Current Work Locations and Reasons for Job Choice of Graduates of Memorial University School of Pharmacy

• Published in: Canadian Pharmacists Journal / Revue des Pharmaciens du Canada
• Main Authors: Young, Stephanie, Mathews, Maria
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2009
• Subjects: Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3821/1913-701x-142.6.290; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3821/1913-701X-142.6.290; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.3821/1913-701X-142.6.290

Background: There is little information available regarding the pharmacist workforce in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL). We surveyed Memorial University pharmacy graduates to identify the proportion who were still working in the profession, to determine if they were employed in pharmacy in or outside NL and to describe the characteristics and factors associated with working in or outside NL. Methods: We surveyed pharmacists graduating between 1990 and 2007 from Memorial University School of Pharmacy. We collected demographic and job characteristics and asked participants to rank the importance of factors affecting their current job choice. Results: Of the 466 surveys mailed, 300 were returned, for a response rate of 64.4%. Of the 300 respondents, 96.7% were working in pharmacy. Over two-thirds (70.3%) were in NL and most of those working outside NL were in Canada. Pharmacy graduates originally from NL (OR = 32.84; 95% CI = 10.63–101.53) and with lower incomes (OR = 7.06; 95% CI = 2.40–20.77) were more likely to be working in NL. The top 3 factors related to choosing the current job in pharmacy were working conditions, job benefits and level of pay. These factors were the same for those respondents working in or outside NL. Conclusion: Over two-thirds of the Memorial University pharmacy graduate respondents in our study worked in NL in 2008. Increasing the number of seats for local students and improving remuneration or other incentives for pharmacists may increase provincial retention of locally trained pharmacists.