Open AccessAssessment of pharmacists' perception toward continuing education
Author(s) -
Nouf M Alharthi,
Mohannad Sahaw Alsaeed,
Mohammed Omar Alsharif,
Mohammed Ghabbash Almalki,
Wael Saeed Alshehri,
Kousalya Prabahar
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of advanced pharmaceutical technology and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.325
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 2231-4040
pISSN - 0976-2094
DOI - 10.4103/2231-4040.329910
Subject(s) - certificate , perception , medicine , pharmacist , pharmacy , family medicine , nursing , continuing education , lifelong learning , government (linguistics) , continuing professional development , work experience , clinical pharmacy , professional development , medical education , work (physics) , psychology , pedagogy , linguistics , philosophy , mechanical engineering , algorithm , neuroscience , computer science , engineering
Continuing education (CE) is a structured educational activity. Pharmacists must actively participate in CE and is an important part of developing the professional competency of pharmacists. This research focuses on measuring Saudi pharmacists' perception in CE, its impact on professional performance, and the barriers in CE. This was a cross-sectional study, conducted in 2020, using random sample of Saudi pharmacists working in all workplaces from different cities in Saudi Arabia using a questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of 15 questions that assess the perception of Saudi pharmacists toward CE and barriers that prevent them from CE. A total of 409 pharmacists participated in the study. Majority of pharmacists were working in government hospitals (48.4%) and have <2 years of practice experience (44.5%). More than 70% of respondents acknowledged that CE helps to increase their knowledge. The pharmacists mentioned that getting a certificate (23.37%) was the major reason for attending a CE event. The reasons that prevent respondents from attending live CE were cost and work responsibilities (23.59% and 24.57%, respectively). This study reported a subjective assessment of pharmacists' perception toward CE, their lifelong learning experience. Saudi pharmacists showed a great desire for CE because they believed that it greatly affects their professional performance.