, 2008! *he pre3registration

period currently represents the vital transition from university #ased to practice3#ased

learning (7oyal %harmaceutical Society of "reat 1ritain, 200! )urrently in

Malaysia, a pharmacy graduate is required to undergo a period of houseman ship or

pupillage for 12 months at any general or private hospital, pharmaceutical industry

or at any retail pharmacy recognised by the Pharmacy Board of Malaysia upon

completion of a recognised pharmacy degree. The objective of the houseman ship is

for graduates to undergo a planned training programme on aspects of pharmacy

practice under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. fter passing the !orensic

Pharmacy e"amination and completing one year of houseman ship, graduates are

eligible to register #ith the Pharmacy Board of Malaysia and may practise as a

registered pharmacist in Malaysia $Palmdoc, 2%%&'.

%harmacist nowadays was said to #e the #est profession since it would give high

income and have good future! 9or e$ample, pharmacists in developed country such as

in )anada practice in a wide array of fields, ranging from dispensary to community to

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am#ulatory to primary, secondary or tertiary care settings (Austin and 6nsom, 2008!

't is due to significant attention paid to the strong demand for pharmacists across the

country over the past decade: we appear now to #e moving towards a more #alanced

supply3demand situation, particularly in ur#an areas (Austin and 6nsom, 2008! Since

pharmacists profession has a very high e$pectation from society, so the future

pharmacists need to #e well prepared via vigorous training #efore they enter the

workforce!

1.1 Background of the stud

"enerally, thousands of pharmacy students will graduate from varies universities in

this world! 'n Malaysia for in instance, every year more than &00 new pharmacy

graduates normally guaranteed to enter pharmacy workforce and they need to

translate what they have learnt for the past four years to practice! 9urthermore, since

200, the government had mandated a ;< years of compulsory service to the new

pharmacy graduates (M=>, 200! 'n the first year upon graduation, a new

practitioner has to undergone one year of standard internship programme at

government hospitals and upon successfully complete this internship period, they

have to serve the government for the ne$t three years #efore they can #e fully

registered!

As the role of a pharmacist deals with patient care, they need to #e really competent

and a#le to undertake some of activities related to patient care (Bra(eau, Meyer,

Belsey et al, 2%%&'independently #y using their skills which they ac/uired during

their educational period (Austin and 6nsom, 2008! ?ithin this conte$t, it is very

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important for pharmacy graduates to ensure that they really had prepared themselves

#efore they enter pharmacy workforce in order to achieve the missions of providing

the #est patient medication and health related activities!

*his is relatively important and need to #e taken seriously among graduates #ecause

pu#lic who demand pharmacists services to improve their health will #e the udge to

determine either it really fulfil their high e$pectation towards pharmacists! *herefore,

this survey at least will help us to assess the preparedness of pharmacy graduates

from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM to enter pharmacy workforce! 1esides, we

also can identify the #arriers of unpreparedness and will make efforts to overcome

those #arriers!

1.! Rat"ona#e and s"gn"f"cance of the stud

According to the record, around 00 students of School of %harmaceutical Sciences,

Universiti Sains Malaysia will graduate for every academic session, and then they

will enter the workforce in either pu#lic or private sectors (USM, 2008! >owever,

the /uestion is whether the graduates from School of %harmaceutical Sciences,

Universiti Sains Malaysia really had prepared themselves to enter the real world of

practice! 9urthermore, in the Malaysian pharmacy education conte$t, there is no

pu#lished study assessing perceptions towards preparedness among recent pharmacy

graduates to enter the workforce! 1eside that to what e$tent the recent graduates

satisfaction towards the entire pharmacy curriculum in preparing them for practice is

not well e$plored! *he satisfaction of students on educational program is very

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important since this will determine their preparedness to enter workforce (+ogan and

undquist, 2%%&'!

*here are some studies that have assessed the preparedness of graduates to enter o#

market in other health3science profession such as among psychiatric nurses and

physicians (?aite, 200: Blumenthal, -ohale, /ampbell and 0eissman, 2%%1!

