First-Year Pharmacy Students’ Views on Their Chosen Professional Career

Objective. To investigate what factors influenced students to study pharmacy and determine in which sector they hoped to gain employment, both in the short and longer term. Methods. First-year pharmacy students (n=124) were invited to complete a paper-based, self-administered questionnaire consisting of 4 sections. Descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests were conducted. Results. One hundred (96.8% response rate) students completed the questionnaire (22.5% male; 77.5% female). Key influential factors for choosing pharmacy included: enjoyment of science at school, a desire to improve people’s health and wellbeing, and to work in health care. Career aspirations were to work in a hospital or in community practice rather than in industry or academia. Conclusions. Students choose pharmacy as a career primarily for altruistic and clinical reasons. This research provides information for pharmacy schools about the career aspirations of students and data from future pharmacists is potentially helpful to pharmacy professional organizations and potential employers.