Academic Training, Knowledge, and Perceptions of Physical Activity in Student Pharmacists

Pharmacists are highly effective in providing chronic disease management services in both the community pharmacy and ambulatory clinic settings in large part because of their medication therapy management expertise. Lifestyle medicine, including physical activity, plays a major role in chronic disease prevention and management. As such, physical activity knowledge and counseling skills are an important component of pharmacy student education. However, the literature indicates that pharmacy students may not be receiving adequate training in these areas. The following will describe the academic training, knowledge, and perceptions of physical activity in student pharmacists.