A pilot assessment of the career and job satisfaction of the pharmaceutical workforce in Lebanon

Abstract

Background Lebanon has been recognized as a center for high-quality healthcare services in the Middle East because of its prestigious facilities certified by international bodies, competent health workers, and credible pharmaceutical sector. This study assessed the professional situation of the Lebanese pharmaceutical workforce upon graduation and entry to the job market. It also evaluated the satisfaction of pharmacists with the financial, physical, and psychological aspects of their job and the effect of the current socioeconomic crisis on their profession. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed between January and May 2021 among 114 Lebanese pharmacists from all pharmaceutical sectors across Lebanon. A self-administered questionnaire was elaborated to assess the pharmaceutical workforce in Lebanon. The online questionnaire was built using Google Forms and disseminated via emails and social platforms. Results Fresh graduates seemed more oriented toward community pharmacies, and 78.1% of the participants worked at least once in their lifetime in a community pharmacy. Pharmacists from the public university worked predominantly in the community pharmacy sector, while those who graduated from private universities worked mainly as medical representatives. Hospital pharmacy comprised significantly more PharmD graduates than other sectors; medical representatives had mainly a BS pharmacy, while those working as industrial pharmacists had a Master’s degree. A low percentage (31.6%) of participants found it easy to get hold of a job across different pharmaceutical sectors while 64.0% considered the internships experience insufficient to get employed. Nearly half (48.2%) of the respondents were poorly satisfied with their job, and 54.0% of community pharmacists reported not working in their preferred field compared to 39.1% of pharmacists from other sectors. Also, 65.79% felt that the economic crisis and the consequent medication shortages affected their credibility and how society perceived them. About half (45.61%) of the participants reported that their employment status was not affected by the crisis; the rest got a second job to cover their expenses (15.79%) or changed jobs (14.91%). Conclusion Our study findings revealed that most Lebanese fresh graduates worked as community pharmacists, which does not correspond to their preference, the available job market, and the modern pharmacy wingspan. Most pharmacists were also financially, physically, and emotionally dissatisfied due to the Lebanese economic crisis that added heavy workloads and responsibilities without any financial raise.

Psychological Distress and its Association With Job Satisfaction Among Hospital Pharmacists in Vietnam

“…Thus, addressing these issues is crucial to maintaining service quality and patient safety. 38 Our study found that individuals with more than 2 children are nearly 4 times as likely to experience higher levels of stress compared to their childless counterparts. This aligns with findings from the United States, 41 where first year postgraduate pharmacy residents with children reported higher stress scores than those without children.…”

Burnout and coping strategies among health system pharmacists in Lebanon: a cross-sectional study

“…Reduced personal accomplishment was higher than that found in health-system and hospital pharmacists but similar to what was reported in clinical pharmacists [ 11 , 12 , 26 ]. This finding is probably reflective of the impact that the economic collapse has had on mental health as well as the dissatisfaction with career opportunities for health system pharmacists in Lebanon [ 27 – 29 ]. It has been suggested that reduced personal accomplishment is likely to occur when pharmacists cannot focus on their clinical duties and have expectations to non-clinical duties such as working on tasks that can be performed by other members or student training without dedicated time.…”

“…Contrary to our findings, age was protective against burnout amongst clinical pharmacists in the US [ 11 ]. This difference is probably due to better career satisfaction and development opportunities available in the US and Europe [ 27 , 34 ]. More than half of our study represented early-career pharmacists.…”

“…Given that career dissatisfaction was associated with a risk of burnout in our study and based on global and national findings, imminent changes are needed to provide pharmacists with opportunities for education and training. Practice development nationwide is needed to provide opportunities for advanced practice and professional growth [ 27 , 34 ]. Moreover, not only should more educational opportunities become available, but employers should also account for professional development time since this has also been noted as a challenge [ 35 ].…”

Pharmacy education and workforce: strategic recommendations based on expert consensus in Lebanon

“…This number is considered one of the highest in the world, particularly for the BS Pharm (17.52/10,000 inhabitants up till the end of 2017 [ 10 ]), while the country lacks national policies that set the number of graduates per school according to the local needs. There are no precise data about the employability of graduates, but academic surveys demonstrate a decline in work opportunities over time [ 11 ].…”