@article {50, title = {A Progressive Assessment of Pharmacy Undergraduates{\textquoteright} Motivation and Satisfaction towards Pharmacy as a Professional Choice}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine}, volume = {7}, year = {2021}, month = {April 2021}, pages = {14-18}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {14}, abstract = {

Objectives: The study is aimed to access the motivation, satisfaction and expectations of Pharm.D undergraduate towards pharmacy as a profession while attending a public university of Quetta city, Pakistan. Methods: This was a questionnaire based, cross-sectional analysis. The research was carried out at Faculty of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, University of Balochistan Quetta, Pakistan. All students registered in Pharm.D program (other than first professional year) were approached for data collection. Based on the objectives of the study, descriptive analysis was performed to present the frequency and percentage demographic characteristics and other study variables. Results: Out of 620 enrolled students, 475 respondents were involved in the survey with a response rate of 76.6\%. Nearly 43\% selected pharmacy as their first choice career whereas 60\% of the students selected pharmacy based on the recommendations of their parents, friends and family. Working with patients and in the medical field was the biggest influencers for the pharmacy undergraduates as <= 90\% of the students agreed to this statement. Additionally, job with a good career opportunity was also ranked as a influencer by the respondents (85\%). Majority of the students (<= 80\%) were committed to the profession{\textquoteright} ideology and were content studying pharmacy. Sixty percent disagreed that they will change their profession if a chance is provided and 81\% stated to continue their career as a pharmacist. Conclusion: Impact of family and friends, looking for an in-demand job with good career opportunities, and the desire to work in a health-related field were the main influencing factors in pharmacy students{\textquoteright} decision to study pharmacy. It is obvious from the findings that there is a need to guide high school students regarding their choice of undergraduate programs, and for these students to be made aware of the challenges and opportunities of studying pharmacy.

}, keywords = {Motivation, Pharmacy, Pharmacy undergraduates, Progressive assessment, Satisfaction}, doi = {10.5530/jppcm.2021.1.3}, author = {Bisma Sajjad and Rabia Ishaq and Qaiser Iqbal and Fahad Saleem} } @article {46, title = {A Cross Sectional Assessment of Hospital Pharmacist{\textquoteright}s Perception towards Online Health Information in Quetta, Pakistan}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine}, volume = {6}, year = {2020}, month = {January 2021}, pages = {64-68}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {64}, abstract = {

Objectives: The current study aims to assess the perception towards use of online health-related information among hospital pharmacists practicing at public healthcare institutes of Quetta city, Pakistan. Methods: This was a questionnaire based cross sectional survey. Sampling frame of this study was all hospital pharmacists practicing at public hospitals of Quetta city, Pakistan. The data instrument consisted of three sections namely perception towards online health-related information, type of online health-related information used and barriers encountered while retrieving online health-related information. The data was coded and transferred to Statistical Package for Social Science v 20.0 and whereas both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data elaboration. Results: Out of 116 hospital pharmacists, eight one responded with a response rate of 69.8\%. Majority (86.4\%) of the respondents agreed that the Internet provides useful and updated health-related information. Nearly 70\% of the respondents were also of the opinion that it is their practice to visit an established website. The most sought out information was about drugs followed by general healthcare and disease-related information (92.5\%, 74.0\% and 61.7\% respectively). The main barrier (40, 49.3\%) was profusion of health-related information that at times becomes a barrier in obtaining the right information retrieve to scan through from the Internet. Statistical significant differences (p\<0.05) were reported among educational status and certain items of the questionnaire whereby postgraduate pharmacists were more in agreement to the statements. Conclusion: It is evident that our respondents are connected to Internet for professional usage and integrate Internet as an adjunct support in their practice. However, certain barriers and limitations were also indentified. For an effective usage of internet based learning, the barriers need to be addressed and facilities should be provided to the hospital pharmacists so that they can utilize an important source of information during their professional practice.

