Comparison of self-reported professional competency across pharmacy education programs: a survey of Thai pharmacy graduates enrolled in the public service program

Figures & data

Figure 1 Comparison of required curriculum structure in 5-year BSc and 6-year Pharm D programs.

Table 1 Characteristics of pharmacy graduates in 2013

Attribute	Total n=266	Pharmacy programs			P-value
		Pharm D n=93	BScPcare n=87	BScPsci n=86
Demographic factors
Age median, years (range; min–max)	266	24 (23–26)	23 (22–36)	23 (21–26)	<0.001
Sex					0.310
Female	205	76 (82%)	67 (77%)	62 (72%)
Male	61	17 (18%)	20 (23%)	24 (28%)
Admission mode					0.383
National entrance admission	108	41 (44%)	33 (38%)	34 (39%)
Direct admission	88	35 (38%)	28 (32%)	25 (29%)
Special quota admission	50	13 (14%)	16 (19%)	21 (24%)
Others	19	4 (4%)	9 (10%)	6 (7%)
Location of pharmacy school					<0.001
Bangkok and central	59	9 (10%)	30 (34%)	20 (23%)
North-eastern	72	29 (31%)	33 (38%)	10 (12%)
North	71	43 (46%)	11 (13%)	17 (20%)
South	64	12 (13%)	13 (15%)	39 (45%)
Location of hometown					<0.001
Bangkok and central	53	16 (17%)	22 (25%)	15 (17%)
North-eastern	76	33 (35%)	31 (36%)	12 (14%)
North	68	33 (35%)	17 (19%)	18 (21%)
South	69	11 (12%)	17 (19%)	41 (48%)

Abbreviations: Pharm D, Doctor of Pharmacy; BSc, Bachelor of Sciences in Pharmacy; Psci, Pharmaceutical Science; Pcare, Pharmaceutical Care.

Table 2 Comparison of professional competency perception across pharmacy programs

Competency domains and items	Mean (SD)			P-value
	Pharm D	BScPcare	BScPsci
Domain 1: patient care
1. An inter-professional collaboration	3.89 (0.62)	3.75 (0.67)	3.75 (0.67)	0.238
2. Ambulatory care services	4.19 (0.63)a	3.99 (0.68)	3.76 (0.72)a	<0.001
3. Acute care services	3.90 (0.77)a,b	3.57 (0.77)b	3.45 (0.70)a	<0.001
4. Patient counseling services on medication use	4.19 (0.65)a	4.01 (0.71)	3.67 (0.75)a	<0.001
5. Medication reconciliation services	3.98 (0.74)a,b	3.70 (0.79)b	3.47 (0.70)a	<0.001
Domain 2: consumer protection and community health services
6. Consumer health protection (eg, surveillance of health products)	3.55 (0.83)	3.29 (0.89)c	3.67 (0.76)c	0.009
7. Herbal and alternative medicines	3.46 (0.86)	3.24 (0.87)c	3.71 (0.84)c	0.002
8. Primary care services (eg, patient home visit and supervision of primary care hospitals)	4.09 (0.76)a,b	3.74 (0.85)b	3.78 (0.71)a	0.005
Domain 3: health administration and communication
9. Solving public health problems in rural areas	3.72 (0.72)	3.57 (0.80)	3.53 (0.66)	0.213
10. Health administration (eg, drug selection, procurement, and inventory management)	3.51 (0.76)	3.30 (0.85)	3.40 (0.74)	0.197
11. Communication with patients and lay people	4.09 (0.71)	3.93 (0.83)	3.85 (0.68)	0.094
Domain 4: drug review and information
12. Drug use evaluation or drug utilization review	3.73 (0.74)b	3.47 (0.68)b	3.48 (0.77)	0.024
13. Drug information services to health professionals and the public	3.77 (0.68)b	3.46 (0.76)b	3.66 (0.72)	0.013

Notes:

a Difference between Pharm D and BScPSci programs;

b difference between Pharm D and BScPcare programs;

c difference between BScPcare and BScPSci programs.

Abbreviations: Pharm D, Doctor of Pharmacy; BSc, Bachelor of Sciences in Pharmacy; Psci, Pharmaceutical Science; Pcare, Pharmaceutical Care; SD, standard deviation.

Table 3 Factor analysis of professional competency perception

Domain	Variable	Factor loading
Patient care	Ambulatory care services	0.861	0.094	0.184	0.173
	Inter-professional collaboration	0.731	0.305	0.292	0.004
	Patient counseling on medication use	0.719	0.104	0.165	0.392
	Acute care services	0.665	0.074	0.100	0.527
	Medication reconciliation services	0.590	0.170	0.230	0.488
Consumer protection and community health services	Consumer protection (eg, surveillance of health products, pharmacies, and clinics)	0.120	0.863	0.198	0.176
	Herbal and alternative medicines	0.123	0.726	0.270	0.280
	Primary care services (eg, patient home visit and supervision of primary care hospitals)	0.520	0.601	0.186	0.208
Health administration and communication	Solving public health problems in rural areas	0.303	0.161	0.796	0.189
	Health administration (eg, drug selection, procurement, and inventory management)	0.050	0.355	0.745	0.183
	Communication with patients and lay people	0.451	0.166	0.658	0.197
Drug review and information	Drug use evaluation or drug utilization review	0.220	0.364	0.214	0.732
	Drug information services to health professionals and the public	0.263	0.261	0.243	0.708

Notes: Values in bold represent strong correlation to specific factors. Factor analysis was based on the principal components analysis method with varimax rotation. A factor loading of 0.60 was used as a cutoff point.

Figure 2 Comparison of mean composite scores of professional competency across pharmacy programs.

Abbreviations: Pharm D, Doctor of Pharmacy, BSc, Bachelor of Sciences in Pharmacy; Psci, Pharmaceutical Science; Pcare, Pharmaceutical Care.

Table S1 Please assess your competency on these following items

No	Items	Least ------------------------- Most
		1	2	3	4	5
1	Solving public health problems in rural areas
2	Conducting health administration eg, drug selection, procurement and inventory management
3	Communicating with patients and lay people
4	Collaborating with an inter-professional health team
5	Providing pharmaceutical care in ambulatory care services
6	Providing pharmaceutical care in acute care services
7	Providing counseling services for patients regarding self-care and medication use eg, warfarin clinic, tuberculosis clinic and diabetes clinic
8	Providing medication reconciliation services
9	Using herbal and alternative medicines
10	Conducting drug use evaluation or drug utilization review
11	Providing drug information services to health professionals and the public
12	Working with primary care settings eg, home visit of patients with chronic condition and supervision of primary care hospitals
13	Ensuring consumer health protection eg, surveillance of health products in communities regarding their quality, labelling and advertising; and surveillance of pharmacies and clinics regarding law compliance