A qualitative focus on community pharmacists’ attitudes and barriers toward continuing professional development: implications for professional practice

Background: Continuing professional development and continuing education are important components of professional practice for pharmacists. Mandatory continuing professional development requirements have been introduced in several countries, including Jordan. However, information on the uptake of continuing professional development is lacking, particularly in the Jordanian context. Objective: This study’s principal aim was to investigate community pharmacists’ views of continuing professional development and to explore pharmacists’ perceptions of the most common facilitators and barriers to participation in continuing education. Methods: A series of seven focus group sessions were undertaken with groups of four to seven community pharmacists. Focus group transcripts were thematically analyzed using a qualitative data analysis method. Results: The study included 34 pharmacists out of 95 who received invitation letters. Four key themes were identified: (1) community pharmacists’ attitudes toward continuing professional development; (2) perceived motivating factors for continuing professional development; (3) experienced barriers to continuing professional development; (4) and potential strategies for improving pharmacists’ continuing professional development. In terms of attitudes, participants generally understood the concept of continuing professional development. Motivating factors were mainly attributed to personal, work-related, and service provision-related factors. However, experienced barriers that could prevent community pharmacists from participating in continuing professional development despite their motivation were: barriers pertaining to workload, barriers pertaining to pharmacists, and barriers related to lack of resources. (AU)

Awareness, knowledge, and attitudes of health professions students toward health economics and pharmacoeconomics education in Jordan.

INTRODUCTION: Health economics education (HEe) and pharmacoeconomics education (PEe) in the Middle East and North Africa area is growing, particularly in pharmacy education. Little is known about the awareness, knowledge, and attitudes of health professions students toward health economics (HE) and pharmacoeconomics (PE) and the extent of education they receive before joining the workforce. METHODS: A self-completed validated questionnaire was distributed to students from medical, dental, pharmacy, and nursing schools in Jordan. The questionnaire assessed awareness, knowledge, and attitudes about HE and PE terminologies, applications, and need for training. Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis H tests were used to outline the differences between students' responses. RESULTS: A total of 2648 questionnaires were analysed, representing 586 medical, 414 dental, 1080 pharmacy, and 568 nursing students. Approximately 65% of respondents reported they had heard of HE or PE. Supportive views about the necessity for economic education in healthcare professions curricula were reported. Nursing students most often expressed desire to undertake training before graduation while dental students showed the least interest. CONCLUSIONS: Students across health professions groups acquire various extents of HEe and PEe before graduation. Pharmacy schools demonstrated leading interest and progress in providing PEe in Jordan, and medical schools appeared to follow. Both dental and nursing schools were lagging. Regional support from the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research Arabic Network, accreditation, and regulatory requirements are leading social and contextual contributors to PEe in Jordan.