Prospective health students’ perceptions of the pharmacist role in the interprofessional team

ABSTRACT

Negative perceptions or underdeveloped understanding of healthcare team member roles can impact the functionality of the team and stunt innovations in interprofessional practice and education. Therefore, the intent of this study was to explore the perception of pharmacists’ role on the healthcare team by future team members: prospective health professional students. The study utilised a survey to examine these perceptions in prospective health professional students (n = 34) nearing the application process to health professional school. A coding process was used to explore open-ended text responses through a line-by-line analysis and identify emerging themes regarding perception of pharmacists’ roles, responsibilities, and practice settings. Quantitative data examined perception of pharmacists by intended prospective profession, healthcare experience, and pharmacy experience. Results indicate that while prospective health professional students find pharmacists to be an important part of the healthcare team, they lack a developed understanding of pharmacists’ roles, responsibilities, and practice settings. Identifying and addressing prospective health professional students’ misperceptions surrounding pharmacists’ roles and responsibilities may encourage them to make informed career decisions and shape them into more knowledgeable future professionals with the ability to better impact patient care on interprofessional teams.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional collaboration
• teamwork
• student perceptions
• dentistry
• medicine
• pharmacy
• physical therapy
• survey

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Krista Donohoe, Dr. Christopher DeMella, Ms. Christy Tyndall, and Dr. Divya Varier for reviewing the manuscript prior to submission. We would also like to thank Dr. Donohoe for serving as a survey content reviewer and giving feedback that shaped the project. We would like to acknowledge Ms. Jessica Reid for her commitment to extending the project. Additionally, we would like to thank the administrators, faculty, and staff involved in the interprofessional summer program.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the writing and content of this article.

Funding

This work was supported by the Center for Clinical and Translational Research [UL1TR000058]

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Center for Clinical and Translational Research [UL1TR000058]

Notes on contributors

Erin L. Hickey

Dr. Hickey is a first year resident pharmacist at University of Kentucky HealthCare. At the time of research, she was a student at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy.

Erika K. Dumke

Ms. Dumke is Director of Academic and Health Careers Advising in the Office of Student Success at Stevenson University.

Rollin L. Ballentine

Dr. Ballentine is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy.

Brooke L. Brown

Ms. Brown is a third year pharmacy student at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy.