• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.155-163
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• 2024

Background: Recently, the employment retention rate (ERR) of hospital pharmacists has been decreasing and there are difficulties in conducting competency-based education (CBE) for pharmacy students. However, there is limited research on the impact of hospital pharmacists ERR on the quality of CBE. Therefore, this study aims to determine the relationship between the employment retention propensity (ERP) and the satisfaction with CBE of pharmacy students for patient consultation on the safe medication use. Method: A survey study was conducted using survey questionnaires of 5th year pharmacy school students who completed Introductory Pharmacy Practice Education from 2023 to 2024. Students' perceptions of their ERP before graduation and satisfaction with CBE were assessed. This survey questions consisted of a 5-point Lickert scale and multiple-choice questions, expressed as percentages including multiple responses. Results: Among 57 students, 82.5% (n=47) responded. The most important determinant of employment retention was work environment (66.0%), followed by fair salary (59.6%). Compared to the satisfaction with patient consultation education on the safe medication use at tertiary hospitals, the satisfaction at general hospitals was higher (satisfaction: 66.7% at tertiary hospitals versus 80.0% at general hospitals). Overall satisfaction with the quality of CBE over time tended to gradually decline along with a decrease in pharmacists employment retention [satisfaction: 83% in 2019 vs 68% in 2024]. Conclusion: Employment retention was positively related to work environment and salary level. Further research is needed to establish the relationship between students' satisfaction with the CBE and the ERP for the future pharmacists.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.125-132
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• 2019

Objective: To examine the perceptions and attitudes toward spontaneous adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting system among community pharmacists and identify factors that influence reporting, by implementing a survey. Methods: A structured questionnaire was developed and distributed online. Request for the survey was posted on the website of pharmacy's billing program, and the survey was conducted for 8 days. We collected the participants' response on their work environment, experience of ADR reporting, and their perception and attitude on the reporting system. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate factors influencing ADR reporting. Results: A total of 382 pharmacists participated in the survey. Significant contributing factors for reporting level were age (odds ratio [OR], 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.84-0.96), knowledge of reporting method (OR, 53.56; 95% CI, 9.10-315.41), installation of reporting program (OR, 31.92; 95% CI, 4.16-244.75), and encouragement from the Korean pharmaceutical association (OR, 4.13; 95% CI, 1.11-15.35). Regarding the attitude toward spontaneous ADR reporting system, 'lack of time for reporting' (OR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.15-0.53) and 'complexity of reporting procedure' (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.31-0.84), were associated with a low likelihood of reporting. Conclusion: Our results indicated that the knowledge of ADR reporting method, installation of the reporting program, and encouragement from the Korean Pharmaceutical Association contribute to active reporting. It is necessary to simplify the reporting method, make the ADR reporting program user-friendly, and provide educational interventions to increase participation in spontaneous reporting by the community pharmacists.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.238-249
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• 2017

Background: Currently establishment of public pharmaceutical companies became an issue for securing stable supply of national essential drugs in order to respond appropriately to national public health crisis. Pharmacy students as future pharmacists need to be interested in drug related issues under the discussion in our society. This study aimed to investigate perceptions of pharmacy students on the national drug supply strategy through public pharmaceutical companies. Methods: A 20-items questionnaire designed for this study was used. Pharmacy students nationwide were enrolled in July 2017. They responded to questions through on-line survey program. Data were analyzed descriptively. Results: 160 students from 26 pharmacy schools participated. 5th and 6th grade students accounted for two-thirds, and one third aspired future jobs in pharmaceutical industry. Among responders, 71.3% was unaware of current national essential drugs, 52.5% did not know the Rare and Essential Drug Center, and 91.9% was unaware of the legislation on the supply and management of essential drugs. 82.5% favored the establishment of public pharmaceutical companies. 80.6% agreed that government should intervene in pharmaceutical market for ensuring drug accessibilities, 73.8% agreed that public pharmaceutical companies make possible to reach a goal of stable supply of pharmaceuticals, and 85.1% agreed that active compulsory license by public pharmaceutical companies is necessary. Conclusion: We found that pharmacy students recognized the need for governmental control to achieve social values of pharmaceuticals. More attention and participation of the pharmacy students as well as pharmacists in the process of national debate on public pharmaceutical companies are expected.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.53-61
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• 2014

Background: The use of health functional food (HFF) is increasing and will continue to rise worldwide. Concerns about HFF-drug interactions are increasing as HFF are becoming more widely used. Therefore, awareness of consumers' perceptions and behaviors associated with HFF use may help health care providers improve their communications with patients. Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics, perceptions, and behaviors associated with HFF use in South Korea. Method: The online survey was conducted from September 21th to October 7th, 2013. With the aid of Social Network Service (SNS) and google, the questionnaire was posted online on internet website targeting people aged 15 years or older so that self-reported data covering 4 domains were collected from 257 Koreans. Results: A total of 257 people responded the questionnaire. Among them, 81.3% reported experiences of HFF use. Female were more likely than male to use HFFs. There were no differences in demographic characteristics between HFF users and non-users in relation to age, education, and household income. Higher level of education was associated with high-level perception of HFF function (OR 3.9, 95% CI 1.48, 10.1) and a positive relationship was observed between the maximum number of HFFs used concurrently and age of the respondents. Among the HFF users, 42.6% reported concurrent HFF-medication use. However 73.3% of them did not disclose their use to physician or pharmacist and only 30.2% were informed about potential drug-HFF interactions. Pharmacy was most commonly reported as the source from which the respondents were informed about potential interactions. Conclusion: Many people had used HFF and medications concurrently while not being informed about potential HFF-drug interactions. Pharmacists and physicians should be vigilant for risk of the interactions and actively determine whether the patient is using an HFF before prescribing and administrating medications.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.281-308
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• 2022

