Perceived barriers to participating in continuing education: the views of newly registered community pharmacists

Abstract

Objective — The main aim of this study was to explore newly registered community pharmacists' attitudes to the current provision of continuing education (CE) and to identify key factors that act as motivators and barriers to participation in CE. Method — Eight focus groups of newly registered pharmacists were set up. All focus groups were tape‐recorded and transcribed verbatim. The results presented in this paper focus specifically on the barriers to participation in CE. Setting — Four geographical areas of England. Key findings — The main barrier identified by the pharmacists was competing demands on their time, both in and out of work. Participants felt disillusioned with further study, describing this stage of their lives as a “honeymoon period” in which they sought to make adjustments in both their professional and personal lives. They also felt disillusioned with the reality of community pharmacy and offered this as an explanation for their lack of involvement in CE. In addition, many pharmacists believed themselves to be at the peak of their pharmaceutical knowledge, thus not requiring CE. Rather, it was felt that they needed to develop their skills in other areas such as communication skills or applying pharmaceutical knowledge in practice. It was suggested that this could only be remedied through working with and learning from more experienced pharmacists, rather than undertaking formal CE activities. Conclusion — Non‐participation in CE may be seen to result from a complex web of factors which do not easily map on to policies to increase participation of newly registered pharmacists in CE activities. Nevertheless, if newly registered community pharmacists are to achieve the continuity of learning necessary for continuing professional development, education providers will need to address their specific learning needs in the period following registration.

The MEDMAN project: Evaluation of the medicines management training for community pharmacists

“…Since the core training package had no effect on pharmacists' comfort with delivering this service, it may have been appropriate to incorporate more support in the form of mentoring, or ongoing formal experiential training. Pharmacists themselves are aware that the development of skills such as communication and the application of clinical knowledge requires learning from more experienced pharmacists, rather than continuing education events (Ward, Seston, Bagley, & Wilson, 1999). Mentoring is used extensively in medicine and nursing and supervised practice is also required for pharmacists wishing to learn prescribing skills (RPSGB, 2002).…”

Australian intern pharmacists’ perceived preparedness for practice, and their expectations and experiences of the internship year and future career intentions

“…There is the risk that pharmacy graduates may feel disillusioned and dissatisfied with the reality of community pharmacy practice if their expectations to deliver patient care are not met. [5][6][7] This dissatisfaction may ultimately affect the retention rate among pharmacists. [8][9][10] The principal pharmacy degree in Australia is the 4-year Bachelor of Pharmacy undergraduate program.…”

“…The link between unrealistic expectations, dissatisfaction, and disillusionment has been reported previously. 5,8,[17][18][19] In the UK, graduates indicated that their education provided them with the skills to deliver patient-centered care, good clinical knowledge, and team-working skills. 20 In addition, intern pharmacists felt highly confident in drug supply and drug knowledge.…”

What makes continuing education effective: perspectives of community pharmacists

“…6 Most research in this field relating to pharmacy has largely focused on barriers to participation in CE by pharmacists. [7][8][9][10] Such research largely addresses factors at the individual practitioner level, including poor motivation to attend, other demands on their time and a perceived lack of clinical relevance and applicability.…”