>ence, there is a need to conduct our own survey to glimpse the real scenario in

pharmacy local setting! 'n order to achieve this aim, this research is conducted, so that

we can assess the level of pharmacy graduates preparedness, identify the #arriers that

affect the preparedness and find the solutions as well to make sure that the students

graduate from School of %harmaceutical Sciences in Universiti Sains Malaysia are

really prepared to enter workforce! *his cross3sectional survey on a sample of

pharmacy graduates from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM will provide #enchmark

data on self3reported towards the preparedness to enter workforce!

1.$ %"terature re&"e'

6valuation of preparedness to enter workforce had #een reported in various health

related professionals! 9or an instance in 2002, a study undertaken #y ?aite (200,

reported the outcome of interviews with psychiatric nurses! *he interviews were

formatted to #e open3ended to ena#le participants to fully e$plain their e$periences!

*he result showed that there were significant variances regarding the nurses

e$pectation, orientation process, responsi#ilities and supportive interventions from

colleagues! *hese participants identified several #eneficial concepts that would

palliate negative affective states, which in turn may effectively reduce the premature


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e$it of new nurses from the profession! Some of the nurses admitted that they

e$perienced mi$ed feelings including fear, anger, confusion, shock, happiness and

disillusionment at the first few weeks in mental health organi@ation! *his condition

was related to inade/uate process of connecting educational e$periences and practice!

A study towards the perceptions of new graduates, employers and educators related to

preparedness of graduates from health professional education programs (oseworthy

and >arnett, 2002 was done to the target audiences who were taken from

ewfoundland and am#rador and selected programs at Balhousie University!

According to the study, maority of new graduate respondents felt they were prepared

to meet the employers e$pectations e$cept for occupational therapist new graduates

felt the least preparedness to meet employers e$pectation! 'n addition, new graduates

were satisfied with their educational programs and they planned to pursue continuing

education! *he report also discussed how employers accommodate recent graduates

once they arrived in the workplace setting! astly, >uman 7esource Bepartment

respondents felt there were inade/uate num#ers of health professionals #eing trained

in the province to meet current and future needs!

A national survey of residents completing their training in 8 specialties which were

internal medicine, paediatrics, family practice, o#stetricsCgynaecology, general

surgery, orthopaedic surgery, psychiatry, and anaesthesiology at academic health

centres in the United States (Blumenthal, -ohale, /ampbell and 0eissman, 2%%1'

was #eing conducted to assess residentsD perceptions towards their preparedness to

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provide common clinical services during their last year ofgraduate medical education!

9inding showed that residents in all specialties rated themselves as prepared to

manage most of the common conditions they wouldencounter in their clinical career!

>owever, more than 0E of residents in each specialty reported that they felt

unpreparedto undertake one or more tasks relevant to their disciplines,such as caring

for patients with human immunodeficiency virus or ac/uired immunodeficiency

syndrome, su#stance a#use (family practice or nursing home patients (internal

medicine, performance of spinal surgery (orthopaedic surgery or a#dominal aortic

aneurysm

repair (general surgery and management of chronic pain (anaesthesiology!

=verall, residents in their last year of training at academic health centres rated their

clinical preparednessis high.

A preliminary study in Australia attempted to capture the e$perience of final year

students from University of Fueensland (FU* (1lake and )onnie, 200-! Some

views of students, employers and industry representative #odies had #een e$plored

towards the preparedness of students from University of Fueensland (FU* to enter

the professional workforce! "enerally, students and employers consistently perceived

that the Gtransition out of university education to the profession was made more

seamless #y an integration of academic studies and professional work e$perience

from the intermediate stages of the property program! *he results of this study

demonstrated that some units in the program were perceived to provide direct

preparation for students commencing their professional careers while the impact of

other units was less tangi#le! Halua#le feed#ack received during the study included


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recognition of the need for relia#le property education achieved through increased

engagement with industry participants, field work and contemporary technologies! 't

is envisaged that this feed#ack could #e applied more #roadly in all similar property

educational programs in Australia!