This study aims to present directions for improving information services of medical libraries in small and medium-sized hospitals by exploring the information use behavior and information needs of nurses, medical technicians, and pharmacists who had not been studied. The research design was conducted based on the reviewing theoretical background studies, and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with nurses, medical technicians, and pharmacists working in small and medium-sized hospitals. The results show their information needs, information use behavior, and perceptions of the medical library in the hospital. Based on these results, this study suggests ways to improve the information services provided by medical libraries in hospitals. This research is meaningful because it was first to explore the information use behavior and information needs of health care professionals working in small and medium-sized hospitals.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.208-222
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• 2014

Pharmacy practice experiences play a central role in improving the professional abilities and roles of student pharmacists in the changed '2+4'-year curricula of Korean pharmacy schools. For the first 3 years, the students usually learn theoretical areas, and for the last year, they apply learned knowledge to actual pharmacy practice environments. Especially, in order for community pharmacy practice experiences to become firmly established, it is important to evaluate students' feedbacks of community pharmacy practice experiences. However, there have been little studies regarding this area in Korea. This study was to analyze pharmacy students' perceptions and evaluations after community pharmacy practice experiences. The self-reported questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale was utilized to collect data from the pharmacy students completing community pharmacy practice experiences. Total 62 students responded to the survey questionnaires. The average of students' evaluations of preceptors for overall evaluation items was 4.31 whereas that of student evaluations of practice sites for them was 4.03. The self-evaluations of students' expertises were mostly positive except for that of populations care. The evaluation item 'I believe this experience will help me be a better pharmacist' received the highest satisfaction. According to the results regarding open-ended questions, the students learned the needs for academic motivations and self-developments, and they thought that the curriculum should be standardized and systematized in order to improve contents for community pharmacy practice experiences. Furthermore, based on these results, the guidelines of community pharmacy practice experiences should be modified, and researches on the validation and evaluations of the modified guidelines should be implemented.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.186-194
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• 2023

Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) is important for collaboration between professionals in the team-based practices of the healthcare field. Objectives: This study aimed to examine pharmacy students across in Korea on the experience of IPE and the perceptions of the importance of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) and the need of IPE. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a 20 questionnaire to pharmacy students nationwide was conducted from March to May 2019. Results: A total of 555 students from 32 pharmacy schools participated. They recognized that the importance of close pharmacist-medical doctor collaboration was an average of 5.38 points (out of 6 points), but the current level of pharmacist-to-medical doctor collaboration was an average of 2.51 points (out of 6 points), and the reasons for the insufficient IPC were the lack of an environment encouraging mutual cooperation (79.5%) and the psychological distance to the other professional (35.3%). They perceived the necessity of IPE between pharmacistmedical doctor was 4.95 points (out of 6 points), with the curriculum including how to cooperate with medical doctors (78.2%), communication skills (51.0%), and understanding of medical doctors' functions (44.5%), etc. Only 52 respondents (9.4%) had experience in IPE. Respondents who recognized the importance of IPC (≥5 points) showed 4.44-fold higher agreement on the need for IPE than those who did not (≤4 points) (OR 4.44, 95% CI 2.56, 7.68). Conclusions: Further attention and discussion to add IPE program in the pharmacy school curriculum is necessary in order to cultivate pharmacists with sufficient professional collaboration capabilities.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.334-343
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• 2013

Purpose: This study aims to investigate consumers' demand of and perspective on drug information domestically available and uncover hurdles that they faced while utilizing information. Methods: We conducted a survey of 101 consumers, face-to-face after obtaining informed consent. Chi-squared, or Fisher's exact tests, and multivariate logistic models were used to investigate the association between participants' perceptions and characteristics. Results: As results, participants showed the highest demand for "Adverse effects >90%"; "Drug interactions/Dosage/Drug-food interactions/Indication >80%", and utilized package inserts (52%), doctors (41%) and pharmacists (36%) most often as information sources. Generally, the most common difficulty consumers suffered with was that "it is hard to understand (51%)". With public sources of drug information, sixty one percent of participants were "unaware of the provision of information", resulting in strikingly low usage rates (5~11%). Subgroup analyses indicated that the older (${\geq}50$ years) and the disadvantaged might have been placed in the blind spot of information mostly developed online (p<0.05).Conclusion: In conclusion, public sources of drug information that have been developed online might fail to meet consumers' demand. Greater efforts should be made to balance the development of the information sources between online and offline, and to increase accessibility of the established information sources.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.321-334
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• 2007

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to understand and compare perception and experience between clinical staffs(nurses and pharmacists) and Quality Improvement managers. Method: A qualitative study was conducted with 14 clinical staffs and QI managers who are working at tertiary hospitals in Korea. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for systematic analyses of qualitative data. Results: Most critically, while QI managers acknowledged that establishment of the patient safety culture and reduction of medical errors are urgent tasks for QI effort, clinical staffs don't seem to share such perceptions. All participants agree that staff shortage and no compliance to safety procedures were major reasons for medical error occurrences. Many suggested that an organizational culture where errors were perceived as a systematic problems rather than individual failures or carelessness should be formed to promote voluntary reporting of medical errors. Conclusion: A more systematic effort and attention at the hospital leadership and public policy level should be promoted to constitute societal consensus on the urgence of promoting patient safety culture and more specific approaches to tackle the patient safety problems.