Pharmaceutical care journey: Final-year pharmacy students' experiences of the hospital-based clinical pharmacy clerkship programme in northeast Nigeria

Abstract

Context: Pharmacy students need practical clinical knowledge and skills to be able to provide effecKve pharmaceuKcal care aOer graduaKon. To achieve this, pharmacy students need an effecKve clinical clerkship programme. Aims: To assess final-year pharmacy students' preparedness, expectaKons, and experiences of a hospital-based clinical pharmacy clerkship (CPC) programme. Methods: A pre-post, qualitaKve study involving focus groups was conducted in a Nigerian university. All final-year Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm.) students of the 2019 academic year (October 2018 to June 2019) who enrolled for the CPC course parKcipated in the study. Results: The prevailing themes idenKfied were: Theme one (level of preparedness and hospital environment), theme two (integraKon of knowledge and applicaKon to paKent care), theme three (inter-professional relaKonships and professional idenKty), and theme four (challenges and recommendaKons). Conclusions: This study shows that B.Pharm. students exhibited a high level of preparedness and expectaKons prior to commencement of the CPC. They also had unsaKsfactory experiences during the CPC due to various challenges and unmet expectaKons mainly in terms of inter-professional relaKonships and the role of pharmacists in the healthcare team.