Research On Social Skills Before And After Practical Training Of Pharmaceutical Students

Background: Social and self-management skills for communicating, and acting in ways that build smooth interpersonal relationships with patients are required in clinical settings. We evaluated pharmacy students' acquisition of social and self-management skills after their practical training.Methods: We conducted a pre- and post-training survey with 85 pharmacy students (5th graders), using Kikuchi's Scale of Social Skills-18 (KiSS-18) questionnaire and analysed them. We also evaluated whether students acquired the same skills even though training facilities differed.Results: After practical training, KiSS-18 total scores significantly increased, from 55.2 +/- 10.5 to 60.5 +/- 11.3 (p<0.001). Total scores differed depending on whether training facilities were independent or chain pharmacies.Conclusion: Students' social skills materially improved, but the degree of improvement varied depending on the training facility. Grasping differences between facilities and ensuring that appropriate practice can be conducted is necessary.