Pharmacists’ lack of profession-hood: Professional identity formation and its implications for practice

Abstract

Background: Understanding the internalized, psychological sense of being a professional may provide important insight into understanding pharmacists’ behaviours and attitudes in practice. Methods: It is difficult to directly or quantitatively measure an internalized psychological state such as profession-hood. An indirect method was selected in which pharmacists who were themselves patients or caregivers were identified and invited to discuss their experiences, as a vehicle for better understanding how they relied upon personal and professional identities during high-stress, impactful times. Results: A total of 17 community pharmacists from southern Ontario participated in this study. Regardless of demographic background, participants reported little reliance on professional identity, knowledge or role as a pharmacist when advocating for themselves or a loved one. Interpretation: These findings suggest that community pharmacists have incomplete, separated or functional (rather than existential) professional identities. This lack of professional identity may influence behaviours in practice such as interactions with other health care professionals or patients or self-confidence in clinical decision-making. Conclusions: Further work is necessary to better understand the socialization and professional identity formation of pharmacists to help support them through the current evolution of pharmacy towards more interdependent and complex clinical roles and decision-making.