Job satisfaction among pharmacists affects the quality of pharmaceutical care and patient health. Our study targeted the evaluation of job and salary satisfaction levels in pharmacists and the factors affecting these levels. Methods — We conducted the survey of 407 pharmacists working at community pharmacies in Saratov Oblast (Russia). Results — The proportions of pharmacists satisfied with their jobs and their salaries were 77.1±0.4% and 52.8±0.4%, respectively. We discovered that salary satisfaction was influenced primarily by the household composition (p=0.004) and professional commitment (p<0.001). Pharmacists who were more satisfied with their jobs belonged to the age category ‘up to 44 years’ (p=0.002). They were less likely to change their employment (p<0.001) and more likely to experience positive emotions when performing their professional activities (p<0.001). Also, they were more satisfied with their salaries (p<0.001), committed to their profession (p<0.001), and more likely to perceive the social importance of their profession (p<0.001). Conclusion — Our findings suggested that formal traits of pharmaceutical professionals had a smaller impact on their job satisfaction, while the greatest impact was caused by the personal characteristics (perception of the social importance of their profession, professional commitment), salary satisfaction, age and frequency of changing jobs.

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Pharmacy is the basic entity for the provision of pharmaceutical care. Its work is one of the factors that determine the population health in modern society. In order to identify the role of pharmacy in the system of public health protection a sociological study of the views of physicians (N=343), as an intermediate consumer of pharmaceutical care, was conducted. The study covered various aspects of the pharmacies’ work and identified the problems in the field of the population drug supply. Pharmacy is perceived by the medical community as a specialized organization that performs certain functions: dispensing of preferential medicines to separate categories of citizens, selling of medications with low prices and a wide range, production of medicines. Until now there is no integrated approach to the professional interaction between physician and pharmaceutical professional.