Evaluation of community pharmacy internship programme in the Philippines
Background: The community pharmacy internship programme is an integral part of pharmacy education in the Philippines. Its evaluation is necessary to continuously develop a comprehensive programme based on the needs and changing role of the profession. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the community pharmacy internship programme among the Philippine Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (PACOP) accredited schools in Metro Manila, Philippines. Method: The study utilised a cross sectional, descriptive research design, using a self administered questionnaire as the method of data collection. The data was analysed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (c) Statistics version 21 software. Results: The overall response rate was 66.1% (n=267) Generally, students rated their internship experiences positively and perceived high level of satisfaction with how the programmes were carried out. Conclusion: The students perceived that the community pharmacy internship programme was effective in attaining its learning outcomes, despite limitation of participation in internship activities and problems and barriers encountered.