Professional Competencies and Social Skills of Community Pharmacists: Avoidance of Communication Problems

Abstract

Herein, we investigated the presence or absence of communication troubles among pharmacists at dispensing pharmacies and drugstores, assessed self-evaluation of professional competencies of pharmacists, and surveyed their social skills using the KiSS-18 scale. A total of 317 anonymous questionnaire forms were collected. Concerning the experience of communication troubles, 64.0％ and 33.1％ answered “yes” and “no,” respectively. Regarding “professionalism” and “ability to utilize information and scientific technology,” the group that responded that they experienced trouble had higher self-evaluation than that which answered that they had no trouble (P = 0.031 and 0.046). However, no differences were observed in social skill measurements using KiSS-18 based on the presence or absence of such troubles. To prevent communication errors from evolving into such troubles, training and self-improvement in “professionalism” and the “ability to utilize information and scientific technology” are considered effective. However, because professionalism is not universal and may change with time and social demands, continuous training and self-improvement are necessary for understanding and practicing professionalism. This will enable pharmacists to provide high-quality medical and pharmaceutical care. In this medical field, there is a mix of graduates and pharmacists from 4- and 6-year pharmacy education programs. Therefore, training and self-improvement tailored to the needs of each pharmacist, bridging the generational gap, are necessary.