Pharmacy students’ satisfaction with Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) at community pharmacy: The case of Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: To assess pharmacy students’ satisfaction with introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPE) at community pharmacy and the impact of the training on their future career. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was made available to 74 male pharmacy students who completed 4 weeks community pharmacy IPPE. The questionnaire consists of 24 questions that were organized into 5 domains with a scale of six options were used to answer each question. RESULTS: A total of 43 students completed the survey (58%). Most of them evaluated their training experience as either as good (41.86%) or excellent (41.86%). One third of students (34.88%) were very satisfied about the clarity of the community pharmacy IPPE goals and objectives given prior to the training period. About half of students (51.6%) received a good direction and feedback from their preceptors. Regarding the contact with the patient or guardian, (39.53%) of the students chose neutral while (25.58%) of the students were very satisfied. The learning environment was satisfactory for (32.56%) of students. Regarding skills domain, students strongly agreed that their skills were improved; Communication skills as reported by (48.84%) of students, documentation skills as reported by (34.88%) of students, and clinical skills as reported by (34.88%) of students. CONCLUSION: Surveyed male students were in general satisfied with their training experience at community pharmacy. Providing an orientation to the community pharmacy preceptors and granted electronic access of necessary information to the students might increase their satisfaction.