Professionalism and Establishment of Exemplars in Pharmacy Practice

Professionalism is indispensable to practitioners involved in health care. Regrettably, it was seldom addressed in undergraduate pharmacy curriculum in Taiwan for decades. Pharmacies interspersed in communities that serve as the best link between pharmacy and the society are most accessible to the public. Hence, community pharmacies are ideal experiential sites for cultivating students the essence of professionalism. The study aimed to investigate the impacts of the Community Pharmacy Practice Experience (CPPE) course by introducing ten tenets of professionalism in pharmacy, integrating and enhancing awareness of these tenets in the course design, encouraging observation, description, and reflection by synopsis writing of pharmacist-patient (-customer) encounters, and analyzing pre- and post-CPPE conceptions toward the ten tenets by students. The study demonstrated students' capabilities in elaborating exemplary conducts of professionalism by pharmacists upon completion of the CPPE course. Students' post-CPPE cognition toward the importance of these tenets in pharmacy practice was generally increased, with ＂communication＂ being the most appreciated attribute (9.00 ± 1.08 vs. 9.48 ± 0.74, p = 0.048). The highlighted exemplars in the study help concretizing professionalism into realistic practices and caring. These real deeds are model exemplars for future students, preceptors, and faculty members of pharmacy schools and colleges. More attention and development in topics related to teaching professionalism by health care educators are awaited.