Professional self-image among Israeli pharmacists: sectoral differences

OBJECTIVE: To examine sectoral differences in the professional activities and self-images of Israeli pharmacists. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Pharmacists from private, community, and hospital sectors (n = 145) completed a survey that assessed the rewards accrued from their professional activities as pharmacists and evaluated their professional and sectoral self-image. RESULTS: Few intersectoral differences were found among Israeli pharmacists. Most agreed that the main rewards in the public sector are secure employment, intellectual challenge, and responsibility. In the private sector, the rewards are high income, responsibility, and opportunity to counsel. The majority of pharmacists in all sectors are satisfied with their profession, and 90.7 percent would choose it again. Nevertheless, they ranked pharmacy eighth among nine professions chosen for comparison, which shows quite a low professional image. The private and hospital pharmacists attributed a higher social status to their own sectors than to the community sector. CONCLUSIONS: The inferior professional self-image held by pharmacists, despite the rewards of the profession, should be examined in greater detail.