Professionalism in Thai pharmacy students
Sanguan Lerkiatbundit, Asst. Prof., D. of Pharmaceutical Ad., F. of Pharmaceutical Sci., PSU
E-mail : lsanguan@makok.pharmacy.psu.ac.th
Published : J. of Social and Administrative Pharmacy 2000, 17(1) : 51-58.
Key words : professionalism, socialization, Tinto's model, professional commitment,
pharmacy students
The objectives of the study were to describe and explain the professionalism in pharmacy students after one year of schooling. Subjects were 519 pharmacy students at Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. Eighty five percent of subjects completed both the first survey questionnaires at the beginning of the year and the second survey questionnaires at the end of the year. The second survey revealed an increasing trend of the beliefs in professional organization and public services at
the end of the year among the students in every class except for the freshmen. Beliefs in autonomy
and self-regulation increased among the freshmen, but were unchanged in the upperclassmen. In every class, belief in continuing education was unchanged. At the end of academic year, the decrease of professional commitment was found among the freshmen. The exposure to pharmacy courses did not improve this attitude in the upperclassmen.
Previous professionalism was a strong predictor of the professionalism from the second survey. Among the variables in the TintoÕs model, academic development was the strongest predictor of the beliefs in professional organization, public services, self-regulation, professional commitment, and autonomy.
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