Spirituality and Religiosity of Pharmacy Students.

Abstract

To characterize the religiosity and spirituality of final year pharmacy students and examine the impact on performance in pharmacy school and future practice. An electronic survey was sent to 308 students in their final year of pharmacy school at four universities (two private and two public institutions). There were 141 respondents to the survey for a response rate of 46%. Key findings are religiosity/spirituality did not impact academic performance, students felt supported in their spiritual/religious beliefs, religiosity/spirituality had a positive impact on students' emotional/mental well-being, attending pharmacy school decreased organized religion, less than half of the students would work for a pharmacy not allowing the "right to refuse to dispense," students felt religiosity/spirituality could affect health/medication adherence, and most students were not familiar with how to conduct a spiritual assessment. Pharmacy schools should find ways to acknowledge and support religiosity/spirituality for pharmacy students and for promoting holistic patient well-being.