Managerial skills of new practitioner pharmacists within community practice

To identify managerial skills required in community pharmacy practice, explore new practitioners' previous exposure to these skills, and assess new practitioners' perceived preparedness to take on managerial responsibilities.

A survey was developed with the use of Qualtrics and distributed by state pharmacy associations using a convenience sample of pharmacists from Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Pharmacists not practicing in a community pharmacy setting at the time of the study were excluded. New practitioners were defined as pharmacists practicing for no more than 10 years.

A total of 168 pharmacists completed the survey. More than one-half (56%) of respondents self-reported being in a managerial position, and 90% of respondents thought that managerial skills were always or very often necessary. At graduation, 15% of respondents rated their managerial skill proficiency to be high to very high, with this increasing to 57% at current point in their career. When comparing managers versus non-managers, 78% of skills assessed showed higher utilization in managers. Interestingly, only 44% of skills showed a higher proficiency in managers. Finally, 88% of respondents thought that their managerial skills could be improved.

New practitioners in community practice reported a high utilization of managerial skills, as well as improved proficiency throughout their careers. These skills are important in both community pharmacy training and practice. Managers reported higher utilization of managerial skills, but that utilization did not always correlate with proficiency. This highlights the need to further identify and improve managerial skills during pharmacy education and as part of ongoing continuing professional development.