Ghazali Yusuf, Okeke Adaobi, Okoya Funmbi
FIDSON Healthcare PLC, Lagos, Nigeria.
Young Pharmacists Group of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (YPG-PSN), Lagos, Nigeria.
Heliyon. 2020 Jul 2;6(7):e04380. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04380. eCollection 2020 Jul.
It is revealing that pharmacy as a key health care profession is almost invisible within more recent health policy initiatives in Nigeria. This research is an effort to improve awareness about the pharmacy profession. The target shall be young, science inclined individuals in high schools; they are the future.
To assess the levels of knowledge of high school science students about pharmacy and their interest in becoming pharmacists before and after sessions of awareness and education about the profession.
The study was a behavioral intervention study with pre and post cross-sectional survey; carried out in three high schools across Lagos, Nigeria; 127 science students participated. Information was collected using questionnaires inquiring into the career interests of the students and their levels of awareness of the pharmacy profession before and after series of coordinated sensitization about pharmacy. There was one sensitization exercise conducted per school and each lasted for about 80 min with breaks in between. An average of 40 students per school (all science majors present on the day of the survey) participated in the study. A pretest was first conducted, followed by the campaign and then a posttest to assess impact. Communication was done in English language all through the survey.
and Discussion: Most of the students claimed to know who a pharmacist is. However, upon further probe, only 3.1 percent of the respondents had a very good knowledge of what the pharmacy profession entails, from the pretest. At the end of the awareness discussions, an appreciable 18.1 percent of the students now had very good knowledge of the pharmacy profession. Similarly, a better 11.8 percent of students became interested in becoming pharmacists against the previously recorded 5.5 percent. This depicts how strategic advocacies can be utilized in building good professionals and ensuring a sustainable legacy for pharmacy in Nigeria.
The study establishes that the knowledge and awareness of high school science students about the pharmacy profession is relatively low across three selected secondary schools. The sensitization held yielded measurable improvement in awareness and interest. In view of this, Pharmacists in Nigeria are implored to do more of career mentorship.
值得注意的是，在尼日利亚最近的卫生政策举措中，药学作为一项关键的医疗保健专业几乎未被提及。本研究旨在提高对药学专业的认识。目标受众为高中阶段有科学倾向的年轻人；他们是未来的希望。
评估高中理科学生在接受药学专业的宣传和教育课程前后，对药学的了解程度以及他们成为药剂师的兴趣。
本研究是一项行为干预研究，采用前后横断面调查；在尼日利亚拉各斯的三所高中开展；127名理科学生参与。通过问卷调查收集信息，询问学生的职业兴趣以及在一系列关于药学的协调宣传活动前后他们对药学专业的了解程度。每所学校进行一次宣传活动，每次活动持续约80分钟，中间有休息时间。每所学校平均有40名学生（调查当天所有理科专业的学生）参与研究。首先进行预测试，接着开展宣传活动，然后进行后测试以评估效果。在整个调查过程中均使用英语进行交流。
大多数学生声称知道药剂师是什么。然而，进一步探究后发现，在预测试中，只有3.1%的受访者对药学专业的具体内容有很好的了解。在宣传讨论结束时，有可观的18.1%的学生现在对药学专业有了很好的了解。同样，有11.8%的学生对成为药剂师产生了兴趣，而之前这一比例为5.5%。这表明战略性宣传可如何用于培养优秀专业人才，并确保尼日利亚药学领域的可持续发展。
该研究表明，在三所选定的中学中，高中理科学生对药学专业的知识和认识相对较低。所开展的宣传活动在提高认识和兴趣方面取得了显著成效。鉴于此，恳请尼日利亚的药剂师更多地开展职业指导工作。
