BACHELOR OF PHARMACY INDUSTRIAL TRAINING: PERFORMANCE AND PRECEPTOR PERCEPTION

Abstract

Industrial training for undergraduates in Malaysian universities is widely practiced. It provide hands-on experience and up-to-date information to the graduates who are about to enter the competitive job market. Many researchers have reported the impact of industrial training on students’ performance. However, studies focusing on the preceptor perception of student performance are lacking. This study was done with the objective to evaluate UiTM’s Bachelor of Pharmacy student’s performance and to investigate preceptors’ perception towards them during industrial training. Questionnaires were distributed to selected pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical, traditional and complementary medicine industries (n=55). The outcome of these questionnaires was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The analysis revealed that the preceptors have good viewpoint of these final year students. Nearly all respondents agreed that 82% of these students showed excellent performance during their industrial training. On the scale of 1-10, almost all elements tested showed the mean score of equal or more than 8. Nevertheless, students need to improve on their entrepreneurial and managerial skill. This study proved that the preceptors selected from various industries showed a favorable outlook towards the performance of UiTM pharmacy graduates, however more effort need to be done in order to improve their entrepreneurial and managerial skills.