Exploration of changes in pharmacy students’ perceptions of and attitudes towards professionalism: outcome of a community pharmacy experiential learning programme in Taiwan

Background: A powerful way to nurture and strengthen professionalism is by accruing practice-based experiences. However, few studies in Taiwan have evaluated the impacts of experiential learning programmes on pharmacy students’ views on professionalism − the core of quality healthcare practices and services. This study aimed to measure changes in perceptions of and attitudes towards professionalism among third-year pharmacy students following an introductory-intermediate experiential learning course. Methods: A single-group pre- and postcourse comparative study using a self-administered survey was conducted in 2017. Pharmacy students in their third year of a six-year programme were eligible to participate in this study. We used a 28-item questionnaire with a 10-point Likert-type scale to assess students’ professionalism. Among them, 10 items were employed to assess students’ perceived importance of professionalism in pharmacy practice, and another 18 items adapted from the Pharmacy Professionalism Instrument were used to evaluate students’ attitudes towards pharmacy professionalism. An independent t test was performed to compare the differences in students’ anonymous survey responses before and after the course, with an a priori level of statistical significance of 0.05. Results: Fifty-two pharmacy students participated in the study. They showed significant improvement in three tenets of professionalism, namely, altruism (p = 0.035), accountability (p = 0.026), and duty (p = 0.002), after completing the 5-week experiential course. Conclusions: Pharmacy students’ attitudes towards professionalism were modifiable by purposely designed experiential learning programme in the community setting. Such experiences may help socialize students with positive attitudes towards altruism, accountability, and duty.