Medical Students’ Attitude towards Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration in Dongola, Northern State, Sudan

Abstract

Background: Assessing the attitude of collaborative relationship between physicians and pharmacists at the undergraduate level is an important aspect in determining their future collaborative outcome. Objective: To assess the attitudes of medical students at University of Dongola towards physician-pharmacist collaboration. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Dongola. Data was collected via online Google form questionnaire from medical students in their first and last two years. Descriptive and comparative analyses were performed using SPSS, version 26. Mann-Whitney Rank Sum Test was used to analyze the statistical significance at p < 0.05. Results: Two hundreds and thirty-three students completed the questionnaire with a response rate of 100%. Students expressed relatively positive attitude towards physician-pharmacist collaboration with a total mean score of (mean = 50.2; SD = 4.8). Female students revealed more collaborative attitude (mean = 51.4; SD = 4.4) than their male counterparts (mean = 47.5; SD = 5.2; p = 0.041). There was a significant correlation between age and score ( p ≤ 0.001) and those who were ≥21 years old revealed more collaborative attitude. There was no significant score difference between students in the first two years and those in the last two years ( p = 0.985). Conclusion: Students expressed relatively positive attitude towards physician-pharmacist collaboration. Besides, female students demonstrated more collaborative attitudes than their male counterparts. The study also revealed the significance of improving this collaborative relationship between physicians and pharmacists.