Professional-development and continuing-education programs for pharmacists in large hospitals.

Pharmacy directors at large hospitals nationwide were surveyed to determine the status of professional-development and continuing-education programs for staff pharmacists at their institutions. An 18-item questionnaire was developed and mailed in July 1987 to pharmacy directors of 445 large (bed capacity of greater than or equal to 450) hospitals. The questionnaire was designed to elicit information about who holds responsibility for the professional-development programs, the programs' frequency and format, how attendance is documented, and the types of individuals who present the programs. A total of 327 (73.5%) of the questionnaires were returned, with 256 (78.3%) of the respondents indicating that their department had some form of developmental-training program. Only 45 (17.6%) of these respondents indicated that their department employed an individual whose job title was specific for education or training functions. Hour-long lectures and videotaped programs were the most popular formats; programs were most frequently presented by pharmaceutical sales representatives or clinical or staff pharmacists. Of 251 respondents, only 90 (35.8%) indicated that an educational needs assessment of pharmacists had been conducted in the 18 months before the survey. Of 252 respondents, 138 (54.8%) indicated that their departments had no annual budget for these programs. Although program attendance was documented by 248 (97.3%) of the 256 departments, 111 (43.3%) did not require any type of certification for some programs. Evaluations were required by only 127 (49.6%) of the 256 pharmacy departments offering these programs. Inhouse programs offer opportunities for professional development, but resource allocation, program organization, and incentives for participation such as standards of performance could be improved in many of the programs explored by this survey.