Impact of a debate on pharmacy students` views of online pharmacy

Impact of a debate on pharmacy students’ views of online pharmacy practice
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Jean-François Bussières , Anaïs Delicourt , Nedjma Belaid , Marie-Pierre Quirion ,
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Julien Desroches , Josiane Bégin , Anne-Marie Fragasso , Diane Lamarre
1- CHU Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Québec 2- Faculté de pharmacie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
OBJECTIVE
To describe the impact of a debate on pharmacy students’ perceptions about
Table 1. Profile of the level of agreement per statement and proportion of respondents in favor of online pharmacy practice
Web-based pharmacy practice.
Statements
Online
Students Who Agreed with the
Pharmacy
Statement (%)
FOR or Pre-Phase* Post-Phase 1 Post-Phase 2
AGAINST
Online pharmacy practice increases the risk of selling counterfeit medications.
METHODS
Against
86
97
85
Against
92
84
85
For
78
67
83
Against
72
63
81
Online pharmacy practice leads to a deprofessionalization of the pharmacist’s role.
Quasi-experimental interrupted time-series study
Online pharmacy practice should be prohibited in Quebec.
The topic of a debate was identified by a group of 2nd year pharmacy students.
Online pharmacy practice is inevitable given the development of online services.
A 60-minute debate about online pharmacy practice was organized as part of a lunch-
1 pharmacist presented an argument FOR web-based pharmacy practice
1 pharmacist presented an argument AGAINST web-based pharmacy practice
The students were asked to complete an evaluation questionnaire (four-category Likert
scale) during each phase.
Post-phase 2
(1 month later)
n = 55 (response rate 31%)
41
56
23
For
27
36
19
Online pharmacy practice is not a threat to the property rights of pharmacists in Quebec.
1 pharmacist was the moderator
Post-phase 1
n = 177 (response rate 100%)
For
Online pharmacy practice is an opportunity that Quebec pharmacists must seize.
time conference.
Debate
(60 minutes)
The respondents’ support for the use of online pharmacy showed little variation:
Pre-phase: 30% ± 22%
Post-phase 1: 33% ± 23%
Post-phase 2: 29% ± 24%.
Online pharmacy practice increases access to pharmacists especially in remote areas.
(pre-phase, post-phase 1 and post-phase 2).
Pre-phase 1
n = 177 (response rate 100%)
RESULTS
Evaluation
questionnaire
(four-category
Likert scale)
Fully agree
Partially agree
Partially disagree
Fully disagree
Analyses:
Proportion of the respondents who agreed with each of the
statements (Chi-square test)
Proportion of the respondents in favor of online pharmacy practice
Proportion of the respondents who had changed their opinion
For
18
17
6
Against
94
96
98
Online pharmacy practice increases the risk of fraud and fake prescriptions.
Online pharmacy practice should not be used for complex medications
(e.g., with administration devices, complex dosages)
Online pharmacy practice must be reserved for medications that are not controlled
substances.
Online pharmacy practice is a threat that increases the risk of cross-border purchases for
Quebec patients.
Online pharmacy practice trivializes medication consumption.
Online pharmacy practice empowers patients who can access their pharmacological
record, therapeutic advisors and information tools at any time.
Online pharmacy practice threatens the protection of personal information.
Online pharmacy practice increases the risk of lawsuits and the cost of liability insurance
for pharmacists.
Online pharmacy practice threatens the quality of cold chain management when shipping
medications.
Online pharmacy practice increases access to pharmacists particularly for handicapped
individuals.
Online pharmacy practice makes it possible to rely on pharmacists who have a specific
interest in a particular disease or approach.
Online pharmacy practice helps to ensure continuity of care.
Online pharmacy practice makes it possible to respond to patients’ relational needs
through a web camera, email or phone contact.
Online pharmacy practice offers better confidentiality than the area available in retail
pharmacies.
Online pharmacy practice is a solution to the shortage of pharmacists in Quebec.
*
21%±7% reversed their opinion
22%±4% nuanced their opinion
1%±1% changed radically their opinion.
98% (post-phase 1) and 96% (post-phase 2) of the respondents thought that
debate was a very useful teaching formula in their pharmacist training.
79% (post-phase 1) and 66% (post-phase 2) thought debate significantly
Against
93
94
100
Against
92
90
91
Against
86
87
87
Against
81
83
85
changed their opinion of the issue.
CONCLUSION
For
77
82
72
Against
86
78
76
Against
82
77
87
For
70
77
67
Against
79
75
80
Online pharmacy practice is incompatible with the provision of full pharmaceutical care.
Online pharmacy practice is compatible with setting up an electronic health record in
Quebec.
Online pharmacy practice undermines the patient’s confidence in pharmacists.
On average 43% ± 8% of the respondents changed their opinion;
Against
80
73
78
Against
74
68
70
Few data have been collected on the use of debates as part of healthcare
professional training.
Although the proportion of students in favor of online pharmacy practices
approaches one third of the respondents, our study shows that more than half of
the students reported a variation in their level of support
The results suggest that, as part of an academic training, debate can contribute to
critical thinking
For
73
68
72
For
51
56
61
Students appreciated using debates as a teaching formula and considered that the
approach was very useful in their pharmacist training, particularly when it
For
37
40
32
For
32
39
33
concerned a controversial issue.
Pharmacists should consider integrating more debates in their teaching
For
31
33
41
For
22
22
20
Prephase (n between 174-177); post-phase 1 (n between 173-177); post-phase 2 (n between 52-54).
approaches.
Contact: [email protected]