Exploring career choices of pharmacy graduates over 15 years: A cross-sectional evaluation.

Autor: Fitzpatrick KL; University College Cork, Cavanagh Pharmacy Building, College Road, Cork, Ireland. Electronic address: 119351166@umail.ucc.ie., Allen EA; University College Cork, Cavanagh Pharmacy Building, College Road, Cork, Ireland. Electronic address: evinallen@ucc.ie., Griffin BT; University College Cork, Cavanagh Pharmacy Building, College Road, Cork, Ireland. Electronic address: Brendan.griffin@ucc.ie., O'Shea JP; University College Cork, Cavanagh Pharmacy Building, College Road, Cork, Ireland. Electronic address: joseph.oshea@ucc.ie., Dalton K; University College Cork, Cavanagh Pharmacy Building, College Road, Cork, Ireland. Electronic address: Kieran.dalton@ucc.ie., Bennett-Lenane H; University College Cork, Cavanagh Pharmacy Building, College Road, Cork, Ireland. Electronic address: hbennettlenane@ucc.ie.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Currents in pharmacy teaching & learning [Curr Pharm Teach Learn] 2024 May; Vol. 16 (5), pp. 307-318. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Mar 28.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cptl.2024.02.010
Abstrakt: Introduction: Career opportunities for pharmacists beyond those commonly associated with the degree continue to emerge. A paucity of literature regarding evaluation of pharmacy graduate career paths over extended periods is apparent. Considering international pharmacy workforce capacity pressures, the primary study aim was to evaluate trends in career paths of pharmacy graduates.
Methods: This study utilised a multimethod approach to access graduate career data using publicly accessible information from LinkedIn® profiles and an online survey. The survey was distributed to all pharmacy graduates of a university (2007-2022). Data from both methods was combined, cross-checked, coded and analysed quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: Data from 69.7% of the university's pharmacy graduates was collected. Community pharmacy was the most prevalent employment sector (47.7%), followed by industry (21.5%) and hospital (17.7%). A higher proportion of more recent graduates (≤5 years post-graduation) work in a community or hospital pharmacy role versus those who graduated greater than five years ago (χ2 = 8.44, df = 2, p < 0.05). Post-graduate education was undertaken by 41.3% of graduates. Career satisfaction was high (88.2%) but was lower (χ2 = 11.31, df = 1, p < 0.05) for those in community and hospital (82%) versus other sectors (97.5%).
Conclusion: This study provides the first analysis of graduate career paths over an extended period, highlighting a novel approach to track pharmacist workforce. While almost two thirds of pharmacy graduates occupy community or hospital roles, a trend of leaving these settings five years post-graduation was evident. Accordingly, this work represents a springboard for additional research to inform future pharmacist workforce planning worldwide.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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