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© Proceedings of the Ruhuna Quality Assurance Sessions 2021 (RUQAS 2021)
st
21 September 2021

RP7
Perception of Pharmacy Graduates on Pharmacy Degree Programmes Conducted by Three Sri

Lankan Universities and Their Job Satisfaction:

A Survey-based Pilot Study

1
1
1
2
V.M. Pathiraja* , K.I.M. De Silva , H.K.J. Dhanarisi , K.A.K.D. Wijesekara
1
and H.W.A.S. Subasinghe
1 Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Ruhuna, Galle,
2 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya

* Corresponding author: vindyampathi@gmail.com

Abstract

Sri Lankan pharmacy education consists of two undergraduate degree programs: Bachelor of Science

in Pharmacy (BSc Pharmacy) and Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm). This study aimed to evaluate the

perception of pharmacy graduates on pharmacy degree programmes in Sri Lanka and their job
satisfaction. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted from 15 June to 15 July 2021 among

pharmacy graduates from three selected Sri Lankan universities using a content and face validated and
pretested online questionnaire. Among the total number of participants (n = 101), 55% were between

26-30 years and the majority (72%) were females. Of the participants, 46% have either completed or

are pursuing a postgraduate degree. More than 95% agreed that it is important to have pharmacy
degrees in Sri Lanka while 70% agreed that the quality of pharmacy degree is at a satisfactory level.

Almost all the participants believed that the academic standards of the degree, international
collaboration with foreign universities, clinical training and industrial training should be improved.

Approximately 50% of participants were satisfied with the number of academic staff, library and
laboratory facilities, while 61% reported that the number of lecture halls were not sufficient. Studying

a pharmacy degree helped 64% of the participants to obtain their desired job. However, only 53% of

the participants were satisfied with their current job, and 46% were satisfied with the salary scale. The
general perception about pharmacy degree programmes in Sri Lanka is high, however, the satisfaction

with facilities available is low.

Keywords: Pharmacy Graduates, Job Satisfaction, Sri Lankan Universities

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