Longitudinal analysis of PharmD program students' satisfaction and stress

The University of Utah College of Pharmacy conducted an annual survey to gauge the relationship between multiple dimensions of students' satisfaction, and stress, with the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program and perceptions of future career plans.

An online survey of professional year one (P1) through professional year four (P4) students was conducted from 2015 to 2019.

There were a total of 953 non-unique survey respondents. The overall response rate was 86.8%. The study population was 51% female and 49% male with a mean age of 26.7 ± 3.3 years. Students were moderately to very satisfied with the curriculum across the four years of the program. Students were highly to moderately likely to recommend the program. Likelihood to recommend the pharmacy career was similar for the P1 and second professional year 2 (P2) but declined over the four years. Students were moderately to neutrally affected by stress, highest in the P2 and third professional year. Financial issues were rated as the highest stress across the four years. Gender was not statistically associated with satisfaction, although women had higher stress impacting their health than men. Likelihood to recommend the PharmD program and pharmacy career was rated higher by younger students.

Student satisfaction with the PharmD program should be a priority since higher education is a service industry. Academic pharmacy should consider whether pedagogical and social mechanisms are in place to ensure that their programs are helping students manage stress and promote satisfaction.