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Attitudes of Lebanese pharmacists towards online and live continuing education sessions.

ABSTRACT: Background:Continuing education (CE) is an internationally recommended approach as a lifelong learning model for pharmacists, enabling them to maintain the necessary knowledge, skills and ethical attitudes so as to remain current and competent in their practice. Objectives:The objective of this study is to 1) describe factors associated with taking different types of CE courses among pharmacists in Lebanon, and 2) assess the correlation between types of CE activity and the attitude of Lebanese pharmacists (motivation and value) and their computer literacy. Methods:This is a cross-sectional observational study conducted between February and May 2017, using a random sample of Lebanese pharmacists from all districts of Lebanon. All pharmacists were eligible to participate; the sample consisted of those who agreed to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire includes questions about computer literacy, motivation and value about CE, in addition to sociodemographic characteristics of pharmacists. Results:Out of the 750 questionnaires distributed, 628 (83.73%) were filled out and returned to be analyzed. The mean age of the participants was 39.04 (SD 10.57) years, 66.9% of them were females, and 41.1% of them had a bachelor degree in pharmacy and worked in Mount Lebanon. Among the 628 respondents, 567 (90.3%) have earned at least one CE credit. Of those, 5.4% took mainly online courses, 15.4% took mainly live courses and the remaining took both types of CE. Higher motivation (aOR=1.05; CI 0.994-1.109) and higher value (aOR=1.076; CI 0.968-1.197) were associated with higher odds of taking live CE courses. Higher motivation (aOR=1.07; 95%CI 0.994-1.152) was associated with higher odds of taking online CE courses. Higher motivation (aOR=1.059; 95%CI 1.006-1.114) and higher general confidence with computer use (aOR=1.058; 95%CI 1.012-1.106) were significantly associated with higher odds of taking both types of CE courses. Conclusions:A high percentage of Lebanese pharmacists enrolled in the CE system, mainly driven by motivation and value of CE, in addition to a higher general confidence in computer use. Further efforts should be exerted by the Lebanese Order of Pharmacists to motivate pharmacists and help them improve their computer literacy, which is expected to improve not only enrollment in CE activities, but also the completion of their CE requirements.

SUBMITTER: Sacre H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6594437 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Attitudes of Lebanese pharmacists towards online and live continuing education sessions.

Sacre Hala H Tawil Samah S Hallit Souheil S Hajj Aline A Sili Georges G Salameh Pascale P

Pharmacy practice 20190401 2

<h4>Background</h4>Continuing education (CE) is an internationally recommended approach as a lifelong learning model for pharmacists, enabling them to maintain the necessary knowledge, skills and ethical attitudes so as to remain current and competent in their practice.<h4>Objectives</h4>The objective of this study is to 1) describe factors associated with taking different types of CE courses among pharmacists in Lebanon, and 2) assess the correlation between types of CE activity and the attitud ...[more]

PMID: 31275496

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Project description:BackgroundContinuing education (CE) is an international tool that requires lifelong active participation in learning activities allowing the pharmacist to stay a major player among others. In 2014 the CE program was introduced to the pharmacists licensed in Lebanon as a mandatory requirement for re-licensure. In the absence of guidelines regarding the quality and quantity of CE programs, behavioral resistance to precipitate in the CE programs might be encountered among the pharmacists.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to assess the perceptions of pharmacists working in Lebanese hospitals on the continuing education preferences. The advantage of this program is to collect information that would help the Order of Pharmacy in Lebanon to upgrade the CE program in a way that is more acceptable and convenient for the pharmacists.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out in 2016, using a proportionate random sample of Lebanese hospital pharmacies from all governorates in Lebanon. A structured questionnaire was distributed to all hospital pharmacies in Lebanon. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all study variables. This includes the mean and standard deviation for continuous measures, counts and percentages for categorical variables.ResultsA total of 107 (53.5%) participants completed the questionnaires. The majority of participants were from Beirut and Mount Lebanon. The percentage of participants working at private hospitals was (68.2%).The majority of participants who completed the questionnaire (86.2%) agreed that continuing education programs affects their way of practice and increases their knowledge. Their preferred CE types to be used in the future were the computer based ones (60.6%), interactive workshops (45.5%) and printed materials (44.9%). Their considerations for selecting the CE type is based on their interest in the topic (80.6%), the ease of access to print or online material (77.2%), or the convenience of being offered during an event (67.1%). Participants noted that barriers to attend live CEs were mainly work responsibilities (76%), travel distance (65.6%), family commitments (48.4%) and scheduling (40.6%).ConclusionsLebanese hospital pharmacists are highly committed to CE. They consider it a practical tool for career development and advancement.

Project description:BackgroundThe pharmacy profession has changed enormously in the recent decades. Pharmacist role has been expanded beyond formulating and dispensing medications to include the provision of pharmaceutical care and public health services to patients. Patient-centred care requires sustained competency through improving pharmacist's knowledge, skills, and performance. Such improvements require pharmacist's involvement in continuing education activities although it is optional in Kuwait.ObjectiveTo explore pharmacists' attitudes towards continuing education in Kuwait, and to investigate the perceived barriers that hinder pharmacists from being involved in continuing education activities.Setting.All governmental hospitals and polyclinics and private pharmacies in all the five health regions of Kuwait (Capital, Hawalli, Ahmadai, Farwaniyah, and Jahra).MethodA descriptive cross-sectional study conducted with full licensed pharmacists working in Kuwait. Pharmacists were asked to complete an adapted validated questionnaire composed of 14 items to measure their attitudes towards continuing education. In addition, it contains open-ended questions to obtain the type of learning activity undertaken by the pharmacists, and whether they have barriers that hinder them from being involved in continuing education.ResultsA total of 409 pharmacists completed the questionnaire. The participants had a median score of 44 (interquartile range = 41-47); good to excellent attitudes. Attitude scores were correlated with age and years of experience. Almost 70% of the participants had attended a continuing education activity within one year. The activity undertaken most by pharmacists was attending a seminar, compared to other activities. The main barriers to continuing education were lack of personal time (n = 383), lack of scientific databases and books (n = 187) and conferences are not regularly organized locally (n = 154).ConclusionPharmacists in Kuwait have positive attitudes towards continuing education overall. However, there are many obstacles that avert pharmacists to practice continuing education. Further studies are required to explore how to overcome the reported barriers and provide more feasible and relevant continuing education to pharmacists.

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Attitudes of Lebanese pharmacists towards online and live continuing education sessions.

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Attitudes of Lebanese pharmacists towards online and live continuing education sessions.

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