Abstract
Pharmaceutical education should enable the development of competences for
community pharmacy practice, which is an important field for the
pharmacist workforce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the competences perceived by
pharmacy interns from a Brazilian
pharmacy school for
community pharmacy practice. This study adopted a combined quantitative and qualitative approach. The study cohort included undergraduate
students who undertook internships in
community pharmacy in the final year of the
pharmacy course.
Students responded to an 11-item structured
questionnaire according to a five-point Likert scale that included
perceptions of their competences for
community pharmacy practice. Among the 693 possible answers, 605 (87.3%) agreed that the
course promoted the development of competences for
professional practice in
community pharmacy. Less than 70% of
students perceived themselves as prepared to respond to symptoms and provide non-
prescription medicines.
Qualitative analysis of the comments revealed three themes the need to improve
patient information skills, improve practice as a member of a
health care team, and improve dispensing according to legal requirements. These findings may support improvements in undergraduate
pharmacy programs, such as the inclusion of
experiential learning,
active learning methods,
interprofessional education, and development of
clinical skills.