1. Simeonova J. I.*, Veleva N. R.*, Necheva D.V.**, Georgieva А.А.**
PUBLIC IMAGE AND DEMAND FOR PHARMACISTS IN THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM FROM PATIENTS’ POINT OF VIEW
Simeonova J. I.*, Veleva N. R.*, Necheva D.V.**, Georgieva А.А.**
*Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Social Pharmacy, MU-Pleven, Bulgaria
**Faculty of Pharmacy, MU-Pleven, Bulgaria
Presenting author: Simeonova J.I.

2. Table 1. Professional competences of the graduate Masters of Pharmacy
Pharmacy is a state-regulated major, which complies with a number of national and European requirements. It is a five-year full-time M.Sc. Programme.
INTRODUCTION
Table 1. Professional competences of the graduate Masters of Pharmacy
Creative and innovative thinking and desire for life-long learning
Production, testing, storage and distribution of pharmaceutics and sanitation materials
Ability to convincingly inform and counsel medical specialists, patients, health insurance organizations, government, etc. about drugs and pharmaceutics
Supply to, production, and storage of pharmaceutics and sanitation materials at public and hospital pharmacies
Use of modern IT resources for collecting, processing, analyzing and presenting information related to pharmaceutical activities
Assessment and dosage of pharmaceutics and sanitation materials
Performance of marketing studies of the pharmaceutics market
Verification of single and daily doses of prescribed medications
Good organization of own pharmacy practice, writing of business plans and specialized reports
Assessment of the compatibility of various active substances
Preparation of pharmaceutics
Providing of adequate information to patients and offering of interchangeable medicines

3. Table 2. Career opportunities of the Masters of Pharmacy
INTRODUCTION
Table 2. Career opportunities of the Masters of Pharmacy
Preparation of pharmaceutics
Quality and safety assessment of pharmaceutics and customs release of pharmaceutics shipments and bioactive substances
Production and control of medicines
Drugs safety
Drugs control in specialized laboratories;
Pharmaceutical information, pharmaceutics promotion and advertisement
Storage and distribution of pharmaceutics to pharmacies and hospitals;
Wholesale and retail of pharmaceutics
Pharmaceutical counseling and expert activities.
National drugs policy
Production, export or import of pharmaceutics and active substances of human, animal, plant, or chemical origin
Health economics, pharmacoeconomics, health technologies
Official approval of pharmaceutics
Drug applicability and rational drug usage at micro- and macro-level
Clinical tests of pharmaceutics
State regulation of drug products

4. INTRODUCTION
Fig. 1. The number of pharmacists per population - differences between countries

5. INTRODUCTION
Table .3. The number of pharmacies and pharmacists (number and per population). Number of pharmacist in 1 pharmacy – 2016
Region
Number of pharmacies
Density of pharmacies (per )
Number of pharmacists
Density of pharmacists(per )
Number of pharmacists in 1 pharmacy
Bulgaria
3 966
5.63
6 476
9.12
1.62
Pleven
129
5.20
158
6.37
1.22
The highest density
Burgas
313
7.58
399
9.67
1.28
Plovdiv
382
5.69
741
11.03
1.94
Sofia
105
4.48
176
7.52
1.68
The lowest density
Razgrad 33
2.83 56
4.85
1.70
Dobrich 54
3.03 87
4.88
1.61
Number of pharmacists per population in ER: 10.65
Number of pharmacists per 1 pharmacy in ER: 2.6

6. AIMS and METHODS
AIMS: To identify the demand for pharmacists based on patients’ opinion and expectations for pharmaceutical care.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried-out in eight health care facilities in Northern Bulgaria in August All of 500 patients aged years were included in the study. Data were processed by SPSS.v.19.0. N0
Health care provider
Number % 1
Ambulatory general practice ACTAMED - Sevlievo 34
6.8 2
Ambulatory general practice – Pleven
132
26.4 3
Ambulatory general practice – Bohot, Pleven 38
7.6
Medical center – Pleven 51
10.2 4
Medical center EXACTA MEDICA – Pleven 5
UMHAT D-r G. STRANSKI – Pleven 71
14.2 6
Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment in Cardiology 65
13.0 7
Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment in Gynecology
Total
500
100.0

7. Table 2. Sociodemographic characteristics of the patients
AIMS and METHODS
Table 2. Sociodemographic characteristics of the patients
Variable
Number (%)
Gender
Male
Female
184 (37.2)
310 (62.8)
Age
≤44 years
45-59 years
60-74 years
75-89 years
Me=58 years
108 (22.5)
150 (31.2)
180 (37.4)
43 (8.9)
Education
Elementary education
Secondary education
Higher education
45 (12.0)
258 (52.3)
176 (35.7)
Residence
Town
Village
285 (60.1)
189 (39.9)
Total
500 (100.0)

8. RESULTS CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PHARMACISTS
Figure 3. The most important characteristics of the pharmacists according to the patients (%)
Some of the most important characteristics of the pharmacists were: high competence (46.2), high customer service culture (17.8%), to give more clear and detailed drug information (17,2%) and to provide timely services (13.8%).

9. RESULTS REASONS FOR THE PRESTIGE OF THE PHARMACISTS’ PROFESSION
provide important information 20.7%
take care for peoples’ health 20.2%
have due competence 16.6%
it is attractive because of the pharmacists workforce shortage 19.7%
consumers trust pharmacist 8.3%
Over 72% of the respondents stated that pharmacists’ profession is a prestigious one due to the following reasons: they take care for peoples’ health (20.2%), provide important information (20.7%), have due competence (16.6%), is attractive because of the pharmacists workforce shortage (19.7%), consumers trust pharmacists (8.3%).

10. RESULTS REASONS FOR LACK OF PRESTIGE OF THE PHARMACISTS’ PROFESSION
there are other more respected professions 33.3%
underestimated profession 16.7%
low-paid job 16.7%
pharmacists are more consultants 33.3%
Only six of the respondents stated that pharmacists profession is not prestigious one due to the following reasons: low-paid job (16.7%), there are other more respected professions (33.3%), underestimated profession (16.7%), pharmacists act more likely as consultants than autonomous specialists (33.3%).

11. RESULTS WEAKNESSES OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL CARE
Figure 4. The most common weaknesses for the pharmaceutical care (%)
The most common weaknesses found for the pharmaceutical care were: untimely care (31.0%), bad customer service culture (12.1%), lack of appropriate drug counseling (18.2%) and failures in drug prescriptions processing (10.2%).

12. Figure 5. Need for clinical pharmacists in the hospital (%)
RESULTS NEED FOR CLINICAL PHARMACISTS IN HOSPITALS AND THE ROLE OF THE PHARMACIST IN INTEGRATED MEDICAL CARE
Figure 5. Need for clinical pharmacists in the hospital (%)
Figure 6. Role of the pharmacist in providing integrated medical care (%)
Although 60.1% of the patients considered the presence of clinical pharmacists in hospitals necessary, most of them pointed that their role is limited to supply of drugs in accordance with physicians’ prescriptions (32.5%), recommendation of over-the-counter drugs (35.2%), makeup of extemporal drugs in the pharmacy (6.1%), suggestion of the cheapest substitutes for prescribed medicines (7.5%).

13. CONCLUSION
There is an unmet demand for pharmacists as well as need of dissemination of more profound public information about their comprehensive role in the modern healthcare systems.