Project description:ObjectivesThis study describes the literature of hospital pharmacy and identifies the journals most commonly cited by authors in the field, the publication types most frequently cited, the age of citations, and the indexing access to core journals. The study also looks at differing citation practices between journals with a wide audience compared to a national journal with a focus on regional issues and trends in the field.MethodCited references from five discipline-specific source journals were collected and analyzed for publication type and age. Two sets were created for comparison. Bradford's Law of Scattering was applied to both sets to determine the most frequently cited journals.ResultsThree-quarters of all cited items were published within the last 10 years (71%), and journal articles were the most heavily cited publication type (n=65,760, 87%). Citation analysis revealed 26 journal titles in Zone 1, 177 journal titles in Zone 2, and the remaining were scattered across 3,886 titles. Analysis of a national journal revealed Zone 1 comprised 9 titles. Comparison of the 2 sets revealed that Zone 1 titles overlapped, with the exception of 2 titles that were geographically focused in the national title.ConclusionHospital pharmacy literature draws heavily from its own discipline-specific sources but equally from core general and specialty medical journals. Indexing of cited journals is complete in PubMed and EMBASE but lacking in International Pharmaceutical Abstracts. Gray literature is a significant information source in the field.
Project description:BackgroundPharmacy practice (PP) research is a new discipline that studies the scope of interventions and health services performed by pharmacists. Information on PP in Latin America is available; however, to date, it has not been methodically analysed. It is critical to understand the current level of evolution of pharmaceutical activities to support evidence-based decision-making.MethodsWe performed a review of PP literature published in five databases, of which two were international and three were focused on Latin America. The data obtained were qualitative, such that the strategies used for data search and collection were structured by PRISMA guidelines, and data synthesis and analysis were conducted through a narrative review.ResultsOf the 1863 articles found in the initial search, 108 were included in the final analysis. The majority of these were conducted in Brazil (n=73, 74%) and Colombia (n=14, 13%). The interventions and services most frequently reported were dispensing (n=24, 22%), clinical pharmacy services (n=21, 19%) and pharmaceutical care (n=21, 19%). Most studies focused on only one key strategic area (n=94, 87%), specifically on health services provision.ConclusionPP in Latin America follows worldwide trends to some extent with regard to the inclusion of clinical pharmacy and pharmaceutical care. However, the region also demonstrates particularities, including the heterogenous level of development amongst its countries. It is vital for Latin American pharmacists to publish their activities, interventions and services in order to generate a solid evidence base to evaluate practice and support informed decision-making.
Project description:BackgroundThe Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists promotes the recruitment of residency-trained pharmacists for work in hospitals and related health care settings. However, Quebec hospitals are still hiring non-residency trained pharmacists, in part because of a severe shortage of hospital pharmacists. To date, no studies have examined the factors influencing the career choices of fourth-year pharmacy students in Canada.ObjectivesTo identify motivating factors and barriers influencing students' decision to pursue a hospital pharmacy residency.MethodsAll 186 fourth-year students in the Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Montréal, were invited by e-mail to participate in a validated and institutionally approved survey that was available online between March and May 2014.ResultsOf the 138 respondents who returned a completed survey (74% response rate), 36 (26%) planned to apply for a hospital pharmacy residency. Those planning to apply for a residency were older (p = 0.037) and had more hospital work experience (36% versus 3%, p < 0.001) than those not planning to apply. The most important motivators for pursuing a residency were potential gains in knowledge (reported by 88% of respondents, whether or not they were planning to pursue a residency), experience (80%), and self-confidence (62%). The most frequently reported barriers were recognition that a hospital pharmacy residency is a highly demanding program (65%), having work available upon graduation from the undergraduate program (43%), and financial obligations (34%). Hospital experiential rotations influenced, either positively or negatively, 23 (72%) of the 32 students who changed their decision to pursue or not pursue residency training over the course of their studies.ConclusionsThe potential gain in knowledge and experience acquired through residency, the fact that it is considered a highly demanding program, and having work available upon graduation from undergraduate studies were the most influential factors in fourth-year pharmacy students' decision of whether to pursue a hospital pharmacy residency.