'n United States, a study was conducted to determine the percentage of residents

accepting faculty positions following completion of a community pharmacy residency

program ()%7% and identify influences to pursue or not pursue an academic career

()lark, Mehta, 7odis, %ruchnicki and %edersen, 2008! Bue to the outcome, after

completing their residency program, 8E (nI


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practice education! A#out +E perceived that they were only somewhat or minimally

prepared! )urrent age, years since graduation from nursing practice program and age

when attending the nursing practice program did not differ significantly for those who

felt prepared versus those who did not! 9or a num#er of content areas, su#ects did

not perceive that they were well prepared in the areas that they perceived were very

important! *he results also indicate that formal nursing practice education is not

preparing new nurse practitioners (% to feel ready for practice and suggests several

areas where the educational programs need to #e strengthened!

Mem#ers of Merritt >awkins J Associates 7esearch Bepartment were conducted a

telephone survey for final year medical residents (Merritt >awkins J AssociatesK,

2008! According to the survey, &E of residents said they are 4very prepared5 to

handle such matters, while the maority (&& E said they are 4somewhat prepared!5

8E of residents said they are 4unprepared5 for the #usiness side of medicine!

*raditionally, medical students and residents have received little instruction in the

#usiness of medicine as the prevalence of their education and training was focused on

clinical issues! 'n recent years, however, a num#er of medical schools and residency

programs had added at least some instructions in medical economics and practice

management! *he result may #e suggested #y the fact that in 200


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terms and conditions of medical employment and therefore it will #e a disadvantage

when evaluating practice opportunities!

*he School of %harmacy, University )olorado >ealth Sciences )enter (U)>S) was

conducted an e$it survey of the 200< graduating class, the initial graduates from the

first professional pharmacy degree program (Mc)ollum and >ansen, 200+! *his

study e$plored the characteristics of graduating students entering and not entering

residencies along with reasons that graduates provided for what had affected their

decisions! *he result showed 20E of graduates entered residencies! on3white

students were less likely than white students to enter residencies (p L 0!0!

Motivations for entering residencies included increased clarity of professional

opportunities, improved clinical skills and enhanced o# satisfaction! ack of

willingness to train at residency salary and family o#ligations were cited as the

reasons for not pursuing residency training! 'n conclusion, pursuit of residency

training appears to #e motivated #y personal and career goals and it is independent of

age, se$, and level of educational de#t! )ontinued multi3site research should focus on

overcoming perceived #arriers and identifying motivations for promoting residency

training as a professional norm!

'n Sydney, Australia, pharmacy students from four universities were invited to

participate in a survey that utili@ed the use of 2 /uestionnaires framed in the formed

five point ikert scale in order to seek and rate various aspects of their rural

placement (*aylor, Marriott, Balton et al, 200&! *he students were invited to e$plore

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positive and negative aspects of their rural placement and to make suggestions for

future placements! As a result, a#out 08 students responded to the /uestionnaire!

Students rated most highly the role of the preceptor in making their rural placement a

success! 'n conclusion, students valued their placements highly when they were in a

supportive learning environment, with an organi@ed structure and ade/uately

supported #y the universities!

According to all literature reviews, it mostly demonstrated for other healthcare

practitioners such as medical doctors and nurses! *here is no specific study has #een

done towards pharmacy graduates on their preparedness to enter workforce especially

in Asian country!

1.( Research o)*ect"&es

+enera# o)*ect"&e,

*o assess the perception of pharmacy graduates from School of

%harmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia towards their

preparedness to enter pharmacy workforce!

-ec"f"c o)*ect"&es,

! *o assess the level of preparedness of pharmacy graduates from

Universiti Sains Malaysia to enter pharmacy workforce!

2! *o determine the level of graduates satisfaction towards

pharmaceutical educational program in Universiti Sains Malaysia!

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program with the level of preparedness among graduates to enter

o# market!

! *o identify the #arriers that affect the preparedness among

graduates

CHAPTER !

!.0 /ETHODO%O+

!.1 -tud des"gn

A cross sectional survey was conducted on pharmacy graduates of Universiti Sains

Malaysia who had successfully completed their studies in academic session

2008C200-! *hey were invited to participate #y answering the self administered

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/uestionnaires that were distri#uted in August 200-! *his method is #eneficial to

reduce the errors and #ias among the participants! *herefore, it will generali@e the

outcome!

