“Throwing in the Spatula”: A qualitative study examining pharmacists' decisions to become physicians

Abstract

Objectives: To describe and examine the experiences of pharmacists who had become physicians. Method: A key informant approach was utilized to identify potential participants in this study, which involved a semistructured interview. Field notes and transcripts were produced, coded and categorized, and an inductive analysis method was used to generate themes that were confirmed with subsequent interviews.Results: A total of 32 pharmacist-physicians participated in this study. All participants had practiced as pharmacists prior to beginning medical school. For most participants, intrinsic motivational factors to study medicine were very strong, while extrinsic motivational factors were cited as reasons to study pharmacy. The experience of medical school, and approaches to medical education were compared and contrasted with pharmacy; while pharmacy was described as more collegial, friendly and supportive, medical (particularly practice-based) education was described as more relevant and focused. Striking differences emerged between male and female participants regarding satisfaction with the decision to pursue medicine as a career; male participants were generally positive about their decision, while female participants were somewhat more nuanced or ambivalent regarding change in their profession.Conclusions: Examining the experiences of individuals who are both physicians and pharmacists provides an informative vehicle for examining differences and similarities in professional education, training and culture. While further work is necessary to more clearly examine these issues, this study provides an important insight into the ways in which pharmacists and physicians relate to one another and their own professional cultures.