Abstract
Objective:
To initiate the research process of investigating how pharmacy education affects the health status of pharmacy students.
Design:
Student functioning and well-being were assessed within two pharmacy classes at two points in time.
Setting:
College of Pharmacy, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Participants:
Students enrolled in either their first (class of 1997) or third (class of 1995) professional year of The University of Arizona's 4-year Doctor of Pharmacy degree program.
Main Outcome Measure:
The RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0.
Results:
No significant mean score differences were found between the classes, and the mean scores for the first-year class remained stable during the semester. The third-year class's mean scores for the emotional well-being and emotional problem-related role functioning scales decreased significantly during the semester.
Conclusions:
Pharmacy school may affect students' functioning and well-being in different and unique ways compared with medical school. Additional research should be conducted to assess changes in pharmacy student health status and to develop mechanisms to help counter any negative impact that may occur during pharmacy school.
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