!.! De&e#oent of 2uest"onna"re

*he /uestionnaire was divided into three sections, which were Section A

Bemographic characteristics: Section 1 %ersonal perception towards preparedness to

enter pharmacy workforce: and Section ) Satisfaction towards pharmacy education

received!

Section A was created to identify the characteristics of the respondent related to their

gender, age, race and final )"%A! 9or section 1 and ), it used evaluation scale

format! 9ive points ikert Scale ranging from GIStrongly Bisagree, G2IBisagree,

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was undertaken for the survey items and a good Cronbach value

was achieved for all the items (!."#).

!.$ -tud ou#at"on and sa#e s"3e.

*he target sample for this study is the recent graduates of School of %harmaceutical

Science, Universiti Sains Malaysia who successfully completed their study in

academic session 2008C200-! According to the record, there are around


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according to the demographic characteristics using either )hi3s/uare test or 9ishers

e$act test wherever appropriate! *he level of significance was set at pL0!0+!

CHAPTER $

$.0 RE-U%T-

$.1 Deograh"c Character"st"cs of Resondents

=n thAugust 200-,


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completed their study in academic session 2008C200-! =ut of


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"6B67

Male

9emale

0

2

.

&

0

!0

20!&

.2!+

+!-

$.! %e&e# of rearedness accord"ng to the stateents.

$.!.1 Persona# ercet"on to'ards rearedness to enter harac 'orkforce.

According to the responses of respondents towards their preparedness, &0!8E (nI&2

agreed that overall education they received for years had really prepared them to

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practice as a competent pharmacist! =nly 2!-E (nIpharmacy field! *he evaluation on respondents perception towards overall education

they had received then will determine that respondents feel right with their decision in

choosing pharmacy as a career! =verall respondents gave positive response towards

this statement! +!-E (nI+& of respondents feel that the decision to choose pharmacy

as a career was right! 2

*a#le 2! 7esponses to /uestion 1 (2

RE-PON-E 9RE:UENC PERCENT 587

Strongly disagree 0 0

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Bisagree 0 0

eutral 22 2!&

Agree +& +!-

Strongly agree 2 2

*otal 02 00!0

)onfidence level of respondents to perform duties is also #eing evaluated #ased to

their preparedness! 2!.E (nI


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Bisagree 0 0

eutral 2& 2+!+

Agree &< &!8

Strongly agree < 2!.

*otal 02 00!0

Most of the respondents gave positive response towards preparedness for any self3

directed learning activities to improve their practice skills! 0!8E (nI strongly

agreed and &!8E (nI&owever, there are 2!-E (nI


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Bisagree < 2!-

eutral 2+ 2!+

Agree &< &!8

Strongly agree 0!8

*otal 02 00!0

.!&E (nI8 of respondents strongly agreed in their preparedness to work at any

places all over Malaysia, 8E (nI- of respondents ust agreed! >owever, !-E

(nI+ strongly disagreed and &!-E (nI. disagreed to work at any places! (*a#le

2!

*a#le 2! 7esponses to /uestion 1 (+


Strongly disagree + !-

Bisagree . &!-

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eutral 2< 22!+

Agree - 8

Strongly agree 8 .!&

*otal 02 00!0

Bemographic measure that has significance difference with the preparedness to work

at any workplace either at rural or ur#an area is race (pI0!0.! Malay respondents

showed the most preparedness to work anywhere all over Malaysia compared to

)hinese respondents where

According to *a#le

enough confidence to communicate effectively with other healthcare practitioners

especially on patients drug related pro#lems! 2!+

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*a#le 2!+ 7esponses to /uestion 1 (&


Strongly disagree

Bisagree - 8

eutral

*otal 02 00!0

Statistically significant differences were noted in response to this /uestion #etween

race (pI0!00 and final )"%A (pI0!02 towards confidence level in communication

skill! )hinese respondents (&&!.E: nI


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statement! *he rest chose to #e neutral in response to this statement (.!&E: nI8!

(*a#le

*a#le



Bisagree

eutral 8 .!&

Agree && &!.

Strongly agree . &!.

*otal 02 00!0

9or individual satisfaction towards pharmacy curriculum at USM, the highest

percentage of respondents, +2E (nI+



Bisagree 0 0

eutral +< +2

2*


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Agree & +!

