Pharmaceutical competency among physicians: a multidimensional assessment incorporating self-perceived and objective...

The rapid expansion of available pharmacotherapies and increasingly complex medication regimens has increased the risk of medication-related complications in clinical practice. Concerns have been raised that physicians' pharmaceutical competencies may not fully meet the demands for safe and rational medication use. Existing assessments of physicians' pharmaceutical competency have largely focused on theoretical pharmacology, with limited multidimensional evaluations incorporating medication monitoring, guidance, and interprofessional collaboration.

This study aimed to comprehensively assess pharmaceutical competency among Chinese physicians during the continuing medical education phase and examine its association with professional titles, presence of clinical pharmacists, hospital-provided pharmaceutical training, and implementation of rational drug use systems.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted using purposive sampling among physicians from public Grade A tertiary hospitals in 11 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China. Pharmaceutical competency was assessed using the combined approach of subjective self-assessment and objective testing. Descriptive statistics and subgroup analyses were performed to evaluate differences across professional titles, departmental allocation of clinical pharmacists, hospital pharmaceutical training, and rational drug use system implementation.

In total, 1,044 valid questionnaires were included in the analysis. The median (Q1, Q3) subjective self-assessment score for pharmaceutical competency (maximum score = 5) was 3.92 (3.72, 4.28), while the median (Q1, Q3) objective accuracy rate (maximum = 100%) was 51.11% (41.11%, 61.11%). No significant differences in pharmaceutical competency were observed across professional titles (all P > 0.05). With the exception of self-directed pharmaceutical learning, clinicians working in departments with clinical pharmacists and those receiving hospital-provided pharmaceutical training reported significantly higher subjective competency scores (P < 0.05). In addition, hospital pharmaceutical training and the implementation of rational drug use systems were associated with significantly higher objective assessment scores across multiple competency domains (P < 0.05).

Physicians demonstrated relatively high self-assessed pharmaceutical competency, but comparatively low objective performance, suggesting a tendency to overestimate pharmaceutical competency. These findings highlight the need to strengthen the pharmaceutical education and medication management support for physicians. Pharmacist involvement, pharmacist-led training, and rational drug use systems may play important roles in supporting physicians' pharmaceutical competency and promoting safer and more rational medication use.