}, keywords = {Hospital pharmacists, Online Health Information, Perception}, doi = {10.5530/jppcm.2020.4.18}, author = {Azfar Akram and Qaiser Iqbal and Sajjad Haider and Rabia Ishaq and Fahad Saleem} } @article {36, title = {Frequency of Anxiety, Depression and Stress among Pharmacy Undergraduates of Annual and Semester System: A Cohort-Based Comparison}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine}, volume = {6}, year = {2020}, month = {October 2020}, pages = {35-39}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {35}, abstract = {

Objectives: The current study was aimed to evaluate the anxiety, depression and stress (AD\&S) among two different academic performance systems (i.e. semester and annual system). Methods: A questionnaire{\textemdash} based, cross-sectional survey technique was adopted. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) was used to assess the AD\&S among pharmacy undergraduates enrolled at Faculty of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, University of Balochistan Quetta. SPSS v 20.0 was used for data coding and analysis whereas both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data elaboration. Results: Two hundred and eighty-nine pharmacy undergraduates participated in the study with a distribution of 43.3\% belonging to the annual academic system and 56.7\% from the semester system. Students Majority were of 20 years old (59, 20.4\%), including both male (194, 67.1\%) and female (95, 32.9\%). The mean AD\&S scores of the entire cohort were 14.15{\textpm}9.3, 13.61{\textpm}7.9 and 18.18{\textpm}8.2 respectively representing moderate AD\&S among pharmacy undergraduates. Statistically significant difference (p\<0.05) was reported among students of annual and semester system for all three variables of study whereby the students of semester system were more in AD\&S as compared to the annual system. Conclusion: Based on the findings of current study it is suggested that measure should be taken to reduce the AD\&S among students for better academic performance. This is achievable by engaging students by inquiring their queries and problems faced during the semester-related activities. By doing so, a stress-free environment is predicted hence bringing academic prosperity among students leading to the development of a more qualified and satisfied future pharmacist.

}, keywords = {Anxiety, Depression, Pharmacy, Stress, Undergraduates}, doi = {10.5530/jppcm.2020.3.12}, author = {Mehmood Azam and Rabia Ishaq and Qaiser Iqbal and Syed Umer Jan and Mohammad Alam Mengal and Fahad Saleem} } @article {25, title = {Public{\textquoteright} Perception, Awareness, Expectations and Experiences towards the Role of Community Pharmacists in Quetta City, Pakistan}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine}, volume = {6}, year = {2020}, month = {April 2020}, pages = {05-09}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {05}, abstract = {

Aim: The study is aimed to assess public perception, awareness, expectations and experiences towards the role of community pharmacists (CPs) in Quetta City, Pakistan. Methods: This was a questionnairebased, cross-sectional survey. Keeping the aim of the study in mind, a questionnaire was developed by the research team through mutual consensus, experience sharing and extensive literature review. By using an online calculator, 423 respondents were approached conveniently for the data collection. The SPSS v.20.0 was used for data coding and analysis. Based on the objectives of the study, descriptive statistics were applied for data analysis. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 30.61{\textpm}9.95 and males dominated the group (318, 75.2\%). Eighty-one percent of the respondents agreed that CPs provide consultation on how medicine works, identify and prevent errors and are good in explaining things to their level of understanding. Nearly 70\% of the respondents expected CPs to take personal responsibility for resolving drug-related problems, to educate them about the appropriate use of medicines and to monitor the response of drug therapy. All respondents were positive when they were asked about their expectations from the CPs. Respondents agreed that CPs are a reliable source of drug information and are important healthcare professionals (80.4 and 77.3\% respectively). Counseling was endorsed by 60\% of the respondents while CPs were held responsible for resolving drug problems. Conclusion: Although the study findings revealed certain limitations, study respondents had positive attitudes, experiences and constructive expectations towards CPs. The findings also indicated consumer preferences for the evolution of community pharmacist professional services in Pakistan.

}, keywords = {Awareness, Community pharmacist Quetta city, Expectations, Experiences, Pakistan, Public{\textquoteright} perception}, doi = {10.5530/jppcm.2020.1.3}, author = {Kashif Kamran and Qaiser Iqbal and Sajjad Haider and Muhammad Anwar and Rabia Ishaq and Fahad Saleem} }