engleski

Differences in pharmacy students’ ability to detect, resolve and prevent drug-related problems after theoretical and practical courses during the final year of the graduate program

Background information: One of the most important tasks of a pharmacist in practice is to provide pharmaceutical care. Detection, resolution and prevention of drug related problems (DRPs) represent one of the keystones of pharmaceutical care. In order to effectively manage DRPs, pharmacists should have a sufficient level of knowledge about DRPs. As pharmacy students receive approval for independent work with their diploma, it was required to determine the level of their knowledge about DRPs at the end of the final year of study. Purpose: To detect the influence of theoretical courses and Professional training on the level of pharmacy students’ knowledge about DRPs during the last year of the pharmacy study program at the University of Split Method: Respondents included in this study were the 5th year pharmacy students from the University of Split enrolled in the pharmacy study program in the academic year 2020/2021. The survey was based on a previously published and validated questionnaire and contained 40 claims about 9 clinical cases. Each of the clinical cases was designed to assess the pharmacist’s knowledge of detecting, resolving, and preventing DRPs. The final year of the pharmacy study program at the University of Split is divided into two parts – the first 5 months which contains clinically oriented theoretical subjects (Clinical pharmacy, Pharmaceutical care and self-medication, Clinical pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy), and the second part, which provides students practical knowledge (Professional training in community pharmacy during the last 6 months). Therefore, to detect changes in students’ knowledge level about DRPs during the academic year, students were asked to complete the questionnaire at three different time points - at the beginning of the year (September 2020), after theoretical lectures (February 2021), and after Professional training in a duration of 6 months (September 2021). The total DRPs score was calculated by summing the responses in the questionnaire and data are expressed as mean ± SD. The data was analyzed by statistical tests and the results were considered statistically significant at p<0.05. Results Twenty-three (N=23) students were included in this survey, of which 87.5% were women. The response rate in this survey was 95.83%. At the beginning of the year, the total DRP score knowledge was 31.6 ± 6.8. After each educational intervention, in the form of theoretical or practical course, the pharmacy students of the final year expressed a statistically significant increase in the average value of the total score of DRPs (p<0.001). The total DRP score after theoretical classes was 47.3 ± 5.2, and at the end of the final year was 53.0 ± 5.4, which represents an increase of + 67.7% in total DRP score during the academic year. Conclusion: The curricula of the final year of the study program significantly improves pharmacy students’ knowledge about DRPs and provides them the appropriate knowledge needed in their future work practice.

drug related problems ; pharmacy students ; knowledge ; professional training

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