Does the clinical clerkship course improve students' attitudes towards pharmaceutical care?

Objective The clinical clerkship course undertaken by final year pharmacy students to improve their pharmacotherapeutic knowledge and professional competence was tested in this study to see its effect on students' attitudes towards pharmaceutical care. Methods A 13-item Pharmaceutical Care Attitude Survey (PCAS) questionnaire was administered to final year pharmacy students at the University of Nigeria, before and after the 8-week-long clincal clerkship course. Statistical analyses were conducted on retrieved data. Results One hundred and five students (95% of the sample) completed the pre-clerkship phase and 97 students (92% of pre-clerkship students) completed the post-clerkship phase. Of the 13 items, three increased significantly (P < 0.05) - that is, improved - and there were indications that a further six improved, with two having no change and two items getting worse after the clerkship course. Conclusion This study showed that the clerkship course improved students' attitudes towards areas concerning professional duty but not those relating to benefit and responsibility. The importance of professional benefit needs to be emphasized by preceptors.