Pharmacy Students and Professional Identity: Developing a tool for measuring professionalism among pharmacy students.

Project Member(s): Williams, K.

Funding or Partner Organisation: Pharmacy Council of New South Wales (Pharmacy Council of NSW)

Start year: 2014

Summary: Professional socialisation has been defined as ¿the acquisition of values, attitudes, skills and knowledge pertaining to a professional subculture." Studies point to the importance of improving student professionalism as a component of many professional degrees, and to the professions into which the graduated and qualified students are being inducted. A valid instrument for measuring professionalism among pharmacy students is the first step in an ongoing project aiming to develop and implement methods for strengthening students' ethical and professional conduct. Initially, it has the potential to place a clear value on professional conduct in their course assessment and subsequently improve their later performance in pharmacist roles. There is also potential for adaptation of the instrument as a selection tool for entry into pharmacy programs, which may act as a filter for pharmacist candidates who already have a professional disposition. A tool for measuring professionalism among pharmacy students will be developed, tested and validated. Initially, academics at all NSW pharmacy schools will be interviewed to identify survey items, and ensure that the survey reflects the concerns of all institutions. Consultation with pharmacy practitioners, academics and professional bodies will inform the process, and the experiences of other professions in promoting professional dispositions among students will be considered. Once constructed, it is intended to examine the concurrent validity of the survey instrument by administering it to a sample of students from NSW pharmacy schools. For UTS students the outcomes will be compared to clinical placement preceptor evaluations and course outcomes. Later projects may use the instrument to identify factors that enhance professionalism in pharmacy courses, to assess student professionalism Australia-wide and to evaluate professionalism in other health-care professions.

Keywords: pharmacy, students, professionalism, survey instrument, interviews

FOR Codes: Learner Development, Health Education and Promotion, Learner and Learning Achievement, Higher Education, Medicine, Nursing and Health Curriculum and Pedagogy, Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Medicine, nursing and health curriculum and pedagogy, Learner and learning, Evaluation of health and support services

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.