title: Pharmacists' self-perception of their professional role: insights into community pharmacy culture.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To obtain an understanding of how community pharmacists self-describe their professional role, in order to begin understanding some of the assumptions underlying pharmacy culture.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional qualitative study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Edmonton, Canada, and surrounding area.
  
  
  METHODS
  115 community pharmacists.
  
  
  METHODS
  Brief telephone interview.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pharmacists' self-description/perception of their professional role and its relation to underlying assumptions of pharmacy culture.
  
  
  RESULTS
  100 pharmacists provided usable responses. The majority of pharmacists practiced in a community chain setting (76%) and within the city of Edmonton (81%). The median length of time in practice was 15 years. A total of 278 separate response items were obtained. Of these responses, 45% were categorized as product focused, 29% as patient centered, and 26% as ambiguous. The first response of 52 of the 100 pharmacists was a product-focused description of their role. Overall, in either their first or second response, 57% of the pharmacists used the term "dispensing" or dispensing-related terms to describe their professional role.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study seem to suggest that community pharmacists who participated viewed themselves primarily as "dispensers of medication," not patient-centered practitioners. Sustainable pharmacy practice change will be possible only if the current culture aligns with change initiatives. Our findings may suggest that pharmacists' self-perception of what they do and, perhaps by extension, the culture of pharmacy itself, could be important barriers to implementing practice change initiatives. We need to better understand the culture of pharmacy to foster meaningful practice change.
authors.affiliation: EPICORE Centre/COMPRIS, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Meagen M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rosenthal
authors.forename: Rene R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Breault
authors.forename: Zubin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: Ross T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Tsuyuki
mesh_terms: D000416:Alberta; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D006801:Humans; D015279:Organizational Culture; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D024382:Professional Role; D012649:Self Concept