The major themes for each are shown below: The intrinsic influences were enjoyment of science; pharmacy the subject-i.e. the course content;
selleck chemicals an interest in the action of medicines; and, a desire to help people by delivering healthcare. The extrinsic influences were: good career opportunities; family influence; pharmacy the profession i.e. a professional course leading to be an ‘expert in medicines’; and the pay. The results show a variety of influences affecting student choice to study pharmacy. Enjoyment of science was cited by many students as an influence for studying pharmacy.1,2 It therefore appears that students still perceive pharmacy as a science-based course. However, students also identified pharmacy with ‘care’ i.e. delivering healthcare and aligns with the profession moving towards a more clinically, patient-facing role. The course content also appeared to influence students; given that the course is longer than most degrees it is important that students enjoy the course and continue to be motivated to study pharmacy. Pharmacy was considered to offer good career opportunities and be a well-paid
career; given the financial burden now placed on students it is not unsurprising that they choose a degree which they perceived would yield a return on investment. The results however selleck screening library may be biased by a social desirability effect; where students’ responses are influenced by what they think the researcher wants to hear. 1. Roller L. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors in choosing pharmacy as a course of study at Monash University 1999–2004. Racecadotril 13th International Social Pharmacy Workshop. Pharmacy Education, 2004; 4: 199. 2. Willis SC, Shann P, Hassell K. Report 4: Early Choices: studying pharmacy: who, when, how, why?
What next. 2006. Anne Hinchliffe1, Fiona Davies2, Chris Powell2, Richard Whitfield2 1Public Health Wales, Wales, UK, 2Welsh Ambulance Service, Wales, UK Which medicines do people most frequently call NHS Direct Wales (NHSDW) about? Central nervous system (CNS) medicines and antimicrobials accounted for more than half (55%) the questions asked The majority of medicines-related calls dealt with by NHSDW could be managed appropriately by community pharmacy To gain maximum benefit from medicines, people need some knowledge about them. An awareness of the questions people have is important if pharmacists are to proactively respond to patients’ information needs. The aim of this study was to analyse medicines-related calls answered by NHSDW nurse advisors during 2010/11. The primary objective was to find out which medicines people most frequently asked about and a secondary objective was to report the disposition assigned to each call by the nurse advisor. The study did not evaluate the quality of advice provided by NHSDW. Each call to NHSDW is recorded electronically and coded for future differentiation. Medicines-related calls were identified and 12% calls from each Health Board (n = 7) were selected using a random number generator.