Strongly agree < 2!-

*otal 02 00!0

7ace (pI0!02 showed significant difference with respondents satisfaction towards

pharmacy curriculum in USM! Malay respondents are more satisfied (&0!E: nI2-

then )hinese respondents who preferred to #e neutral (&!8E: nIMaority of respondents, which is +8!8E (nI&0 agree that practical sessions included

in pharmacy curriculum are useful for their future practice! e$t, 22!+E (nI2owever, there are 2E (nI2

respondents did not agree that practical sessions in pharmacy curriculum will help

them in future practice! (*a#le

*a#le



Bisagree 2 2

eutral . &!.

Agree &0 +8!8

Strongly agree 2< 22!+

*otal 02 00!0

2


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.0!&E (nI.2 respondents agreed that knowledge they had gained during studying

will help them to communicate with other healthcare practitioners due to any drug

related pro#lems! +!-E (nI& respondents strongly agreed with this statement and the

rest of respondents are neither agree nor disagree (2

*a#le



Bisagree 0 0

eutral 2 2

Agree .2 .0!&

Strongly agree & +!-

*otal 02 00!0

"ender of respondents (pI0!02 showed significant difference with this statement!

9emale respondents showed higher percentage to agree compared to male

respondents (.

9or this statement, respondents have to choose either they want to further study or not

after completion of pre3registration re/uirement! *he result showed less than half

respondents (2!2E: nI


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respondents strongly agreed to further study! *here are some respondents did not wish

to continue higher degree after completion of pre3registration re/uirement, !8E

(nI2 respondents disagree and

statement! (*a#le

*a#le


Strongly disagree

Bisagree 2 !8

eutral continue higher degree compared to other respondents with less final )"%A!

2


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!2E (nI2 respondents thought they could not relate the relevance of certain

courses with future practice! >owever, 2+!+E (nI2& respondents thought of the

opposite! .!8E (nI8 respondents strongly disagreed with this statement means that

they could relate the relevance of all courses with future practice! (*a#le

*a#le


Strongly disagree 8 .!8

Bisagree 2& 2+!+

eutral 2& 2+!+

Agree 2 !2

Strongly agree 0 0

*otal 02 00!0

1oth gender (pI0!00 and race (pL0!00 showed significant difference with

/uestion ) (&! Almost male respondents (+!&E: nI& agreed that they cannot relate

the relevance of certain courses with future practice! *he same phenomenon also

happens to )hinese respondents (&alf of respondents feel that educational program is relying more on theoretical

aspect compared to practical! 8!8E (nI- respondents strongly agree #ut

(nI disagree and 2E (nI2 strongly disagree with this statement! (*a#le

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*a#le

76S%=S6 976FU6)N %67)6* (E


Bisagree

eutral 2& 2+!+

Agree + +0

Strongly agree - 8!8

*otal 02 00!0

7ace (pL0!00 and final )"%A (pI0!0+ of respondents showed significant

difference on satisfaction towards educational program whether it relies more on

theoretical aspect or practical! )hinese respondents (+-!


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Bisagree

eutral 20 -!&

Agree

Strongly agree

learning to prepare themselves to #e a competent pharmacist! 2+!+E (nI2&

respondents agreed with this statement and other respondents are neutral, neither

agree nor disagree (!8E: nI2! (*a#le

*a#le


)%


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Bisagree 0 0

eutral 2 !8

Agree 2& 2+!+

Strongly agree & &2!.

*otal 02 00!0

"ender (pL0!00 showed significant difference with statement either respondents

need more e$periential learning to improve preparedness! Maority female

respondents (.

respondent (


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CHAPTER (

(.0 DI-CU--ION

(.1 Persona# ercet"on to'ards rearedness to enter harac 'orkforce.

*his cross sectional study was conducted to evaluate the level of preparedness among

pharmacy graduates from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM in their way to enter

pharmacy workforce! All su#ects were targeted to owever, only 02 respondents were responsed (response rate is .-E!

