title: Social pharmacy as a field of study: the needs and challenges in global pharmacy education.
abstract: The practice of pharmacy and, consequently, pharmacy curricula have undergone significant changes over the past years in response to a rapidly changing economic, political, and social environment. Within this context, the pharmacist's role had expanded to include more direct interaction with the public in terms of the provision of health information and advice on the safe and rational use of medications. To carry out these roles effectively, pharmacists need to be well prepared on how to deal with patients' behavior and psychology. The understanding of patient sociobehavioral aspects in the medication use process is paramount to achieving optimal clinical and humanistic outcomes from therapy. The concept of behavioral sciences and health psychology are embedded as the fundamental concepts in the field of social pharmacy, and thus it is imperative that this should be taught and nurtured to future pharmacy practitioners. Based on the growing needs for future pharmacists to be exposed to issues in social pharmacy, many pharmacy schools around the world have adopted this subject to be part of their standard curriculum. In this commentary, a discussion of the needs of social pharmacy courses in pharmacy curriculum will be addressed in the context of both developed and developing countries.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia. azmihassali@usm.my
authors.forename: Mohamed Azmi
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hassali
authors.forename: Asrul Akmal
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Shafie
authors.forename: Mahmoud Sa'di
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Al-Haddad
authors.forename: Abduelmula Rajab
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Abduelkarem
authors.forename: Mohamed Izham
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.forename: Subish
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Palaian
authors.forename: Omar Saad Saleh
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Abrika
mesh_terms: D001525:Behavioral Sciences / Q000193:education; D003479:Curriculum; D003906:Developing Countries; D004512:Education, Pharmacy / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D024382:Professional Role; D012580:Schools, Pharmacy / Q000458:organization & administration; D012919:Social Behavior