Relationship between student leadership activities and prepharmacy years in college

To determine whether a relationship exists between the number of years of college completed before entering pharmacy school and students' leadership involvement.

All pharmacy students from 2004-2007 were classified based upon their educational level at time of matriculation: Early Assurance Program (EA); 2 years of college, but not EA (2Y); 3 or more years of college but no degree (3Y+); and bachelor's degree or higher (BD). In terms of leadership positions, students were classified as holding any office, total number of offices, and Phi Lambda Sigma (PLS) membership.

Students who entered the pharmacy program as EA students held 27.1% or 71 offices compared to 31.9% or 45 for 2Y, 26.8% or 39 for 3Y+ and 30.2% or 80 for BD students. Students selected for PLS were 12.1% for EA, 15.3% for 2Y, 16.1% for 3Y+ and 13.5% for BD. There was no significant relationship between prepharmacy education and leadership measurements.

Although no relationship was found between pharmacy students' involvement in leadership activities and number of prepharmacy years of education, the importance of predictive factors and approaches to evaluate students' leadership activities and involvement merits further research.