Pharmaceutical Sales and Marketing as a Future Career for Pharmacy Students in Iraq: Perception and Barriers

Abstract

The exposure of pharmacy students to fieldwork experience throughout the early stages of their education would assist in preparing them for their future careers. Many students feel working in community pharmacies does not give a profitable wage when compared to other opportunities influences their perceptions and opinions and chooses the promotional pharmaceutical field. There is a lack of studies that focused on these points in Iraq. Therefore, the present study aims to assess students' perceptions of the pharmaceutical promotional sector as a potential future profession as well as the obstacles they might face. This is a cross-sectional study targeting students of pharmacy in Iraq through an online questionnaire to assess their perceptions and to determine the influencing factors. The majority of students work for improving their skills and for saving money for the future. regarding the barriers that students face in pursuing a career in pharmaceutical marketing, the existence of unethical actions, as well as a lack of the required skills and knowledge, were cited as barriers by the highest percentage of respondents. In conclusion, generally, there is a favorable view of working in this field and there is an apparent need for colleges to focus more on the aspects of this career.