Saudi pharmacy students' perceived knowledge and attitude on their role in public health services

Objectives This study aimed to explore the preparedness of pharmacy students to actively participate in public health services by examining their attitude towards and knowledge about the national public health programmes (NPHPs). Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire survey of the students in Unaizah College of Pharmacy (UCP) and College of Pharmacy Main Campus (CPMC), Qassim University, between October 2019 and February 2020. Key findings A total of 100 out of 125 students responded to the questionnaire at a response rate of 80%. While the majority (77%) of the participants agreed on the necessity for pharmacists to know about the NPHPs, 71% reported they did not learn about National Health Policy in their pharmacy curriculum. Also, a small number of pharmacy students, at 16%, believed that their current knowledge about the NPHPs was sufficient or very sufficient. Lastly, 81% of the participants felt that they had an important or very important role to play in the NPHPs. Conclusions The majority of the participants expressed interest in more education on public health during their pharmacy education. Their interest supports the advancement of public health education to facilitate greater involvement of pharmacists in public health services.