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Article Information:
Title:
Pharmacy career deciding: making choice a “good fit”
Author(s):
Sarah Caroline Willis, Phillip Shann, Karen Hassell
Journal:
Journal of Health Organisation and Management
Year:
2009
Volume:
Issue:
Page:
85 - 102
ISSN:
1477-7266
DOI:
10.1108/14777260910942579
Publisher:
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Acknowledgements:
This study is being funded by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain's Pharmacy Research Practice Trust. Sarah Willis, Phillip Shann, and Karen Hassell co-authored the paper. Karen Hassell initiated, supervised and guided the project. She also analysed the focus group transcripts. Sarah Willis and Phillip Shann collected the data and analysed the focus group transcripts.
Document Access:
Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore factors influencing career deciding amongst pharmacy students and graduates in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach – Group interviews were used to devise a topic guide for five subsequent focus groups with pharmacy students and graduates. Focus groups were tape-recorded, recordings transcribed, and transcripts analysed. Key themes and interlinking factors relating to pharmacy career deciding were identified in the transcripts, following a constructivist approach.
Findings – Participants' described making a “good fit” between themselves, their experiences, social networks etc. and pharmacy. Central to a coherent career deciding narrative were: having a job on graduation; and the instrumental advantage of studying a vocational course.
Research limitations/implications – Focusing on career deciding of UK pharmacy students and graduates may limit the study's generalisability to other countries. However, our findings are relevant to those interested in understanding students' motivations for healthcare careers, since our results suggest that making a “good fit” describes a general process of matching between a healthcare career and personal experience.
Practical implications – As we have found that pharmacy career deciding was not, usually, a planned activity, career advisors and those involved in higher education recruitment should take into account the roles played by personal preferences and values in choosing a degree course.
Originality/value – A qualitative study like this can illustrate how career deciding occurs and provide insight into the process from a student's perspective. This can help inform guidance processes, selection to healthcare professions courses within the higher education sector, and stimulate debate amongst those involved with recruitment of healthcare workers about desirable motivators for healthcare careers.
Keywords:
Careers, Decision making, Focus groups, Pharmacology, Students, United Kingdom
Article Type:
Research paper