Students' perception of professional advocacy following a political advocacy course

Abstract Objective To analyze the characteristics of pharmacy students who had taken a political advocacy elective compared with those who did not on their engagement in advocacy activities. Methods An elective in political advocacy is offered to first-, second-, and third-year pharmacy students. A survey was developed to assess the students' perceived knowledge of the issues affecting the pharmacy profession, willingness to vote in an election, current level of advocacy, and likelihood for advocacy after graduation. The survey also assessed the students' current leadership activities, involvement in local and national pharmacy organizations, and prior experience with professional pharmacy issues. The survey was voluntarily administered to the student body. Comparisons between the elective class and student body were made using descriptive statistics and t -test. Results Of the 462 students, 100 (21.6%) completed the online survey. Students who took the elective rated their knowledge of current issues significantly higher than those who did not. A greater percentage of students who took the course reported participating in advocacy activities within the last month compared with those who did not (41.2% vs. 14.8%). Finally, the students who took the course expressed significantly more personal responsibility for being politically active compared with those who did not. Implications Despite the constraints of current pharmacy curriculums, the results of this study demonstrate that offering an elective in political advocacy is beneficial in educating pharmacy students about issues affecting the profession and instilling the importance of being involved as a student pharmacist, as well as in the future.