Faculty of Pharmacy

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Investigation of Pharmacists and Pharmacy
Students Perceptions of Management Studies
Lesley WhitePharmacy Education Symposium
November 2008
Faculty of Pharmacy
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Aim

• To ascertain information from key stakeholders
  regarding PHAR 4622
• Structure and content
• Perception of business knowledge of recent
  graduates
• Perception of required business knowledge

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Objectives

• Bring focus to the structure and content of the
  revised course
• Examine the perception of the level of management
  and business knowledge of recent BPharm graduates
  from the University of Sydney
• Determine the areas of graduate strengths and
  weaknesses in the area of management, i.e.
  develop a quantitative assessment of graduate
  attributes
• Determine the need for practical in-pharmacy
  placements to enhance students learning in
  pharmacy management

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Objectives (contd)

• Evaluate various assessment options
• Consider the value of guest lectures
• Utilise the results to guide continued innovative
  development of the Pharmacy Management course
• Provide detailed insight into ways in which
  future undergraduate pharmacy students will gain
  practical and theoretical knowledge about
  pharmacy management
• Prepare future pharmacy graduates to be excellent
  pharmacy managers in the broader community for
  years to come
• Examination of student centered and research led
  learning strategies

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Background

• Approximately 85 of pharmacy graduates proceed
  to a career in retail
• Average retail pharmacy turnover is 2.5m
• Average staff is 11

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University and Faculty Learning and Teaching
Strategic Goals and Objectives

• Uni
• Ensure distinctiveness of the Sydney graduate by
  building and assessing professional relevance
• review process for units of study
• Faculty
• Develop and sustain specialist options within
  pharmacy degree program
• Contribute to the improvement of pharmacy
  practice

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Method

• Qualitative study
• Focus groups and in-depth interviews
• Stakeholder groups
• Current fourth year
• Recent BPharm graduates (15)
• Pharmacy owners and managers (20)
• Approximately equal male and females

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ResultsPharmacy Owners and Managers

• Unanimous view that current level of graduate
  management knowledge is low
• Unanimous agreement regarding high level of
  clinical competence
• Essential knowledge seen as
• Finance
• Retail Management
• Small Business Management

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ResultsPharmacy Owners and Managers (contd)

• Lack of communication skills
• Customers/staff
• English
• Perceived lack of practical orientation
• Structure of clinical placements questioned
• Problems foreseen re management placements

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Ex Students

• Strong support for importance of Pharmacy
  Management
• Content perceived as too general
• Business plan too complex for inexperienced
  students
• Less academic theory, more relevant applied
  material

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Current Students

• All had worked in a pharmacy
• Majority aiming for retail career
• Unanimously perceived pharmacy management to be
  critical (even those planning to enter hospital
  pharmacy)
• Unanimous belief that one pharmacy management
  subject is inadequate

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Current Students (contd)

• Demand for additional Pharmacy Management
  subjects as electives
• 3 Honours students believed that absence of
  Pharmacy Management in their degree was
  unacceptable
• Abdication of choice of topics to university and
  profession
• Suggestion that Pharmacy Management be included
  in earlier years

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Outcomes

• Findings support a complete review of PHAR 4622
• Need for wide ranging Pharmacy Management topics
• Demand for
• Additional content
• Elective subjects
• Different assessment methods
• Integration of Pharmacy Management into other
  subjects
• Wide ranging scope

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Limitations

• Self selection bias
• Relatively small numbers

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Further Research

• Quantitative
• All students
• Business Skills students plus matched sample