Student pharmacists' perceptions regarding pharmacist-prescribed hormonal contraceptives and their professional responsibility

Evaluation of Student Pharmacists' Attitudes and Perceptions of Hormonal Contraception Prescribing in Indiana

Community pharmacists’ scope of practice is expanding to include hormonal contraceptive prescribing. Prior to introducing statewide legislation, it is important to assess the perceptions of future pharmacists. A cross-sectional survey was distributed to 651 third- and fourth-year professional students enrolled at three colleges of pharmacy in Indiana. Data were collected between September and October 2019 to assess students’ attitudes about prescribing hormonal contraceptives, readiness to prescribe, perceived barriers, and desire for additional training. In total, 20.9% (n = 136) students responded. Most (89%, n = 121) believe that pharmacist-prescribed hormonal contraceptives would be beneficial to women in Indiana, and 91% (n = 124) reported interest in providing this service. Liability, personal beliefs, and religious beliefs were the most commonly cited perceived barriers. Most students felt they received adequate teaching on hormonal contraceptive methods (90%, n = 122) and hormonal contraceptive counseling (79%, n = 107); only 5% (n = 7) felt ready to provide the service at the time of survey completion. Student pharmacists in their final two years of pharmacy school are interested in prescribing hormonal contraceptives and believe that this service would be beneficial. This expansion of pharmacy practice would likely be supported by future pharmacists who feel the service could provide benefit to women seeking hormonal contraceptives in Indiana.

Pharmacist-Prescribed Hormonal Contraception: Does Didactic Hormonal Contraception Education Affect Student Pharmacist Perceptions of This Professional Activity?

Since 2014, select states have allowed pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraception (HC). This study describes student pharmacists’ perceptions of a pharmacist’s scope of practice, education, and interest, and identifies differences between students who have completed didactic HC content in their professional curriculum versus those who have not. A voluntary online survey was emailed to all students in three Georgia pharmacy schools. Descriptive statistics were reported. Likert square responses were dichotomized, and Chi square testing identified differences between groups. A total of 1256 students were invited, 35% completed the survey, of those 68% had received HC didactic content in their curriculum. Regardless of HC education, most students “agree” or “strongly agree” that pharmacists are adequately educated to prescribe HC (92% vs. 86%, p = 0.05) and prescribing HC is within the pharmacist’s scope of practice (89% vs. 84%, p = 0.12). Although not currently permitted in Georgia, most are interested in prescribing (97% vs. 96%, p = 0.5). Of the students who have received HC didactic content, 87% felt “moderately”, “well”, or “extremely well-educated” regarding HC prescribing clinical skills. Regardless of didactic training, pharmacy students believe pharmacists are prepared to prescribe HC and support pharmacist-prescribed HC as a part of their future professional scope of practice.