Class of 2011 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study is to gain knowledge about pharmacists’ use and recommendations toward complementary and alternative medicine in the state of Arizona. METHODS: Samples were obtained through an online survey. Members from Arizona Pharmacy Alliance (AzPA) were emailed asking them to participate in an online survey. The sample size was all the pharmacists who are members of AzPA and have an email address, about 900 pharmacists. There were 187 responses, giving a response rate of 21%. The questionnaire was developed using questions from previous studies of pharmacists, physicians, and nurses. Demographic information collected included age, number of years practicing, ethnicity, sex and type of pharmacy he/she practices in. RESULTS: Pharmacists who have been treated with CAM personally are more likely to agree that CAM is a useful supplement to conventional medicines (p<0.001). Pharmacists who do not use CAM regularly to treat their own symptoms or illnesses were less likely to think CAM is a useful supplement to conventional medicine (p<0.001) and less likely to think CAM should be integrated into main stream western medicine (p<0.001). Pharmacists practicing greater than 20 years are more likely to think that their attitude toward alternative medicine has changed substantially over the past few years (p=0.028) and are more likely to think CAM should be integrated into western medicine (p=0.036) compared to those practicing less than 10 years. CONCLUSION: Based on the results, the hypothesis that pharmacists with personal CAM use are more likely to recommend or have a positive attitude toward their patients and recommend CAM was supported. The other hypothesis of pharmacists who have more recently graduated from pharmacy school will have a more positive outlook on CAM has been refuted as it was shown that those who have been practicing more than 20 years are more likely to believe CAM should be integrated into Western medicine.

The objective of this thesis is to identify factors, which are influencing pharmacists` choice of a particular drug in a situation when generic substitution can be offered to a patient, and to analyse the relative importance of these factors for the pharmacists. This study investigates such behavioural patterns of pharmacists operating within chain of pharmacies called Alphega. The research consists of 2 consecutive parts; Firstly, qualitative inquiry through depth-in interviews has been carried out in order to identify variables, which may shape pharmacist's choice. And subsequently, quantitative investigation has been performed for the purpose of assessing importance of each variable. The results of the research have finally been used to evaluate the strategy of antibiotic Augmentin produced by company GlaxoSmithKline.

En 2003, un groupe de travail de la Société Française de Pharmacie Clinique (SFPC) a mis au point un outil codifiant les interventions relatives aux problèmes médicamenteux détectés au cours de l'analyse de prescription par les pharmaciens ainsi qu'une base de données (ACT-IP©) destinée à la collecte de ces interventions. Notre recherche a eu pour objectifs de préciser les conditions et le potentiel d'analyse du contenu d'ACT-IP© et de fixer les limites de cette analyse. Le travail se décline en quatre séquences : 1. quantifier le savoir nécessaire pour prescrire et dispenser des médicaments 2. déconstruire ce contenu afin de rapporter de quoi une intervention pharmaceutique est le résultat 3. rechercher ce qui normalement aurait dû y être présent et qui est absent 4. dessiner les sujets de recherche à venir. Notre travail démontre que le contenu d'ACT-IP© constitue avant tout une base solide d'analyse des pratiques des pharmaciens. / In 2003, a working group of the French Society of Clinical Pharmacy (SFPC) validated an instrument for documentation of pharmacist's interventions in French speaking hospitals. To extend the documentation of these interventions to every pharmacist, a Web site database (ACT-IP©) was created. The aim of our research was to explore the potential and conditions for analyzing the ACT-IP© content and define the limits of this analysis. The work is divided into four sequences: 1. quantifying the necessary knowledge to prescribe and dispense drugs 2. deconstruction of this content in order to capture the elements that lead to pharmacist interventions 3. identifying interventions types that are absent whereas they normally should be present 4. define areas for future research as a connection of ACT-IP content with a fully structured drug information database in order to extend the field of hospital pharmacist practice studies. Our work demonstrates that the content of ACT-IP© primarily constitutes a basis for the analysis pharmacist professional practices instead of a database of prescribing errors.

Master of Public Health - MPH / Background: Hospital pharmacy practice is an important aspect of healthcare, as drugs are a key component of patient treatment in hospitals. In Lagos state, Nigeria, provision of healthcare services, including drugs, was at one time entirely free but in the face of ever dwindling resources and increasing government responsibility, the health sector has to compete with other sectors for scarce public funds. Therefore, in 2002, a private sector initiative (PSI) in hospital pharmacy was implemented in seven hospitals in Lagos state as an alternative financing system for managing drug procurement and supply to fee-paying patients. Each of these seven hospitals now has two pharmacies, one providing free drugs to certain categories of patients entitled to this service and the second providing services to all other patients. Aim: This study aimed to explore and describe the impact of this private sector initiative on the job satisfaction of the pharmacists working in these hospitals from the viewpoint of the hospital pharmacists and relevant stakeholders, and to suggest ways of improving the job satisfaction of hospital pharmacists in Lagos state. Study Design: The study utilized a qualitative research design to explore the perceptions and experiences of government-employed pharmacists and key stakeholders on the impact of the private sector initiative. Study Population and Sampling: Individual interviews were conducted with three key informants and two focus group discussions were carried out, one with hospital pharmacists from the fee-paying pharmacies and the second with pharmacists from the free pharmacies from the seven hospitals in Lagos state where the private sector initiative was in operation. Data Collection and Analysis: The audio-taped interviews and focus group discussions were transcribed and analysed to identify the key categories and themes raised by the participants. Results: The study found that most pharmacists felt that the PSI has met the main objective for which it was set up, that is, improving availability of drugs in the hospital but there were some attendant factors like inadequate funding of the free health unit, increased workload of the fee-paying unit and poor working conditions, which affect the job satisfaction of pharmacists. The study however showed that the introduction of the PSI has led to improved performance of roles and recognition of the pharmacists and better working relationships between pharmacists and other healthcare workers which have impacted positively on the job satisfaction of pharmacists. Recommendations: The study recommended that the working conditions should be improved and issues of staffing and workloads should be addressed. Also, alternative but effective means of drug financing should be sought to ensure availability of drugs to all categories of patients.