The study of modern professional competences for pharmaceutical positions that determine the effective activities based on the analysis of opinions of pharmacy professionals

Abstract

Aim. To study modern professional competencies – hard skills (including knowledge, abilities, skills) and soft skills (personal skills) that determine the effective activity of pharmacy professionals (PP) in certain pharmaceutical positions (pharmacy manager, pharmacist, pharmacist’s assistant) and determine the most important of them for pharmacy retail in today’s conditions. Materials and methods. To collect and process data, such scientific methods as the analysis of literary sources, the method of questionnaire survey, the method of comparison, comparison, and generalization, were used. The results of the analysis were processed using licensed software products of Microsoft Office Excel. The methods of descriptive statistics and statistical analysis, such as the Epitools service (Ausvet Ltd., Australia), a STATISTICA 13 statistical package (TIBCO Software Inc., USA) were used to process the questionnaire data. Results. As part of our study, a survey, in which 200 PP took part, was conducted. The questionnaire contained open-ended questions, in which it was necessary to specify 3-5 hard skills (professional skills) or soft skills (personal skills) that are necessary for the effective performance of the professional duties of PP in the relevant position, as well as select one of the most important ones from this list. At the same time, three positions were differentiated: pharmacist, pharmacist’s assistant, and pharmacy manager. According to the survey results, hard skills and soft skills, which, according to the majority of PP, were the most necessary for each position. were identified. Conclusions. Based on the results of the study conducted, it has been found that the actualization of professional competences and soft skills is an important step for effective work by position in pharmacy institutions in today’s conditions. It has been determined that such soft skills as sociability, responsibility, stress resistance, honesty, intelligence, purposefulness, hard work, love for the profession, experience, energy and reliability are equally important for the positions of a pharmacist, pharmacist’s assistant and pharmacy manager. At the same time, specific hard and soft skills are distinguished for each of the positions: empathy and attentiveness are more important for pharmacists and pharmacist’s assistants, while organizational skills, managerial qualities, desire for professional development and knowledge of legislation are important for pharmacy managers. Responsibility is a key quality for pharmacy managers, professionalism and knowledge – for pharmacists, and attentiveness – for pharmacist’s assistants. Differences in the perception of the importance of these hard and soft skills are also related to the age, qualification and type of pharmacy institutions where respondents work.