Accessibility of Computer and Knowledge among Pharmacy Students at a Private University of Tamilnadu

Background: Students choose their careers based on many factors, which vary for every country. Recent advancements in healthcare systems have made pharmacy one of the most pursued professions. Aim: To study the factors that influence students in Malaysia to choose pharmacy as their career. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among first-year medicine, dentistry and pharmacy students in a private university in Malaysia. One-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey’s post-hoc test was used to determine the factors that influenced students’ career choices. Results: There were significant differences among medicine, dentistry and pharmacy students in the mean scores for the dimensions ‘economic status’, ‘personal background’, and ‘work-life balance’ which influenced their career choice. Conclusions: Economic status, personal background and work-life balance were the factors that significantly influenced students to choose pharmacy compared with students’ choice of dentistry and medicine.

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Students' Views of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): Findings from two Malaysian Pharmacy Schools

10.21203/rs.3.rs-60092/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mohamed Hassan Elnaem ◽

Zainol Akbar Zainal ◽

Muhammad Zuljalil Ilham Bin Wahab ◽

Aqilah Binti Mohd Ali ◽

Umi Syuhada Binti Abd Rahim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Time Allocation ◽

Private University ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Public University ◽

Pharmacy Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Public And Private ◽

Student Groups ◽

Constructive Feedback ◽

Organization Quality

Abstract Objectives: To investigate and compare the views of undergraduate pharmacy students in two Malaysian pharmacy schools (one private and one public) regarding the organization, quality, and objectivity of OSCE. Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken among penultimate and final year students in two Malaysian pharmacy schools between October and December 2019. A questionnaire was developed, tested, and validated and then distributed to study participants through online Google forms. Results: A total of 221 undergraduate pharmacy students participated in the study. Regarding the adequacy of the time allocated per OSCE station, students of the public university expressed a relatively higher level of disagreement (IIUM 63.9% & 48.7% vs. UoC 11.6% & 14.3%). Relatively few students agreed that OSCE is a less stressful type of assessment compared to other traditional methods (IIUM 7.2% & 10.3% vs. UoC 39.5% & 23.8%). Regarding the OSCE scores as valid indicators of student’s skills, private university students had more agreement than their counterparts in a public university (UoC 79% & 64.3% vs. IIUM 39.2% 30.8%). In addition, both student groups disagreed that OSCE marks were likely to be affected by the student’s gender (IIUM 73.2% & 66.7% vs. UoC 67.4% & 78.6%). Conclusion: Overall, most of the participants had overall good views regarding the organization, quality, and objectivity of OSCE, with several differences between students in public and private universities. There are few areas to be further considered to ensure more positive students’ OSCE experience such as revision on the time allocation for every station and on the provision of timely constructive feedback.

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Determination of pharmacy students’ patient safety approach using the theory of planned behaviour: a mixed-method study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2021-050512 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. e050512

Author(s):

Kingston Rajiah ◽

Mari Kannan Maharajan ◽

David Chong ◽

Shee Chiao Chien ◽

Eileen Ong Xiao Li

Keyword(s):

Patient Safety ◽

Theory Of Planned Behaviour ◽

Private University ◽

Subjective Norms ◽

Pharmacy Students ◽

Behavioural Control ◽

Planned Behaviour ◽

Behavioural Intentions ◽

Perceived Behavioural Control ◽

Students Attitudes

ObjectivesTo investigate pharmacy students’ attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, intentions and their behaviour towards patient safety using a theory of planned behaviour framework.DesignMixed-methods research.SettingPrivate university in Malaysia.ParticipantsPharmacy undergraduate students participated in the study. There were 18 students participated in the qualitative study and 272 students responded to the survey questionnaire.MethodsA convergent parallel-mixed method design, involving a quantitative survey and qualitative focus group discussions was used among pharmacy students in a private university in Malaysia. Qualitative data of transcribed verbatim texts were then subjected to a thematic content analysis framework. Multiple correlations were undertaken using the quantitative data to examine how the dependent variable (self-reported knowledge) related to the independent variables (attitudes, behavioural intentions, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control.Primary outcomePharmacy students’ attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, behavioural intentions constructs led to their behaviour towards patient safety.Secondary outcomeThe quantitative study revealed that there was a moderate positive correlation between students’ self-reported knowledge and attitudes (r=0.48, p=0.03).ResultsPharmacy students’ attitudes and perceived behavioural control constructs had positive correlations with pharmacy students’ self-reported knowledge on patient safety. There was no correlation between students’ self-reported knowledge and subjective norms (r=0.27, p=0.23). There was a weak positive correlation between students’ self-reported knowledge and perceived behavioural control (r=0.39, p=0.04). There was no correlation between students’ self-reported knowledge and behavioural intention (r=0.20, p=0.56).ConclusionsTheory of planned behaviour constructs such as attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and behavioural intentions of pharmacy students, defined their behaviour towards patient safety. Pharmacy students’ attitudes and perceived behavioural control constructs were correlated with their self-reported knowledge on patient safety.

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Adequacy of preventive measures, awareness, and attitude regarding the COVID-19 pandemic among university pharmacy students

Pharmacy Education ◽

10.46542/pe.2020.202.283289 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 283-289

Author(s):

Saba Tariq ◽

Sundus Tariq ◽

Mukhtiar Baig ◽

Saadia Shahzad Alam

Keyword(s):

Positive Attitude ◽

Preventive Measures ◽

Knowledge Score ◽

Private University ◽

Female Gender ◽

Pharmacy Students ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Punjab Province ◽

Better Than

Introduction: The aim was to investigate the adequacy of preventive measures, awareness, and attitudes of pharmacy university students in the Punjab province, Pakistan, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was designed at a private university in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The questionnaire was developed on Google forms and distributed to students of five universities in the Punjab province via WhatsApp groups. Results: The comparison of COVID-19 knowledge for specific questions showed that non-pharmacy students (NPS) had significantly better knowledge about the source of the virus (p<0.001), while pharmacy students (PS) had better knowledge regarding COVID-19 treatment (p=0.01). The PS’s perception of the dangerousness and risk of contracting COVID-19 infection was better than NPS’s perception (p=0.026; p=0.019, respectively). The regression analysis revealed that the knowledge score was negatively associated with the female gender, and females were less likely to have a positive attitude. Conclusion: The authors’ results suggest that PS had good knowledge, positive attitude, and preparedness towards COVID-19. However, there are still misconceptions and confusion about the disease.

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