Relational professional identity: How do pharmacy students see themselves in relation to others?

Abstract

Background: As the pharmacy profession moves towards patient-centred care, pharmacy schools have updated their curricula to prepare students for a full scope of practice. A critical objective of the new curricula is the professional socialization of pharmacy students into relational aspects of the profession: how pharmacists should interact with patients and other health care professionals. Through an examination of how one cohort of pharmacy students perceives its relationship to patients and physicians, this study aims to determine how these relational aspects of professional identity evolve with time spent in the program. Methods: At 3 time points over a 2-year period, pharmacy students were asked to detail in writing how they would communicate with a physician concerning a hypothetical drug allergy scenario. A directed content analysis of their responses was conducted based on 3 main analytic categories: patient-centredness, physician collaboration and physician deference. These categories were further divided into 6 subcategories that were used as the variables for analysis. Statistical analyses examined longitudinal group trends for these variables. Results: Over the 2 years of observation, an examination of the proportion of messages demonstrating the subcategories of interest showed that the only measure of the pharmacy students’ relational professional identity that changed significantly over time occurred for the perception of a sense of shared care for the patient. All other aspects of their relational identity were stagnant and did not change as they progressed through training (χ2; 12.772, df = 2, p < 0.002). Conclusion: Our results suggest that the relational professional identity of participants was poorly developed with regards to both patients and physicians. Pharmacy educators must reexamine the methods currently being employed to foster students’ professional identity development to ensure that new graduates are prepared to meet the challenges of a changing scope of practice. Can Pharm J (Ott) 2021;154:xx-xx.

Three perspectives on relational professional identity formation

“…Three perspectives on relational professional identity formation Professional identity formation is an important topic in the higher education 1 and pharmacy 2 literature and a key outcome of the PharmD program. Recently, Neubert et al 3 explored the impact of the pharmacy curriculum on professional identity formation in a cohort of students by evaluating their responses to a survey administered at 3 time points over a 2-year period (beginning of first, second and third years). Students were asked to describe what they would say to the physician when intervening on behalf of the patient to change a medication because of an allergy.…”

“…Responses were analysed for the presence of indicators of patient centredness (e.g., demonstrating concern for impact on the patient) and physician collaboration (e.g., having a sense of shared care for a patient) and absence of indicators of physician deference (e.g., demonstrated by the ability to make a clear recommendation)-key aspects of relational professional identity for the pharmacist. 3 Overall, students' responses failed to meet expectations, often lacking a strong recommendation to the physician to prescribe an alternate drug. Study results suggest that the relational professional identity of students at 3 time points in the PharmD program was poorly developed regarding both patients and physicians.…”

“…Study results suggest that the relational professional identity of students at 3 time points in the PharmD program was poorly developed regarding both patients and physicians. 3 The reasons why students failed to demonstrate a skill they have been taught is open to speculation. I offer 3 perspectives that may inform curriculum delivery and hopefully enhance professional identity formation-issues related to mental models, collaboration and influencing others, and critical thinking and communication skills.…”

“…8 Hence, question interactions may be viewed as inherently conflicted, rather than collaborative. 8 In the Neubert et al 3 study, questioning the physician's choice of therapy may be unsettling for some students.…”

Gydytojo Profesinės Tapatybės Vaidmuo, Optimizuojant Terapinę Veiklą

“…Kartais gretinamos skirtingų medicinos specialybių profesinės tapatybės. Antai (turbūt neatsitiktinai), imta tyrinėti farmacijos studentų savivertė, ją lyginant su kitų medicinos specialybių studentais [15,16]. Tyrėjų dėmesį patraukė ir geriatrinės medicinos darbuotojų profesinės tapatybės ypatumai [17], JAV mokslininkai pabrėžia, kad pavojinga profesinę tapatybę išskaidyti, nukrypti nuo esmės ar per daug ją stereotipizuoti [18].…”