*heirpreparedness was evaluated #ased on their responses on self3administered

/uestionnaires! Halua#le feed#ack received during this study showed a#out &E

(nI&2 of respondents agreed that overall educationthey had received for four years

really prepared them to practice as competent pharmacist, prepared themfor any self

directed learning activities (learn according to e$perience and they confident to

perform anyduties which will #e assigned to them in future! Although the proportion

is more than half #ut actually the num#ers is inade/uate since the e$pectation is

higher than this value! %reparedness was affected #y a num#er of factors! *hese

included internal factors such as the graduates personality and learning style, #ut the

maority of references were to e$ternal factors such as undergraduate clinical

placements, shadowing, induction and the support of others, #oth in the workplace

and at home ('lling, Morrow, Oergon et al, 2008!)urriculum of educational program

is one of the factors that affect the preparedness too (9isher, --! *he level of

)*


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preparedness among pharmacy graduates is very important since the preparedness

will help a pharmacist to work efficiently in order to incorporate a scholarly

approach in identifying patient care problems, practicing an evidence5based manner

and ensuring safe, effective, and appropriate use of medications! owadays,

pharmacy field is spreading to play role in disaster condition (Pederson, /anaday,

6llis et al, 2%%)', so that a competent pharmacist must have this additional disaster

preparedness!

As pharmacy graduates, they must fulfil all the /ualities re/uired! Bue to study

that was undertaken using a phenomenological approach to identify student and

employer perceptions of how successfully students are transitioning to their first

professional o# (1lake and )onnie, 200-, they have shortlisted the soft skills

competencies of their students employees! *he list included confidence, conflict

resolution, responsi#ility, time management, attitude and acceptance of feed#acks!

According to respondents perception towards their preparedness on various

aspects, .8E (nI80 respondents agreed that they had chosen right decision to #e

a pharmacist! *his proportion gave good impression as they had struggled for four

years, it really made them feel no regret to #e a pharmacist and continue the

efforts of previous pharmacists and hopefully they can encourage the perceptions

of society towards pharmacists responsi#ility as for a long time they only thought

that pharmacists o# is limited in dispensing medication! 'n fact, pharmacist is not

a drug dispenser only #ut a pharmacist hold responsi#ilities to promote health,

prevent disease, assess, monitor,initiate and modify medication use to assure that

drug therapyregimens are safe and effective (Poseph and Sumant 1aht, 200&!

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*he evaluation on preparedness of respondents to work at any workplace either at

rural or ur#an areas also had #een done! *he result showed +&E (nI+.

respondents did not mind to work anywhere! =nly !8E (nI2 respondents did

not agree to work at any workplace! According to a study done at School of

%harmacy, University )olorado >ealth Sciences )enter (U)>S) (Mc)ollum

and >ansen, 200+, influential factors of unwillingness to work at rural residency

cited #y 200 graduates included lack of willingness to continue training at

residency salary levels and family o#ligations! Several suggestions may have

contri#uted to increase num#er of students entering residencies upon graduation

from the School of %harmacy, University )olorado >ealth Sciences )enter

(U)>S), including the promotion of residency training #y clinical faculty

mem#ers throughout the academic program! Annual programs such as

%rofessional =pportunities Bay and the 7esidency 9orum conducted at the school

provide additional opportunities for faculty mem#ers and employers to discuss

with students the #enefits of residency training! 9inally, there is a strong school3

wide encouragement for students to participate in professional pharmacy

organi@ations at local and national levels, as well as support for students to attend

the national meetings of those professional organi@ations! As in Malaysia, an

allowance was given to those who work at rural areas in Sa#ah and Sarawak to

encourage the interest of graduates to work over there (S%A, 200-!

=ne of the main criteria that must #e mastered #y a competent pharmacist is

communication skill either with other healthcare practitioners or patients! 'n order

to have effective communication, a pharmacist must have the confidence and

)&


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their o#n effective communication styles $Mc7onough and Bennett, 2%%&' ! 1ased

on the result, 8E (nI- of respondents disagreed that they did not have enough

confidence to communicate effectively while the rest were neutral and agreed

with this statement! *his feed#ack was not good as for pharmacy graduates: they

should prepare themselves with communication skills! *his condition occurred

#ecausestudents had been guided to believe that their academic no#ledges are

all they need in order to get a great job and be successful. 8t becomes #orse #hen

they ignored all other aspects such as communication sills and general

no#ledges during studying. astly, they shoced #hen they reali(ed that their

qualifications are not as important as they once thought. 9urely they can have

great ideas, theories, and solve comple" problems, but if they cannot effectively

communicate to spea out that material in a persuasive and e"citing manner by

relating to the fello# human being, then they are facing an uphill battle in

#hatever challenges they encountered$:ebergang, 2%%'.

