The academic formation challenges: what does retail expect from higher education institutions in pharmacy?

BACKGROUND: The drug retail represents the main area of activity for pharmacists worldwide. In Brazil, this sector is responsible for employing around 80% of professionals. Before this reality, the academic training of pharmacists requires specialized skills and knowledge so they can fulfill their tasks. In this sector, considering the influence of managers and mentors on the model of pharmaceutical practice, their perceptions about the demands of the market can help discussions related to the training of pharmacists. AIM: To analyze the academic training of pharmacists for the drug retail market from the perspective of managers and mentors. METHOD: This is a qualitative study conducted with managers and mentors of the drug retail market. A semi-structured interview guide was prepared and applied to the intentionally selected participants. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee under the number 4,169,752. The interviews were conducted through videoconference by an experienced researcher. The data obtained were analyzed using Bardin's analysis technique, following the steps of categorical thematic content analysis using the ATLAS.ti software. RESULTS: 19 interviews were carried out. Among the reports, the interviewees highlighted the importance of retail in the employability of pharmacists, as well as inconsistency in the academic training for this sector, originating the following categories: curriculum reform to include the market demands, follow-up and career plan, training for entrepreneurship and sales, practical application of knowledge, and encouragement of experience. CONCLUSION: Pharmaceutical academic training is linked to several challenges, whether organizational, structural, or budgetary. To overcome these challenges, it is necessary to unite the interested parties in the formulation and implementation of a strategy for the professionalization of pharmacists, considering their social role in patient care, aligned with the company's sustainability, so that both coexist.

Perceptions of formal pharmacy leadership on the social role of the profession and its historical evolution: A qualitative study.

Background: In recent years, pharmaceutical professionalism has been questioned due to the social role of pharmacy, which is ambiguous in the literature. This raises questions about the purpose of the profession among pharmacists, despite the efforts of their professional organizations and formal leaders to consolidate the occupational status of the profession. Objective: To understand the social role of pharmacy in Brazil through its historical evolution based on the perceptions of formal leaders of the profession. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted between July 2020 and February 2021 with pharmacists who held leadership positions in formal and professional pharmacy organizations in Brazil. The data obtained from the interviews were submitted to content analysis. Results: A total of 17 pharmacists participated in this study. The data analyzed presented perceptions about the social role of the pharmaceutical profession in Brazil, which promotes access to health through different means. These include the manager pharmacist, who facilitates access to public health policies; the caring pharmacist, who promotes health education and the rational use of medicines; and the technologist pharmacist, who researches, develops, and promotes access to safe and cost-effective medicines. The interviewees also discussed the evolution of this social role based on influential factors such as legislation, clinical movement, pharmaceutical education, labor market, behaviors, and attitudes of pharmacists. Conclusion: In this study, pharmaceutical professionalism was conceptualized based on its social role, which should be centered on the patient. Understanding such issues is part of the evolutionary purpose of the profession in Brazil and should be encouraged in the behaviors and attitudes of pharmacists despite the challenges faced by the profession.

Teaching Strategies for Professional Identity Education in Pharmacy: A Scoping Review.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize which strategies of professional identity formation and professionalism are being used in Pharmacy. FINDINGS: We gathered 5004 articles from 5 databases with the descriptors "pharmacy" "professionalism," "professional identity" and their synonyms. The professional identity is a set of values and behaviors common among professionals. Professionalism is the moral compass of these values, used as a strategy to own social authenticity. After excluding duplicate texts, analyzing titles, abstracts, and full articles, 17 studies met the inclusion criteria and presented strategies for the formation of professional identity and professionalism in pharmacy students. We did not find studies with pharmacists. The quality of reports was assessed using 2 instruments recommended by the literature. All studies were conducted from 2007 onwards, and the United States is the country with the most publications. The identified strategies consisted of extracurricular activities, thematic courses, lectures, and counseling sessions and did not follow standards of theoretical reference, method, execution, duration, and effectiveness of evaluation. SUMMARY: The interest of Pharmacy about professional identity and professionalism has grown substantially in recent years. Teaching strategies are essential alternatives to improve professionalism, reinforce its importance, and acknowledge its heterogeneity and differences. For that, they must be in line with the aims of the profession in society. This review highlights the need to develop standardized and reproducible teaching strategies to guarantee the effectiveness of students' professional socialization during graduation, as well as to instruct professionals to deal with the changes in the profession, increasing the influence of Pharmacy in society.

Quality indicators of hospitalized children influenced by clinical pharmacist services: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Care for children who are hospitalized can be optimized if the pharmacist, in conjunction with the multidisciplinary team, promotes the rational use of medicines. In this sense, the evaluation of the quality of these clinical services through indicators is important in the planning, decision making of pharmacists and managers of these services. OBJECTIVE: To characterize which health indicators were influenced by the pharmaceutical clinical services for the care of children in hospitals. METHODS: A systematic review was performed. The search for data was made on the bases: Cochrane, Embase, Lilacs, Pubmed and Web of Science. Then, the search included studies in which evaluated the impact of pharmaceutical clinical services on clinical, economic and humanistic outcomes. RESULTS: The search resulted in 11 included studies. In this review, four pharmaceutical clinical services were found: pharmacotherapy review, multiprofessional team interventions, antimicrobial stewardship program and pharmaceutical services at discharge hospital. The most influenced outcome indicators were length of hospital stay, with average time in the group that received the pharmacotherapy review service, and interventions multiprofessional team with a 6.45-day vs. 10.83 days in the control group; hospital readmissions with a significant reduction of non-scheduled readmission of 30 days in the ntimicrobial stewardship program; reduction of hospital costs and caregiver satisfaction. CONCLUSION: In this study, we can highlight that pharmacotherapy review, multiprofessional team interventions and Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that significantly reduced the clinical results of length of hospital stay and hospital readmission, as well as a significant reduction of hospital costs.

Causality and avoidability of adverse drug reactions of antibiotics in hospitalized children: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Adverse drug reactions are a problem in healthcare systems worldwide. Children are more susceptible than adults, especially when exposed to specific drug classes, such as antibiotics. OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence, causality, severity, and avoidability of antibiotic-associated adverse drug reactions in hospitalized pediatric patients. SETTING: Pediatric ward of a high-complexity public hospital in northeast Brazil. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted over six months, including children aged between 28 days and 12 years, hospitalized for more than 48 h, and receiving antibiotics. Liverpool's causality and avoidability assessment tools were used. Primary outcome measures: Incidence of adverse drug reactions, causality, severity, and avoidability, major antibiotics implicated, risk factors. RESULTS: A total of 183 patients were followed, and 35 suspected adverse drug reactions were recorded overall incidence equal to 14.7%. Most adverse drug reactions were classified as moderate severity (76.7%), probable (57.1%) and defined (28.6%) causality, and unavoidable (66.7%). The affected organs were the gastrointestinal system (74.1%) and skin (25.9%). Major antibiotics implicated were ceftriaxone (40.7%), azithromycin (25.9%), and crystalline penicillin (11.1%). The number of antibiotics prescribed per patient during hospitalization and the length of stay were the risk factors identified. CONCLUSION: Causality and severity assessment indicated that most adverse drug reactions were probable and moderate. Possibly avoidable reactions occurred due to inappropriate prescribing when preventive measures were not implemented. Monitoring the use of antibiotics in children is essential to ensure the safety of these patients.