Abstract
Due to changes in the roles of pharmacists in the clinical field, a lengthening of the mandatory study period at pharmacy school is currently being considered. We therefore conducted a survey of the practical training included in the postgraduate hospital pharmacy courses with the aim of exploring the possible forms of the longterm practical training which may be necessary in the future. An analysis of eleven reports on practical training in hospitals and 46 questionnaires completed by students who had completed hospital training suggested that the acquisition of patient oriented pharmaceutical care, which is seen as one of the main aims of such training had, to a large extent, been successfully achieved, however, the ability to identify pharmaceutical problems in the clinical environment had not yet been adequately developed in most students. Most students considered hospital training to be a positive experience but also indicated problems regarding the curriculum, coordination between the university and the training institutions, and the resources of the training institutions. In order to educate fully capable pharmacists, closer coordination and cooperation between the universities and the medical treatment institutions is thus called for in future.