Some factors that caused poor communication skill included poor practice of

communicating while studying either during lectures or practicals, poor

development of self3confidence and insufficient knowledge especially related to

this field! *here are num#ers of method to overcome poor communication skill:

listen carefully of what your partner is saying, respond the criticism with empathy

and look for compromise or in other words, it is called win3win situation (Scott,

200-!

(.! -at"sfact"on to'ards harac educat"on rece"&ed

)


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'n this section, a#out 8E (nI82 respondents felt that pharmacy program at USM

satisfies the needs of this country in producing professional pharmacists! >owever

the result was slightly contrasted with respondents personal satisfaction towards

pharmacy curriculum at USM! *he percentage of respondents agreed was less

than the percentage of respondents who chose neutral: 8E (nI- vs +2E

(nI+ealth Sciences

)enter (U)>S) where it showed only - of 8 students (E indicated they

)3


39/50

would #e entering residencies while others planned to do higher degree

(Mc)ollum and >ansen, 200+! >owever, dueto overall findings, it showed that

respondents were not fully satisfied with pharmacy educational program at USM!

6ach school of pharmacy around the #orld prescribes its unique prerequisites for

entry to the program. These requirements represent a minimum threshold and in

no #ay guarantee admission. 't has a distinctive character and pedagogical

philosophy and utili(es different methods. 9ome schools tend to utili(e more

traditional ;building blocs< approach to curriculum, emphasi(ing foundational

subjects such as pharmaceutics, medicinal chemistry, and pharmacology in the

early years of the program, follo#ed by more clinical course#or in later years

#hich is liely similar to educational program applied at :niversiti 9ains

Malaysia $:9M'. 8t is different #ith educational system at 7alhousie :niversity

in +alifa", #hich have adopted more problem5based curricular design, opting for

small5group tutorial discussions and a more modulari(ed and integrated

curriculum $ustin and 6nsom, 2008.6"periential education is a common and

required feature of all curricula, and occurs in all years of the professional

program.Therefore, it is recommended for responsible department at 9chool of

Pharmaceutical 9ciences, :niversiti 9ains Malaysia $:9M' to do deeper study to

mae some modification on educational program by adding more practical

sessions and not maing it to be too e"am oriented, so that pharmacy students of

:niversiti 9ains Malaysia $:9M' can really apply all the no#ledge they had

gained practically rather than just apply it on e"amination papers.

)4


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(.$ Assoc"at"on of Deograh"c Character"st"cs '"th Persona# Percet"on

to'ards Prearedness and -at"sfact"on to'ards Pharac Educat"on

Progra.

According to data analy@ed #y using S%SS, among various demographic

characteristics, personal perception towards preparedness was shown to #e related

most fre/uently is race! 7aces of respondents showed significant different on

preparedness to work anywhere and a#ility to communicate effectively with other

healthcare practitioners!

'n term of the preparedness to work anywhere, Malay respondents especially male

showed more prepared to work either at rural or ur#an areas compared to )hinese

respondents! *he possi#le reasons are Malay: male respondents are easier to adapt

themselves with the environment wherever they go! As for )hinese respondents,

they might have difficulties to adapt themselves especially in rural areas!

>owever, )hinese seem to have #etter communication skill than Malay! 't might

due to their preparedness in memori@ing the theories, so that they have no

pro#lem to apply it effectively during workforce! 9urthermore, the usage of

6nglish as primary language among )hinese respondents is an advantage for them

to have good communication especially with other healthcare practitioners!

As in satisfaction towards pharmacy education received, demographic

characteristics that related were race, gender and final )"%A! Male respondents

almost thought that knowledge they had gained is not enough to help them in

*%


41/50

communication! *herefore, they demanded for more e$periential learning! *hey

also cannot relate the relevance of certain courses with their future practice! 't was

similar to response of )hinese respondents! Most )hinese respondents also agreed

that pharmacy educational program is relying more on theoretical aspect

compared to practical and it is too e$am3oriented!

(.( Barr"ers of rearedness

Poor coun"cat"on sk"##

)ommunication skill is the main criteria that must #e developed in each

pharmacist! Actually, communication skill had #een trained to the students

since they were in first year at university! 't is done through presentations,

answering /uestions in front of pu#lic and giving opinions either when

re/uested or not! >owever, some students are not using these chances to

develop communication skills! As a result, when they have to communicate

with other healthcare practitioners and patients especially on drug related

pro#lems, they cannot do it effectively! *hey have great ideas, theories to

solve comple" problems#ut due to poor communication skill, they cannot

deliver it perfectly!

%ack of e;osure to rea# s"tuat"on at hos"ta# sett"ng

As in pharmacy educational program at Universiti Sains Malaysia, students

will only get practical session seriously during final year! Unfortunately, the

duration is too short and students might not have enough time to learn all

*1


42/50

those things related to drugs! 9urthermore, there are pro#lems to apply

everything they had learnt since first year during practical session #ecause of

forgetfulness! *herefore, something must #e done to modify educational

program #y adding more practical session in the sylla#us, so that students may

apply everything they learnt in the lectures practically!

%o' se#f conf"dence

Self confidence is the most important criteria for all graduates to enter

workforce! 't is important #ecause it will affect the /ualities of their o# and

their self improvements to compete with others! 'f graduates have low self

confidence, surely it will influence their a#ility to communicate! *hey also not

have the a#ility to #e out3spoken in giving opinion, so that other people

especially employers cannot see their potential to #e a good pharmacist!

*herefore, educational effort and strategy should #e targeted primarily at this

low self confidence group to encourage their confidence level!

(.4 %""tat"ons of stud

*2


43/50

*here are some limitations of the study had #een identified! *he /uestionnaires

were distri#uted to the graduates of School of %harmaceutical Science, USM who

had successfully completed their study in academic session 2008C200- during an

assem#ly of them in August 200-! >owever, not all graduates participated in this

study! *he small sample si@e and single study site limit the generali@a#ility of this

study! *herefore, the results o#tained were una#le to represent preparedness level

of all graduates!

*he durations of respondents to answer the /uestionnaires were too short, so

respondents might not read and think deeply in answering the /uestions! 't may

cause inaccuracy in the results!

(.< Recoendat"ons for future research

*he method of collecting data must #e improved to get more respondents, so that

the results will #e more relia#le! ?e# #ased survey might #e applied #y email the

/uestionnaires to all graduates and they will reply the answer! 'n addition,

respondents will not answer the /uestions in hurry!

*)


44/50

CHAPTER 4

4.0 CONC%U-ION

'n conclusion, almost pharmacy graduates from Universiti Sains Malaysia are

prepared to enter pharmacy workforce! >owever, the num#ers of prepared

graduates must #e improved! *he level of preparedness involved performing any

duties which will #e assigned, preparedness for any self directed learning

activities, preparedness to work anywhere and communicate effectively with other

healthcare practitioners! Satisfaction towards pharmacy education received

influenced the level of preparedness! Mostly graduates slightly not satisfied with

pharmacy educational program they had received for four years! *wo main

pro#lems were identified in this study: lack of practical sessions and the system of

educational program is too e$am oriented! *herefore, some modifications may #e

done to improve learning effectiveness, enhance the preparedness of the students

to enter workforce and give the #est performance as competent pharmacist! *here

are few num#ers of graduates who have not well prepared to enter workforce! *he

#arriers included poor communication skill, low self confidence and lack of

e$posure in handling real situation especially regarding drug related pro#lems!

Haria#les demographic characteristics also affect the preparedness of graduates!

7ace and gender are the most fre/uent varia#les related to level of preparedness

**


45/50

of graduates due to reasons that had discussed #efore! ast #ut not least it is

recommended to take actions in modifying pharmacy educational program to

enhance the level of preparedness among graduates!

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