Factors influencing pharmacists' participation in continuing education activities in the United Arab Emirates: insights and implications from a cross-sectional study

Khalid Awad Al-Kubaisi; Asim Ahmed Elnour; Adel Sadeq

doi:10.1186/s40545-023-00623-3

Factors influencing pharmacists' participation in continuing education activities in the United Arab Emirates: insights and implications from a cross-sectional study

J Pharm Policy Pract. 2023 Oct 2;16(1):112. doi: 10.1186/s40545-023-00623-3.

Authors

Khalid Awad Al-Kubaisi¹, Asim Ahmed Elnour^{2

3}, Adel Sadeq⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmacotherapeutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. kalkubaissi@sharjah.ac.ae.
² Clinical Pharmacy Program, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University (AAU), Abu Dhabi Campus, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
³ AAU Health and Biomedical Research Centre, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁴ Program of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

Abstract

Background: Continuing professional development (CPD) is essential for pharmacists to maintain and enhance their knowledge and skills. The purpose of this research was to collect data about the perception of pharmacists in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) towards CPD and identify factors that motivate or hinder their participation in different types of CPD activities.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 322 pharmacists who completed a self-administered questionnaire that assessed their demographic characteristics, CPD preferences, motivators and obstacles to attending CPD programs, and perceived learning outcomes.

Results: Participants' average age was 33 years (mean = 30.6, SD = 5.97), and the range of years, since they graduated from a pharmacy degree program was 18 years (mean = 10.9, SD = 4.8). More than half of the participants were female; 198 (61.5%) and 193 (59.9%) of them were married. The study found that married pharmacists (AOR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.266-0.939, P value = 0.031), older participants (AOR = 0.232, 95% CI 0.266-0.939, P value = 0.04), and those who graduated longer than 16 years ago were less likely to attend live CPD events (AOR = 0.454, 95% CI 0.22-0.924). However, participants who worked up to 15 h had higher odds of attending live CPD events (AOR = 3.511, 95% CI 1.117-11.039, P value: 0.026). In addition, female pharmacists were less likely to participate in computer/internet-based continuing education than male pharmacists (AOR = 0.038, 95% CI 0.293-0.965, P value = 0.038). It also revealed that pharmacists who were not motivated by the topic of the CPD activity had a higher chance of attending computer/internet-based format (AOR = 2.289, 95% CI 1.198-4.371, P value = 0.012). In contrast, those who did not report the long distance to the CPD site as a hindrance had a lower likelihood of attending online internet-based CPD (AOR = 0.548, 95% CI 0.319-0.941, P value = 0.029).

Conclusions: This study is the first to explore pharmacists' predictors of attending different CPD activities. These predictors are gender, age, marital status, experience since graduation, working hours, family barriers, work responsibilities, interest in the presentation topic, and the long travel distance to the site. These findings suggest that pharmacists have unique challenges and motivations regarding continuing education and that tailored approaches may be necessary to encourage participation.

Keywords: Continuing education; Perception; Pharmacists; Predictors; United Arab Emirates.