Work Profiles Identified from the 2007 Pharmacist and Pharmaceutical Scientist Career Pathway Profile Survey

American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education,  2008  by Schommer, Jon C,  Brown, Lawrence M,  Sogol, Elliott M

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The highest scores for self-actualization were reported by association management (8.3), academia - economic and administrative sciences (8.1), and academia - pharmaceutical sciences (8.0). For research, the highest scores were reported by academia - economic and administrative sciences (7.5), academia - pharmaceutical sciences (7.1), and pharmaceutical industry - research and development (6.9).

Managerial responsibility scores were highest for nuclear pharmacy (7.0), home health care (6.9), and independent pharmacy (6.3) respondents. Flexibility of work scores were highest for chain pharmacy (6.4), medical communications/drug information (5.9), and contract research organization (5.8) respondents. Scores for dynamic work schedule were highest for nuclear pharmacy (5.1), chain pharmacy (5.0), and hospital pharmacy (4.6).

For the factor security, highest scores were reported by respondents categorized as government / federal pharmacy (8.9), academia - economic and administrative sciences (8.7), and association management (8.6). Stress scores were highest for pharmaceutical industry - sales and marketing (8.5), pharmacy law/public policy (8.4), and chain pharmacy (8.1). Geographic location scores were highest for pharmaceutical sciences - medical liaison (9.0),medical communications/drug information (8.3), and nuclear pharmacy (8.1) categories.

DISCUSSION

The results of this study provide insight about the underlying factor structure of the 48 items in the Career Pathway Evaluation Program - 2007 Pharmacist and Pharmaceutical Scientist Profile Survey. The 41 items that met our analysis criteria were grouped into 10 factors (patient care, application of knowledge, self-actualization, research, managerial responsibility, flexibility of work, dynamic work schedule, security, stress, and geographic location). Table 5 compares the 6 factors identified in the 2002 survey12 with the 10 factors identified in the 2007 survey. We believe that the 2007 findings are an improvement over the 2002 survey findings in that more factors for more career paths were identified and described.

The profiles constructed in this study could be helpful to individuals as they consider various career paths and choose elective coursework during their pharmacy education. For example, if a student pharmacist is interested in careers offering opportunities for patient care, findings in Table 4 show that careers in office-based pharmaceutical care, independent pharmacy, and clinical specialist areas scored highest for patient care. On the other hand, career pathways that scored highest for self-actualization were association management, academia-economic and administrative sciences, and academia-pharmaceutical sciences.

Also, the results might be useful for educators who advise student pharmacists about various career options. For example, the findings in Table 4 could help match student interests with elective courses, experiential learning rotations, and participation in research. In addition, the results could be used to identify new elective courses or practice experiences that might be needed for comprehensive and relevant pharmacy education. One of the reasons for updating the profile periodically for the Career Pathway program comes from acknowledging that not only do career opportunities change, but also that student pharmacists' priorities and desires for career pathways change. The findings from this research can be used as another piece of information for evaluating and developing curricula for pharmacy education to help meet those changing needs.