Exploring Student Pharmacists' Time Management and Career Planning Attitudes Through a Management Course: An...

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Management Science
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Pharmacy curricula often lack dedicated management and career planning components.
• Developing these skills early is crucial for future pharmacists' success.
• This study addresses the need to integrate management education into pharmacy programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To incorporate a "Management in Pharmacy" elective course into the pharmacy curriculum.
• To evaluate the impact of this course on pharmacy students' time management and career planning attitudes.
• To explore student perceptions of the course's necessity, usefulness, and impact.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods design combining qualitative and quantitative approaches.
• Utilized the Time Management Questionnaire (TMQ) and Career Futures Inventory (CFI).
• Included 60 fifth-year pharmacy students in an experimental (course participants) and control group.

Main Results:

• The intervention group showed significant improvements in Time Management Questionnaire (TMQ) scores (p=0.003) and Time Attitude scores (p=0.001).
• No significant difference was found in Career Futures Inventory (CFI) scores between the groups (p=0.311).
• Qualitative feedback highlighted the course's perceived necessity and usefulness.

Conclusions:

• Implementing management education early in pharmacy programs can enhance time management skills.
• Further development is needed to effectively influence career planning attitudes through coursework.
• Educational strategies should focus on integrating practical skills development into pharmacy curricula.