DOI: https://doi.org/10.29090/psa.2018.03.131 | Pharm Sci Asia 2018; 45(3), 131-139 |
Attitudes towards e-learning among community pharmacists in Hanoi, Vietnam:
An exploratory study
T. Le*, T. Duong, H. Tran, T. Do
- Hanoi University of Pharmacy. 13-15 Le Thanh Tong, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, Vietnam
E-learning is now emerging as the advance paradigm for continuing pharmacy education and it has been widely utilized for continuous professional development (CPD) in most countries. However, e-learning has still been a new teaching method and has not been widely used in pharmacy education in Vietnam. Therefore, determining the factors associated with the pharmacists’ intention of using continuous e-learning courses for CPD and assessing conditions to implement e-learning courses in continuous education are vital in order to improve the number of participants in continuing pharmacy education in Vietnam.
The aim of this study was to identify the attitudes of Vietnamese pharmacists towards e-learning for CPD and the factors influencing the e-learning adoption of participants.
A cross-sectional survey of 111 community pharmacists was conducted from November 2016 to March 2017 in Vietnam. A self-administered questionnaire was used to measure pharmacist’s internet facilities and attitudes toward e-learning. The dependent variable of study was the participants’ intention of using e-learning in continuing education (CE). Multivariable logistic regression model was performed to identify factors significantly associated with the participants’ acceptance of e-learning courses.
The finding showed that 61.26% of respondents used high speed internet. The percentage of participants using smart phone to connect to the internet accounted for 91.89%. In general, the participating pharmacists had a positive attitude toward e-learning for CPD. Accessing to internet at work significantly decreased the likelihood of participants taking e-learning in CE (OR= 0.22, 95%CI=0.06-0.75). Accordingly, pharmacists having sufficient skills of using internet devices (OR=2.52, 95%CI=1.44-4.41) and internet usage for study (OR=4.67, 95%CI=1.82-11.98) were more likely to adopt e-learning in CE.
The study found three main factors affected the behavioral intentions related to e-learning systems. The continuing pharmacy education e-learning courses should be designed simple and flexible so that pharmacists with different levels of skill can participate in at anytime.
Keyword:
E-learning, pharmacy, attitude, continuing education, continuous professional development
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