Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, Sharjah, UAE.
Int J Clin Pharm. 2012 Apr;34(2):358-63. doi: 10.1007/s11096-012-9616-4. Epub 2012 Feb 22.
Contemporary pharmaceutical care requires sustained pharmacist competency through maintenance and improvement of knowledge, skills, and performance. Existing continuing education (CE) models reflect a wide spectrum of international approaches to life-long learning.
The objective of this study was to determine CE preferences of pharmacists in Egypt before implementing a plan for compulsory annual CE activities and events for licensure renewal.
A questionnaire containing questions about continuing education needs and preferences of Egyptian pharmacists was distributed to 400 pharmacies in Cairo. The sample was drawn randomly from the address list in yellow pages. The survey was conducted by personal interview.
The questionnaire was designed and validated. Questions were divided into specific domains of interest including pharmacist demographics; access to internet resources; frequency and characteristics of past CE activities; preferences for delivery and content; motivation to participation; and plans for future CE activities. All data analyses were conducted using SPSS for Windows version 18.0. All statistical tests were 2-tailed and based on a significance level of p value ≤ 0.05. Results During the six months of questionnaire distribution, 400 pharmacists (one from each randomly selected pharmacies) were asked to complete the questionnaire. The response rate was 359 out of 400 pharmacists (89.75%). Twenty three percent of respondents had held their highest pharmacy degree to practice for less than 5 years and 19% had obtained their initial degree more than 15 years ago. More than half of the respondents were female (53.3%). Topics related to therapeutics were of highest interest to 85.3%, closely followed by clinical skills topics. Pharmacists working in community pharmacies had attended less CE events (15 vs. 28%, p = 0.034 within the past 2 years) when compared to their hospital-based counterparts. Conversely, hospital pharmacists generally reported less satisfaction with current CE (21 vs. 33%, p = 0.021).
Respondents of the survey expressed enthusiasm towards CE activity, but cited common barriers to participation, as well, such as employer-and technology-based obstacles. These results confirm that features of a successful CE program must be flexible to meet preferences and perceived needs of Egyptian pharmacists.
当代药学服务需要通过维持和提高知识、技能和绩效来保持药师的能力。现有的继续教育（CE）模式反映了国际上对终身学习的广泛方法。
本研究旨在在实施强制性年度 CE 活动和执照续期计划之前，确定埃及药师对 CE 的偏好。
向开罗的 400 家药店分发了一份包含埃及药师继续教育需求和偏好的问卷。样本从黄页地址列表中随机抽取。调查通过个人访谈进行。
问卷设计和验证。问题分为特定的感兴趣领域，包括药剂师的人口统计学数据；互联网资源的获取；过去 CE 活动的频率和特征；对交付和内容的偏好；参与的动机；以及未来 CE 活动的计划。所有数据均使用 SPSS for Windows 版本 18.0 进行分析。所有统计检验均为双尾检验，基于 p 值≤0.05 的显著性水平。
在问卷分发的六个月期间，要求 400 名药剂师（每家随机选择的药店一名）完成问卷。应答率为 359 名药剂师（占 400 名药剂师的 89.75%）。23%的受访者持最高药学学位从事实践工作不到 5 年，19%的人获得初始学位超过 15 年。超过一半的受访者为女性（53.3%）。治疗学相关主题最受关注，占 85.3%，其次是临床技能主题。与社区药房的药剂师相比，他们在过去两年中参加 CE 活动的次数较少（15 次与 28 次，p = 0.034）。相反，医院药剂师普遍对当前 CE 满意度较低（21 次与 33 次，p = 0.021）。
调查的受访者对 CE 活动表现出热情，但也指出了参与的常见障碍，例如雇主和技术障碍。这些结果证实，成功的 CE 计划的特点必须灵活，以满足埃及药剂师的偏好和感知需求。
