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Essay / Assessing why undergraduate pharmacy students join pharmacy years. The role of the pharmacist has shifted from a product-focused role to a patient-focused role. This is because pharmacists are medication experts, where they advise both patients and doctors on the appropriate use of prescription and over-the-counter medications. In 1997, the World Health Organization highlighted the expanded role of pharmacists within the healthcare team and coined the term "seven-star pharmacist", referring to the extension of their role to caregivers, decision-makers, communicators, leaders, managers and lifelong learners. , and professor. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay Pharmacy students receive extensive courses in biomedical, pharmaceutical, clinical, and administrative sciences to strengthen their knowledge and develop their skills so that they they can become productive and successful practitioners in the field of pharmaceutical practice. Preparing students for their future career plans in high school is very important. For example, in Canada, more than 3,500 junior high school students were surveyed to assess their future career plans and their confidence in their ability to find training and employment in their field of interest. The majority of students had already planned their future careers and were confident about finding employment nationally and globally. High school students generally do not know the pharmaceutical profession or the role of pharmacists. There are, however, many reasons why students choose pharmacy as their area of major after graduating from high school. Some may choose pharmacy because they want to work with patients, others may choose pharmacy because they want a profession with a high income level, while still others may choose pharmacy because they want a profession with flexible working hours. These students may be encouraged to study pharmacy by their parents, friends or teachers, or through career fairs. The University of Arkansas College of Pharmacy for Medical Sciences offered a week-long program for high school graduates, introducing them to the profession of pharmacy. . During this week, students learned about the profession, participated in preparation-related activities, visited practice sites, and were included in some clinical training. By the end of the week, approximately 70% of students who completed the course had applied or considered applying to the pharmacy program. 7Appropriate systematic and career guidance for high school students regarding pharmaceutical career and potential work opportunities would guide students in choosing the career they are interested in, while helping them plan their future career plan. The pharmaceutical market in Saudi Arabia suffers from a shortage of native-born pharmacists, which has led to the recruitment of a large number of foreign pharmacists. 8 As recently as 2001, there was only one ink school of pharmacy, but by 2016, a total of 21 public pharmacy colleges and private colleges had been established. Today, the total number of doctoral (Pharm D) programs offered in Saudi Arabia is19, while 15 Bachelor’s (B Pharm) programs are offered. Due to the significant increase in the number of pharmacy schools between 2001 and 2016, the number of Saudi national pharmacists increased from 5% to 16.6% during this period. 10Numerous studies around the world have studied the reasons and motivations that lead pharmacy students to study pharmacy5, 6, 11e14 as well as their future career plans. 4, 15, 16 In Saudi Arabia, a single study was conducted among 122 final year B Pharm and Pharm D students in Riyadh to assess the main factors influencing students' choice for pharmacy program and their willingness to enter the pharmaceutical industry after graduation. Taif is one of the main cities located in the western region of Saudi Arabia. No previous studies have been conducted in the Western region of Saudi Arabia to explore pharmacy students' satisfaction levels and future career plans. Therefore, this study aims to assess the motivations of all pharmacy students (PharmD) to join the Tail University pharmacy program, their satisfaction with their choice and their future career plans. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was carried out at the College of Pharmacy, Taif University. Around 700 questionnaires were distributed to all pharmacy students at Taif University. The questionnaire was developed after an in-depth review of the literature. Validation of form and content was carried out by two experts from the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at Taif University (one professor and one associate professor). The initial questionnaire was tested with 20 students. The pilot study yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of 82.6%. The questionnaire was divided into four sections. The first section concerned the demographics of the respondents, such as gender, education level, place of residence, and grade point average (GPA). The second section focused on why students chose to study the Pharm D program. The third section focused on student satisfaction with their choice of pharmacy as a major. The final section focused on students’ future career plans. In this section, students were given a list of possible career paths for pharmacists and asked to answer “yes” or “no” to each. Since students were allowed to choose more than one possible career path, the total student choice percentage can in some cases exceed 100%. All pharmacy students at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Taif University were eligible to participate in this study. , a total of 765 students. All students were enrolled in the same program, a one-year Pharm D program. A group of 4th year pharmacy students was recruited as data collectors. They met with pharmacy students from the College of Pharmacy during their study vacation from April 1, 2017 to April 30, 2017. First, the data collectors introduced themselves to the students and informed them about the study. They then informed them that their participation in the study would be voluntary and that all data would remain confidential. Students who agreed to participate in the study and gave informed verbal consent were sent the questionnaire. The questionnaire generally took less than 10 minutes. Statistical Analysis Data obtained from this survey were coded, entered, and then analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe the results, while theChisquare and Fisher Exact tests were used to determine the association between students' demographic profiles and their responses to the three main sections of the study. Values less than 0.05 were considered significant. A total of 700 students were present during the study period. Only 398 students responded to the questionnaire, a response rate of 56.85%. The majority of respondents were male (80%), in their fourth year of study (47.7%), had applied for the pharmacy program as a second choice after medicine (62.3%), and preferred to study Pharm D .program (98.2%). Detailed results are presented in Table 1. Table 2 below summarizes the reasons why students chose to enroll in the pharmacy program. Two-thirds of those surveyed had been encouraged to study pharmacy by family members, while three-quarters saw it73. 4% chose pharmacy because their high school results allowed them to join the program. Finding a sought-after job with career opportunities, flexible work hours, a desire to work in a health-related field, and secure employment were the primary motivations for pharmacy students to join the pharmacy program ( 81 .7%, 67.8%, 83.4% and 83.2%, respectively). Just over half of all respondents (52%) agreed or strongly agreed that pharmacy is the ideal profession. Additionally, approximately 58.7% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that if given the opportunity to choose their program of study again, they would choose pharmacy again. Only 27% of those surveyed regretted entering pharmacy school. Concerning the students' future career plans, students were asked to check all areas of work that might interest them.DiscussionStudying pharmacy is a stressful task due to the academic workload during the study period. Therefore, students joining a pharmacy program should be clear about the requirements for successful completion of the program, as well as the opportunities available to pharmacy graduates. Our findings show that only 37.7% of our respondents applied to study pharmacy as their first choice. It is common in Arab countries that students who achieve high scores in high school largely choose to study medicine as their first choice. Those who fail to secure a place at medical school most often choose to study pharmacy or another health-related subject. In a study conducted among undergraduate pharmacy students in Jordan, it was found that 45% of them applied for pharmacy as their first choice, while about 32% of respondents had medicine as their first choice of study program. Similar results were found in a study of pharmacy students at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa, where pharmacy was the first choice for 52.3% of pharmacy students. There are many incentives and influencing factors that could influence students' decision regarding their chosen field of study. In our study, approximately two-thirds of respondents, or 66%, were encouraged to study pharmacy by family members, 83.7% wanted to pursue a respected profession, 81.7% chose pharmacy because of their desire to work in a popular sector. and sought after, 60% because they believe that pharmacy is the closest profession after medicine, while two thirds want a job, 27(5),, 54(1), 1-8.
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