Career Preferences, Leadership Attitudes, and Research Interests among Pharmacy students of Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

The present study is aimed to evaluate student's perception about career choices, research interests and leadership attitudes towards pharmacy profession and factors involved in the selection. A cross-sectional survey was conducted at seven different schools of pharmacy in Lahore, Pakistan. The questionnaire used in this study was designed from previous studies conducted in different countries. A total of 720 questionnaires were distributed among the fourth and final year pharmacy students, out of which 562 were returned with the response rate of 78.0%. Majority of the students (30.1%) considered Clinical pharmacist as the best career option and 18.1% students believed that personal interest was the prime reason for the selection of their profession. A large proportion of students (75.6%) believed that leader should take charge of the organization. The participants of the age of 22-23 years were strongly agreed that leader is responsible for controlling the whole group or organization than other age groups (56.0%, p < 0.05). Female respondents were in higher agreement that they were interested in a research study than male respondents (66.5% vs. 33.5%, p = 0.028). The participants wanted to serve their career as a clinical pharmacist upon graduation. Different leadership establishment programs should be conducted to develop hierarchical and leadership skills among students.