Impact of clerkship attachments on students’ attitude toward pharmaceutical care in Ethiopia

OBJECTIVE The study objective is to investigate the impact of mandatory clinical clerkship courses on 5th-year pharmacy students' attitudes and perceived barriers toward providing pharmaceutical care (PC). METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 5th-year pharmacy students undertaking mandatory clinical clerkship in the University of Gondar, Ethiopia. A pharmaceutical care attitudes survey (PCAS) questionnaire was used to assess the attitude (14 items), commonly identified drug-related problem/s (1 item) during clerkships, and perceived barriers (12 items) toward the provision of PC. Statistical analysis was conducted on the retrieved data. RESULTS Out of the total of 69 clerkship students, 65 participated and completed the survey (94.2% response rate). Overall, 74.45% of participants opinioned a positive attitude toward PC provision. Almost all respondents agreed that the primary responsibility of pharmacists in the healthcare setting was to prevent and solve medication-related problems (98.5%), practice of PC was valuable (89.3%), and the PC movement will improve patient health (95.4%), respectively. Unnecessary drug therapy (43%), drug-drug interactions (33%), and non-adherence to medications (33%) were the most common drug-related problems identified in wards. Highly perceived barriers for PC provision included lack of a workplace for counseling in the pharmacy (75.4%), a poor image of pharmacist's role in wards (67.7%), and inadequate technology in the pharmacy (64.6%). Lack of access to a patient's medical record in the pharmacy had significant association (P<0.05) with PC practice, performance of PC during clerkship, provision of PC as clinical pharmacists, and Ethiopian pharmacists benefiting by PC. CONCLUSION Ethiopian clinical pharmacy students have a good attitude toward PC. Efforts should be targeted toward reducing these drug therapy issues, and aiding the integration of PC provision with pharmacy practice.