An evaluation of University of Wolverhampton Master of Pharmacy students’ perceptions of pharmacist prescribing

Abstract

The Prescribers Survey Report 2016 identified 3,944 annotated pharmacist prescribers on the General Pharmaceutical Council register in 2015 with 2,567 independent prescribers, 425 are supplementary prescribers and 952 are both. This survey-based study evaluated the perceptions of University of Wolverhampton Master of Pharmacy students about pharmacist independent prescribing. Ethics clearance was granted by the School of Pharmacy Ethics Board. A link to an online survey was sent to all students enrolled in the Master of Pharmacy course. The anonymous data analysed thematically.

Cohort-dependant variations were identified, with Year 1 and 2 students more informed about independent prescribing and including it in their career plans. Students in Year 3 and 4 were more likely to pursue the career if it was appealing after graduation. This may be due to the course workload in Year 3 and 4 plus another year of internship, making further study unappealing at that time.