Preparatory Year Students' Perception of Pharmacy Profession as a Career Choice: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract The study attempted to assess preparatory year students' perception towards pharmacists and the pharmacy profession. This cross-sectional survey was conducted between December 2019 and March 2020. The students were invited to complete an anonymous questionnaire via Google Forms®. In total, 244 students, of which 53.7% were female with the mean age of 19.2 ± 0.65, from 12 universities participated in this study. As per our findings, the majority of the respondents (91.8%) regard pharmacy as a well-respected profession, 82.4% thought pharmacists are important decision-makers, 68.4% disagreed that most pharmacists were unkind, and 60.7% did not agree that pharmacy was a low-status occupation. Meanwhile, 95.5% agreed that pharmacists must have a university degree, 88.6% agreed pharmacists must take responsibility for patients, and 82.8% believed pharmacists had to work too hard. Moreover, 62.3% did not think pharmacy was a low-skill occupation, 54.9% did not agree pharmacists must do unpleasant things, and 45.1% disagreed pharmacists only did what physicians requested of them. Lastly, 48.8% had low confidence in choosing pharmacy as a career. The students' overall perception toward pharmacists and the pharmacy profession was favorable. However, only one-fourth of the students displayed a tendency to choose pharmacy as a future career.

Effect of herb-drug interactions of Bacopa monnieri Linn. (Brahmi) formulation on the pharmacokinetics of amitriptyline in rats

ABSTRACT Interactions between herbs and drugs may increase or decrease the pharmacological or toxicological effects of either component. Experimental data on the pharmacokinetic interactions between herbal products and drugs are limited. This study attempted to investigate the effect of Bacopa monnieri Linn. (Brahmi) formulation on the pharmacokinetics of amitriptyline in rats. In this study, rats were randomly divided into two groups (n = 6 each) which were served as a control (amitriptyline alone) and treatment group (amitriptyline with B. monnieri), respectively. Rats in the treatment group received B. monnieri (31 mg/kg/day) whereas the control group received normal saline by oral gavage for seven days before a single intragastric administration of 25 mg/kg amitriptyline. Plasma concentrations of amitriptyline were measured up to 24 h after its administration by a developed and validated high-performance liquid chromatography method. Pretreatment with B. monnieri produced a significant increase in the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax), area under the curve (AUC0-t) and elimination half-life (t1/2) of amitriptyline by 16.8%, 26.5%, and 15.5%, respectively, compared to amitriptyline alone. Moreover, oral clearance and volume of distribution (Vss) were decreased by 26.2% and 15.5% respectively. This study concluded that B.monnieri significantly enhanced the oral bioavailability of amitriptyline in rats.