Health professional students' and faculties' perceptions of pharmacists as measured by a cartoon technique

Perceptions of pharmacists' roles held by health professional students and faculty were evaluated by a projective cartoon technique. Cartoons of a pharmacist, a pharmacist and a physician, and a pharmacist and a nurse, all at a patient's bedside, were used as the survey instruments. From the dialogue provided by respondents in the cartoon conversational balloons, perceptions of the type of interaction, relationship between the figures, and pharmacists' role activities were determined. The survey was given to the entire student body and the faculty in three professional colleges (pharmacy, nursing, and medicine) of The University of Texas. The overall response rate was 34.2%. In response to the pharmacist-patient cartoon, pharmacists were depicted as independently consulting patients about their medications and monitoring their therapy. Some nursing and medical respondents stated that they had never seen a pharmacist at a patient's bedside. Responding to the pharmacist-physician cartoon, pharmacists' interactions with physicians were depicted as involving specific patient therapy and seemed to suggest a peer relationship. Pharmacy and medical respondents perceived clinical roles for the pharmacist. In response to the pharmacist-nurse cartoon, traditional roles were illustrated for the pharmacists, and subordinate-authoritative relationships were seen in the interactions between pharmacists and nurses. The cartoon technique appeared to be useful in determining role perceptions.