Survey of one in 10 pharmacists looks at career motivations ...
A one-in-10
sample of Royal Pharmaceutical Society members has been asked to take
part in a survey examining career motivations. The randomly
chosen pharmacists have been sent a questionnaire seeking information
about their careers, their perceptions of their current employment
and their future plans.
The survey is part of a project being carried out on behalf of the Society’s
Pharmacy Workforce Planning and Policy Advisory Group by a team from
the King’s College London management centre, under Professor David
Guest (professor of organisational psychology and human resource management).
The overall aim of the programme is to explore the supply, demand and
changing roles of pharmacists and the pharmacy workforce to help national
policy-makers in their forward planning for the profession. The work
is funded by grants from the Department of Health and the devolved administrations
of Scotland and Wales.
Included with the questionnaire is a letter from the Society’s
head of research and development, Sue Ambler, stressing the importance
of a good rate of response. A pilot study has shown that the questionnaire
takes about 20 minutes to complete.
Dr Ambler says: “By shedding light on the career experiences and
aspirations of pharmacists in the various branches of pharmacy work,
this survey will gather information that could shape the pharmacy workforce
well into the future. It is therefore really important that as many people
as possible complete and return the survey to ensure that the work of
the advisory group is based on accurate information.”
The research results will be available in mid-2004 and will be published
on the advisory group’s section of the Society’s website
(www.rpsgb.org). Further information about the project is available from
research officer Dr Sarah Battersby at KCL (tel 020 7848 3961; e-mail
sarah.battersby@kcl.ac.uk).
... and a new study will examine pharmacy undergraduates’ career
expectations
Pharmacy undergraduates’ career expectation and motivations are to
be examined in one of two new studies designed to inform future developments
in pharmacy education.
The first study is expected to contribute to a wider understanding of
the future profile of the pharmacy workforce. The second study will look
at
innovations in pharmacy teaching, learning and assessment methods, with
the aim of promoting wider dissemination of best education practice.
The projects have been commissioned by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
in response to the main recommendations in a report from the Society’s Pharmacy Education
R&D Reference Group, presented to the Society’s Council in December
2003. The report is the outcome of a review of standards, systems and regulation
relating to education and training (from undergraduate education through to continuing
professional development) across the pharmacy workforce.
The work is being carried out by a research team from Aston University, led
by Professor Keith Wilson and Dr Jill Jesson. The team includes expertise in
evaluating
educational methods and organisational psychology.
The two projects will be completed in 2005 and will form the core of the second
phase of the Society’s five-year research strategy, agreed by the Council
in 2001.
In addition, the Society has commissioned a research team from the University
of Manchester to undertake a longitudinal study of early pharmacy careers,
following a group of 2004 graduates for a few years. It will generate data
relating to
career, employment and training choices and will track changes in motivations
and aspirations. The multidisciplinary research team is led by Dr Karen Hassell.
Further details of the R&D reference group report, “Making pharmacy
education fit for the future”, and the Society’s research programme
are available on the Society’s website or
by contacting the research and development division (020 7572 2278, practiceresearch@rpsgb.org). |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal