What characterises professionalism in pharmacy students? A nominal group study

Authors

  • Jason Hall Senior Teaching Fellow, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester
  • Darren Ashcroft Reader in Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester

Keywords:

Nominal group technique, Professionalism, Undergraduate

Abstract

The adoption of behaviours, beliefs and values by undergraduate pharmacy students has been recognised as crucial to a students’ professional development. The objective of this study was to identify the attributes of professionalism relevant to pharmacy undergraduate students using the Nominal Group Technique. The group consisted of ten pharmacists purposefully selected from academia, hospital and community pharmacy and 30 potentially relevant attributes were generated at the group meeting. A follow up questionnaire was used to allow group members to rate each attribute on a four point scale and consensus was reached on 18 of the attributes. There was considerable overlap between the attributes of professionalism identified in this work and that identified in the literature on professionalism in medicine. Future work should focus on the development and validation of research tools to track the professionalism of pharmacy undergraduates throughout their course.

References

American Board of Internal Medicine (1995) Project Professionalism, Philadelphia

Arnold L (2002) Assessing professional behavior: yesterday today and tomorrow Academic Medicine: 77(6) 502-15

Arnold L, Stern D (2006) What is medical professionalism? In Measuring medical professionalism. Oxford University Press

Cooper J, Gunn C (1965) Dispensing for pharmacy students, 11th Edition. Pitman Medical, London

Council of Heads of Medical Schools and BMA Medical Students. (1996) Medical School Charter. British Medical Association, London

Dogra N, Karnik N (2004) A comparison between UK and US medical student attitudes towards cultural diversity. Medical Teacher 26(8) 703-708

Duke L, Kennedy W, McDuffie C, Miller M, Sheffield M, Chisholm M (2005) Student attitudes, values and beliefs regarding professionalism. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 69(5) article 104, www.ajpe.org

Department of Health (2007) Uniforms and workwear: An evidence base for developing local policy, London

Florence A (2006) Baby clothes, sandwiches and T shirts spoil pharmacy’s professional image Pharmaceutical Journal 277: 516

Ginsberg S, Regehr G, Lingard L. (2002) To be or not to be: the paradox of the emerging professional stance. Medical Education; 37: 350-357

Hammer D, Berger B, Beardsley R, Easton M. (2003) Student professionalism American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 67 (3) Article 96. www.ajpe.org

Harding G. Taylor K. (2006) Why pharmacists are needed to help shape students’ professional identity. Pharmaceutical Journal; 277: 766

Harman R, Mason P (2002) Handbook of Pharmacy Healthcare, 2nd Edition. Pharmaceutical Press, London

Hassell K, Fisher R, Nichols L, Shann P (2002) Contemporary workforce patterns and historical trends: the pharmacy labour market over the last 40 years. Pharmaceutical Journal 269, 291-296

Royal College of Physicians (2005) Doctors in society: medical professionalism in a changing world, London

Taylor K, Bates, I, Harding G (2004) The implications of increasing student numbers for pharmacy education. Pharmacy Education; 4(1): 33-39

Tully M. Cantrill J. (1997) The use of nominal group technique in pharmacy practice research: processes and practicalities. Journal of Social and Administrative Pharmacy 1997; 14:93-104

Van De Camp K. Vernooij-Dassen M. Grol R. Bottema B. (2006) Professionalism in general practice: development of an instrument to assess professional behaviour in general practitoner trainees. Medical Education; 40: 43- 50

Wang L (2007) What should pharmacists wear? Pharmaceutical Journal; 279: 181-183

Wilson K, Langley C, Jesson J, Hatfield K. Mapping teaching, learning and assessment in UK schools of pharmacy. Pharmaceutical Journal; 277: 369-372

Wingfield (2006) professionalism for pharmacists. Pharmaceutical Journal; 276: 169-170

Downloads

How to Cite

Hall, J., & Ashcroft, D. (2015). What characterises professionalism in pharmacy students? A nominal group study. Pharmacy Education, 11. Retrieved from https://pharmacyeducation.fip.org/pharmacyeducation/article/view/300

Issue

Section

Research Article